OK, here's another low detail update:
The light is in early stages of production. Machining is now the longest lead time item. I knew this was going to be the biggest time consumer during the production before we even started. I learned this lesson with previous products. That's why we started the machining as soon as we thought we were reasonably sure of the mechanical design. Another decision I made to speed things up was not to use our own CNC machines for the first production run (we have 3 full size cnc machines). Instead, we are paying a significant amount more to have the parts machined with an external contractor in the hope this gets us parts more quickly. One of the reasons the contractor is supposed to be quicker is the fact that they are same contractor that makes the PD parts for McGizmo. Read earlier posts on why this relevant. Therefore, they already have the experience, some of the programs only need to be modified and many of the tools are identical. These factors combined should save time.
However, there are delays. Rather than skip straight to production quantities, we paid extra to get a first article and have production held while that first article was tested. This turned out to be a good idea because I ended up having to reject the first article for several reasons. I am now working with McGizmo and the shop on resolving the problems. Part of the delay is I have to build these parts into a working flashlight to test them completely. this includes waiting for the parts to be anodized, etc. It is a pain in the backside but there isn't any way around it. The problem could have caused units to not switch correctly in the field. They may be fine after all, but they must be tested to verify this. If they test fine, then this might seem like I was being overly picky. If they test bad, then I might look smart for taking the time.
Any rate, the first articles are at the plater being anodized. Next up is to build them into a working flashlight and then to test, test, test. Out of this testing may come revised drawings, etc. I don't know yet.
Meanwhile, the software development is continueing. The latest build now has features implimented like the settings menu, different levels, etc. I have taken several units camping and also edc each of the test units and I am pleased with the operation. We currently are working on some safety routines (temp/batt protection). After that, we have the calibration routines and then the code will be pretty much up to the production level feature set. After that, there will be fine tuning of the various timings, power levels, etc to produce a polished result.
Like I said before (you really should read my earlier posts), the interface is easier to use than the Arc4 UI. I also said before that the PC interface is not included in this rev. The new menu system has been implimented and tuned and I like the finished result. I have let flashlight newbies try it and I have observed how they use it.
I still have some time before I have to pick an LED for production. The choices have been narrowed down to the latest P4 and the K2 TF. If you know of something more powerful, let me know. If I time this right, there should be no reason why this light doesn't have the hottest LED available at the time is ships.
No idea yet what the final lumen, run time, cost, ship date, etc will be. sorry, too soon for me to know for certain on those things.
peter