We've been cleared to leave for Kumasi, Ghana tomorrow, following a regrettable but necessary delay beyond the field expedition's control. As such, we'll only be on the ground for about 18 days, instead of the anticipated ~28. While this will make the project quite challenging, I'm looking forward to the opportunity. I've used the last week to continue stateside production of components, and work out a few small details like mounting locations and hardware.
The project's online presence has spread -- while I'm still using the Google Drive repository for my personal development files, David has installed and hosted a wikipedia site for the project, as well as updating his personal page to reflect the project's current direction.
I'm slightly conflicted about the amount of manufacturing done here in the states. I'm keenly aware that, while the methods and tools I've used are comparable to those available overseas, there's no replacement for on-site development. I'm certain, however, that without prior manufacture, I'd be unable to deploy the devices during my brief time in Ghana.
From an engineering side, development has been frozen with Version 0.33. The manufacturing prototype exhibited excellent vending characteristics, with <2% jam rate and <4% double-vend rate. I'm attributing this primarily to improvements to the inventory chute, which also greatly simplified manufacture of the (previously "W" shaped) faceplate. Pictures of the updated design can be found on the wikipedia as linked.
Further updates from Kumasi as soon as I'm on the ground!
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