For real, the Hivemapper Dashcam S is almost here

TL;DR:

We now expect Hivemapper Dashcam S production to begin in April rather than March, due to important design changes prompted by the testing of initial prototypes
The updated design will have improved cooling, WiFi compatibility, and positional accuracy
If getting a dashcam sooner is more important to you than the model type, we encourage you to switch to a Hivemapper Dashcam model. You’ll get a refund for the price difference, keep your place in line, and take delivery in a matter of weeks.

There’s a question that many in the Hivemapper community have been asking for months: When is the Hivemapper Dashcam S coming out?

After months of testing and iteration with our technology partners, we’re excited that we can finally share more details about the latest member of our dashcam family.

Long story short, the first production batch is now expected to ship in the second half of April, a few weeks later than originally planned. This delay was prompted by design changes that will improve the safety, stability and reliability of your dashcam for years of happy mapping.

We know it’s been a long wait, and it feels even longer now that other contributors have started mapping with the original Hivemapper Dashcam. If you care more about getting started than the specs of your dashcam, we encourage you to switch models. If you do, you’ll get a refund for the price difference, keep your place in line and take delivery in a matter of weeks.

While the Hivemapper Dashcam S has some additional features, both products are perfect for mapping and there is no difference in HONEY rewards. You can learn more about the differences between the Hivemapper Dashcam and Hivemapper Dashcam S here.

If you're interested in changing your order, send us an email at [email protected].

Improving the Housing, Wi-Fi, and GNSS

The past several weeks have been very exciting for the Hivemapper engineering team, because we’ve been engaged in intensive testing to finalize the design of the Hivemapper Dashcam S.

This has included road testing as well as thermal testing in the laboratory. Based on the results from these tests, we decided to make several changes to improve device cooling, Wi-Fi driver compatibility, and the positional accuracy of the GNSS system. Although adjusting the production and shipping timeline isn’t ideal, it’s necessary so we can ensure for the sake of our contributors and our map quality that the Hivemapper Dashcam S works reliably worldwide.

During initial testing we found two major areas we need to address:

WiFi obstruction – We discovered heat issues that were obstructing WiFi. If unaddressed, these could prevent people from having a stable connection required to contribute. We’re housing changes to improve device cooling and testing Wi-Fi with various devices to ensure WiFi driver compatibility.
GNSS - We found noise impacting GNSS accuracy. GNSS inaccuracy could prevent us from generating accurate location data further preventing high quality map coverage. We’re making board changes to address noise impacting GNSS accuracy to ensure location data is accurate.

To improve device cooling, we’re making housing changes to fix the USB mounting, hole size and placement, and address the heat issues we encountered. We’re changing the housing design to help keep the heat down during full CPU load at high temperatures. We’re testing Wi-Fi with various devices to ensure compatibility.

We’re also adjusting screw holes to ensure proper fitment and making changes to the location of the USB port to fit with the case back. We must make these physical layout updates before we start producing enclosures in mass because of the lead time required for the molds we need for the cast metal bottom.

As part of our commitment to delivering a high quality mapping device, we do extensive GNSS testing. We’re making board changes to address noise impacting GNSS accuracy. We currently have a few sources of interference we are working to mitigate to ensure location data is as accurate as possible.

How to stay up to date on the production timeline

We understand the wait can be frustrating, so we appreciate your patience and understanding. We’ll continue to share updates on the status of Hivemapper Dashcam and Hivemapper Dashcam S shipping and production on Twitter and Discord.