Hey everyone, this update will be more focused on our approach current status, upcoming project goals and our alignment towards achieving them while clarifying the risks surrounding them. I hope this helps answering questions you may have regarding the project, if not you can always reach me on Discord or Matrix.

As usual it is can be long-read. On request, this time I have added a tl;dr :)

TL;DR

• We’re handling design, engineering, procurement, and production hands-on to maintain quality and reduce external risks though this creates a significant workload for our small team.
• The main blocker is the delayed i.MX95 bring-up. We’re targeting hardware validation by mid-October so the Revision 9 PCB can enter production in November.
• Mechanical validation is underway, with an in-person review in China planned for mid-October before production tooling begins.
• Most critical components are already secured, and the remaining PCB and enclosure parts are expected before production.
• Certification preparation, production testing are progressing in parallel. Certification remains the biggest schedule risk.
• Comet has gained several improvements since the campaign, including better durability and thermals, 5G RedCap, DisplayPort over USB-C, improved controls, and larger keyboard keys. Key swapping and the Wi-Fi kill switch have been removed.
• We cannot offer compensation or guaranteed refunds because most parts have already been procured, but we’ll review cancellation requests individually.
• January 2027 remains the current delivery estimate, although delays are still possible. Our commitment remains to communicate transparently and deliver the best product we can.⁠

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Our DIY approach to everything

Before I delve into other areas, to set some context I want to share about our approach in building the Comet. We have a truly do-it-yourself approach -

• Design & Engineering: We do the end to end mechanical, PCB design, Firmware development and Application layer. This gives us a unique ability to ensure quality at all levels, and test across all areas. This is also why we are able to open-source everything without IP barriers.
• Procurement: We directly work with semiconductor manufacturers and our part suppliers. This ensures we have more visibility in the delivery timeline, process the customs clearance and import process correctly and also able to handle the material better once received.
• Production: We plan to drive the production in a hands-on manner, with our team physically involved at all steps. My argument being that especially for first batch, we as designers would be the best people to design the SOPs (standard operating procedures) and be directly responsible for the product quality. We will of course be working with experienced production engineers who have had experience in electronics in the past.

The downside to this is gigantic amount of work for a small team, but it helps us minimize overall risks and ensure we are able to deliver high-quality and well-tested units.

Current Status

The below table shows the current status of all major deliverables.

In-progress and upcoming goals, preparedness and risks

We have iterated these on our previous updates, but this time I will go a bit more in depth and cover what the individual goal is about and inherent risks involved.

I.MX95 Bring-up (⏳ in progress,🛑 blocker)

Originally the I.MX95 samples were supposed to arrive in April, but due to delay from the manufacturer’s end they instead arrived towards end of August. Considering the I.MX95 PCB is a new design, this has caused us significant havoc in our timelines.

Here are things we are doing to push things through

• We have allocated every bandwidth we have on the embedded side on this bring-up activity. We are prepped for some sleepless nights on this one 🫣.
• We are prioritizing hardware validation over firmware completeness. This is to unblock PCB design at the earliest possible.
• Apart from the DDR issue, we are pretty confident on getting things to work because the peripheral components are the same as the I.MX8M Plus design.
• We are working closely with NXP to close the DDR speed issue in parallel.

🚨Risks: We’ve set a hard timeline of mid October to close the hardware validation so that we can release the Rev9 PCB design (below) for production on schedule. Any delay in closing this item will delay the Rev9 PCB release, that can result in further delay on certification and production.⏰ Timeline: Mid October

Mechanical validation (⏳ in progress)

We have spent most of September releasing designs and getting prototypes made for every single part the Comet and its extensions need, with high dimensional accuracy. Some are ready, some are still being built. The mocked up Revision 9 PCB is also getting ready over the weekend.

From next steps we are travelling ✈️ to China between 12th October to 18th October to have an in-person mechanical validation review with our enclosure parts manufacturers so that we can confidently close the validation and sign-off for production tooling.

🚨Risk: No major risks assumed for mechanical validation, if specific validation fails we make a note of it and incorporate the changes.
⏰ Timeline: Mid October

Revision 9 PCB Design & Production (⏳ in progress)

The revision that wasn’t supposed to happen :) we’ve covered in the August update that resolving RF design for LTE has forced us to make additional changes in the PCB. The design has started in parallel, we have two separate teams working in parallel -

If things go as per plan, we plan to manufacture a significantly larger batch for revision 9 - and use these boards for early adopters.

