Argh… I almost let the whole month of July pass without a single post on this blog. However, it is not the beautiful stories that are lacking. To be honest, I have plenty to tell you.

If you're too lazy to read everything (it's the holidays…), read the end!

In general, when you launch a crowdfunding campaign, you stick to your keyboard all day to communicate as much as possible.

And in general, we also avoid launching a crowdfunding campaign in the middle of summer, right when people are thousands of miles from home, and right when people are all overdrawn because of the holidays. and back to school.

But you have understood: Theory is good. And the best way to invalidate it is to act.

So if we recap:

– I've been working on this Pioupious project for more than six months.

- My crowdfunding campaign ends in 14 days, and €10 is still missing

– And meanwhile, I'm 800 km from home, all day on the beach, and I've just started my third bottle of sunscreen.

Here I have less internet

While waiting to be a multi-billionaire so much that I will have sold lots of Pioupious, I am above all mega-uncovered. That's good, I still have at least one diploma: that of “sailing instructor”. So I can finance my Pioupious by doing something a little sexier than working at Mac Do.

But there is just one small detail that tingles: here, I have less internet.

And the phone may be waterproof, but it doesn't have internet:

My trainees don't have internet either:

There remains the campsite's wifi, but again, I'm not sure if we can speak of " Internet "

(One day we will have to explain to the "network administrators" that it's useless to try to curb the Internet. All college students know it. − Here, I don't even want to know how much the guys paid for this filtering solution that you can bypass it by typing httpshttps://youtube.com…)

So after spending the day walking around the big thing “ Seen on TV planted between Oléron and the island of Aix, I am forced to drown my technological isolation in oysters, mussels and Pineau des Charentes. We do as we can.

The Pioupious are released!

But I had planned for this isolation, and that's why I sent the first batch of prototypes just before I left.

And it was a real pleasure to see the little bird start to pioupiout from all over France.

Some nice Pioupious installers made a photo album of their adventure:

• Installation by Istres Alpilles Vol Libre (Bouches-du-Rhone)
• Installation by Rully Loisirs (Burgundy)

And our friend Bruno shows us his Pioupiou in a short video: « Thank you Jacky and Michel ! »

As you will have understood, this Pioupiou was born in the world of paragliding.

But since I'm not bigoted, I also found kitty beta testers. And not anybody 😉

.@BalisePioupiou well in place for the 1st edition of the International Kitefoil Speed! Easy, convenient and accurate! pic.twitter.com/DVEYljrUKR

— Alex Caizergues (@AlexAC21) July 17 2014

Pioupiou Cooked-Cooked

Brief. It's not because we're in the sun that the game is won.

I couldn't find the definition of the word " prototype " in the Deencyclopedia. So I mark mine: crap thing that is used to make engineers cry because it works perfectly at home and it sucks once sent to the other side of France ».

It did not fail… A week after the installation of the first Pioupious, a wave of violent storms crossed France.

It was an opportunity to discover the second bug of these prototypes: the antenna " captures » the static electricity of thunderstorms − and it causes a power surge that burns out the radio transmitter. Just that. And obviously, the problem did not arise during my outdoor tests, in Oléron and St-Hilaire-du-Touvet.

I also didn't have a storm in my kitchen to test. Anyway, I could have entrusted the task to some Youtubers:

I suddenly found myself with a crowd of grilled Pioupious.

@Coworkingre plus the #BBQNumeric approaches, the more the PiouPiou of @nb4ld tag… @BalisePioupiou…Beacon! pic.twitter.com/jD3DY2RrxI

— Lou (@ExNumeruS) June 19, 2014

Not even hurt !

Some go to the sea with a tent and beach utensils. I had loaded all my electronics workshop in the trunk of the truck.

And to tell the truth, fortunately! Because I was far too overdrawn to have a second series of electronic cards remanufactured − probably because of the check for €100 that I deposited in the bank to constitute the social capital of the company (which I will then increase when I will be rich).

So I found another living room, 800 km from home, to install all my stuff there and once again put on my little Chinese child's outfit.

Objective: take advantage of the time I have left over the weekend to repair the grilled Pioupious and add storm protection to them.

This time, not possible to use the pan. So I invested a few euros to have the right tools.

With an air gun, I heat the welds on both sides of the component to be replaced.

Once the tin has melted, I can easily remove the defective chip. And a shot of acetone later – to remove the varnish residues – the board is operational again to accommodate a brand new module.

I can then put back a sausage of solder paste, and place the new component.

One more blow of hot air, and here is our successful transplant operation:

All that remains is to add the components for storm protection, and you're good to go. A brand new Pioupiou.

We want the continuation!

Despite his simplistic appearances, our little Pioupiou still has a long way to go before he grows up.

I indicated that the deliveries will take place in March 2015, just for the start of the season.

Until then, these first prototypes will continue to reveal their small defects. And as for this problem of thunderstorms, we will find the solutions to make the following pioupious more reliable and more robust.

This Pioupiou project has a much more important stake than the product itself: it is the first weather sensor in the world to share its data under a free license. This is the starting point of the “Wikipedia of weather data”.

It's late and this article is already very long. So I'll save those explanations for another time. In the meantime, you can read:

- the excellent interview published in Place Gre'net

- the press release of the launch of Pioupiou

The future is in your hands − for another 15 days

I have already invested more than six months of work in this project, as well as the vast majority of my " free money ».

At the beginning of July, I launched a crowdfunding campaign on the site KissKissBankBank.

This campaign has a fourfold objective:

• talk about the product and build an ecosystem around it.
• demonstrate that innovation can come from your kitchen, even without going through diplomas and a business plan.
• start thinking about sharing weather information.
• and above all finance the creation of the company and the further development of Pioupiou...

I think the first three objectives have been successfully met. I saw great enthusiasm around this project, and I received a lot of support − including from the government via Etalab, the mission of the Prime Minister's Office which encourages open data projects in France.

But there remains the financial aspect: the collection is at 2/3 of its duration, and I collected 2/3 of the sum − in the form of pre-orders or donations. 

We are therefore “average”. Pioupiou will probably achieve his goal, but there is still a small risk. There are only 15 days left, and it's the holidays.

Remember that if the €29 is not reached in time, the project is canceled and all contributors are reimbursed. This is the crowdfunding rule.

You only have 15 days left to talk about Pioupiou around you and to help me reach the goal. Do not wait !

It's time to relaunch those around you and support the project if you haven't done so yet.

The future of Pioupiou (and his secret siblings) is now in your hands!

Appointment on http://kisskissbankbank.com/pioupiou

This article is a chapter in the history of Piou Piou, the one-of-a-kind weather beacon.

If this project is close to your heart, you can give us the means to improve Pioupiou and invent the rest of his family. All donations collected will be assigned exclusively to the research and development budget.

You can also send us a check payable to Bac Plus Zero, 12 rue Servan, 38000 Grenoble. (attach a short note).