🚨Risks:
(i) We don’t foresee any risks with the PCB design process in itself, but the I.MX95 design is dependent on us closing the bring up activity. We are not worried about the I.MX8M Plus design.
(ii) The fabrication is dependent on us securing the high-speed PCB material in time during the current material shortages, we are working with our suppliers to reserve this stock for upcoming production.
(iii) We are not worried about samples/components this time around, as we have secured enough units for test runs in advance plus we have the mass production inventory for most components.
 ⏰ Timeline: 3rd week of October for design release, Mid-November for production

Supply Chain & Procurement (⏳ in progress)

Here is a high-level summary of our current supply chain and procurement status -

• All critical parts - processors, memories, controllers are now in stock. The only exception to this is the WiFi/BT module that is to be delivered by end of October.
• Close to 90% of all active components, ICs, and passives required for our PCB have been received.
• Some of components are yet to be ordered due to pending validation. These parts have at most 4 weeks of lead time, their ordering will be completed once mechanical validation is completed.

🚨Risks: All remaining parts are currently on track to be received prior to production, so no risk right now we are working closely with our suppliers to ensure their deliveries.
⏰ Timeline: 1st week of November for PCB components, mid-December for enclosure parts

Production tooling

We have been working with our enclosure manufacturer for over a year now, and recently they have confirmed the Design-for-Manufacturing (DFM) readiness of all the designs.. Once the mechanical validation is completed, we will issue all enclosure parts - plastic, silicone and metal parts for their respective production tooling.

The product tooling involves designing and manufacturing of injection-moulding dies for plastic parts, cast dies and process dies for metal parts and compression dies for silicone parts.

Once these dies are ready, our supplier will send us samples for verification before mass manufacturing the enclosure parts.

🚨Risks: There can be mechanical failures with the dies that would require rework. To minimize risks on tooling, we are running extensive validation with our manufacturers to close this potential gap. We will also be issuing an extensive acceptance criteria to ensure parts meet our spec.
⏰ Timeline: Mid-November

Pre-Certification & Certification

This is the critical piece in the jigsaw puzzle. Before we ship the Comet, we need to ensure we clear compliances for our primary target markets - US, EU and CA. After the design freeze, we are spending considerable time planning for the certification. Some of the primary requirements and our provisions or preparedness for those are listed below -

EMI and EMC: In the past we have tested emissions from the device and have been within the permissible limits. The part we haven’t tested yet is with tri-radio setup - WiFi, BT and LTE running altogether, we will be testing them within this month. It is not critical because LTE and WiFi/BT modules are pre-shielded components. We have kept provisions for adding additional EMI absorbers if needed.
RF: Most of the Radio Frequency testing required will be inherited from our WiFi/BT and LTE modules that are pre-certified for our target markets.
SAR: Because we are a handheld-device, Specific-Absorption Rate becomes critical, it measures the rate at which radio waves are absorbed by human body. To control exceeding SAR limits via our WiFi/BT and LTE antennas while in use, we have added proximity sensors to automatically detect body or hand and lower the antenna power on-demand.
Flame Retardant: Our battery is not hand-removable, you need to open 4 screws on the back cover while the entire enclosure will be made using flame retardant material (UL94 V-0 grade) to comply with IEC 62368-1 safety testing.
Charging: Our charging circuit is designed to detect battery temperature and cut-off charging or discharging if temperature exceeds operating range again to comply with IEC 62368-1.
Drop Tests: We have added sufficient strengthening in the enclosure and the design ensures no critical or hazardous parts can be exposed post fall.
Battery: Our battery has cleared major certification requirements - CE, UN38.3, MSDS, ROHS & REACH. Currently in progress are CB (IEC 62133), BIS (India) and JATE (JP).

There are very limited testing facilities in India that can support our requirements, as part of our upcoming China trip - we will be spending time with the lab to better equip ourselves and validate our design as much as possible.

Our approach to certification is to prepare for failure in advance and have provisions baked right into the device that can control the end outcome. Preferably firmware fixes or additional mechanical safeguards.

🚨Risks: 
(i) Certification failures can delay production and in an unlikely situation force rework on PCB layout. We are minimizing this risks by working ahead of time and validating our design with the certification body, before the PVT is released. 
(ii) To avoid potential delays, our teams will be physically present during the testing to ensure faster support and resolution.
⏰ Timeline: Mid-November to Mid-Jan; 8 weeks as per lab standard lead time, pending detailed assessment

Production & testing

We have started laying down the ground work for production & testing while the other items are in full throttle. Some of the things we have started or planned pre-production -

• We have ordered a ICT (in-circuit testing) Fixture for our revision 7 boards (stable), so that we can start building the PCB Testing suite for testing during assembly.
• Once the mechanical validation is complete, we will start work on designing the SOPs for all the semi-assemblies and the final assembly.
• We have informed our PCB assembly manufacturers to ensure capacity is reserved for us during our production timeline.

🚨Risks:
(i) In an unlikely situation if there is an identified fault in any raw material’s production batch, it might result delay the production. The chances are low, because for every major customized parts we’ve already run multiple iterations.
(ii) Assembly failure on the PCB level will force re-work. To avoid this we will be running production in a staggered manner and with the ICT testing jig, failures will be caught early in a batch.
(iii) Certification failures could delay production, again chances are low due to a pre-certification coverage to a large degree
⏰ Timeline: 8-10 weeks

Delivery

We have aligned our logistics for international shipping, and have identified hub locations in the US and EU for further distribution. These hubs will be responsible for receiving stock, packing individual shipments and last-mile distribution.

🚨Risks: Delivery even after production complete is dependent on receiving CE conformance reports and FCC ID to ship to EU and US respectively.

We are always open for feedback and suggestions, and I am sure there are folks reading this who may have more experience with these goals. If you think there is something additionally that we should be doing hit me up on Discord or Matrix or drop us a line at support[at]mechasystems.com.

Software of course will continue to take shape over the next few months, and move towards V1 freeze by end of the year.

Deviations from the original spec

Longevity & usability have been the two guiding principles for the Comet’s design from day one. After the Comet is available, we will actively work with other open-source projects and build the ecosystem around it over the years to come. Hardware design permanency is also a thing; we cannot keep re-doing production tooling and certification for subsequent updates. This is pre-dominantly why we have continued to make improvements before we move towards production.

Since the version we showcased in January right when the campaign started, we’ve incorporated several additions to the product spec and very limited subtractions.

Additions or replacements

• More endurance, water and dust proofing (no IP rating tests planned)
• Better thermals overall to adapt for I.MX95 added power
• Planned 5G RedCap Support for longevity
• DisplayPort Alt Mode over Type-C replaces the Mini-HDMI
• More controls on the Gamepad: Analog Stick, Pointing Stick and accessible shoulder buttons.
• The Pointing Stick on the keyboard replaces Trackpad for better usability.
• ~50% bigger keys on the keyboard
• Official support for AZERTY and QWERTZ layouts
• Additional keys on the keyboard - Tab, Num, 2nd Fn replacing the dedicated arrow keys. Arrows keys are now on the 5D Super Key.

Things we had to subtract along the way

• No swapping of keys on the keyboard, primarily due to change in manufacture process for improved tactile feedback. We can offer unprinted keyboards on request.
• No Wi-Fi kill switch, this we have removed due to spacing constraints in the design and complications with the Wi-Fi/BT driver.

We are currently in the process of updating our website with new content and renders.

About compensation and refunds

We acknowledge that everyone backing this project, has joined at a different stage of the project, and especially folks who have backed early may have an expectation gap. We want to try address them with two answere below.

Can I expect some kind of compensation?
We unfortunately are unable to provide any form of store credits, upgrades or freebies at this stage. After the campaign funding end, we have been hit with ~50% increase in DDR pricing, ~30% increase in processor costs, along with systematic increase in costs for most of the internal components - leaving no room to absorb further costs.

Can I withdraw my support for the project?
You can request for cancellation and refund on your pre-order, but we cannot guarantee the same. We’ve already completed more than 90% of procurement of parts especially the high-cost components, the only thing remaining is primarily the enclosure and secondary components dependent on production tooling.

However, we understand your requirement and situation might have changed over time, and we will do our best to work with you. You can open a support ticket using the Mecha Hub or reach out to us directly on support[at]mechasystems.com with your request.

For everyone who has pre-ordered from the Mecha Hub, we’ve reiterated the same thing as on our refund policy - https://mecha.so/legal/refunds.

Our commitment to you (backer)

As covered above, there are things that could go wrong despite of every preventive steps we take for the upcoming goals and the current delivery estimates for Jan 2027 may yet again slip, that is the nature of the work involved. What remains set in stone is our commitment to (i) communicate to highest level of transparency possible (ii) deliver the highest quality product to our best of abilities and (iii) our unrelenting focus and hardwork until that is achieved.

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Thank you for making it till here. I wanted to share a small anecdote - over the last weekend, I was at IndiaFOSS 2026 - one of India’s major free software and open-source conferences. IndiaFOSS remains special for us at Mecha, because two years back at IndiaFOSS 2024 is when we first publicly showcased the Comet. This time, while of course most people wanted to know when do you ship? But to my surprise the next immediate question followed was is there a way I can help? That to me is the true spirit of FOSS and a reminder on why Comet is open-source.

We haven’t had the easiest of time over the past 4-6 months, we are running non-stop on a treadmill getting thing done, while dealing with internal and external setbacks. The thing that has kept us motivated is the unwavering support and cheering from all the backers and community members on Discord/Matrix for which we are humbly grateful.

See you in the next one!

Shoaib & Mecha Team