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Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

kickstarter.com

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Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#41

Post by DaveMebs »

wisesage5001 wrote: post #31

I don't see what they need $32,000 for. There was another robot project on Kickstarter a while back that was successfully funded (the Bilibot: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/147564168/bilibot-an-aff... ) for a lot less. The hardware required to prototype the Bilibot is a lot more expensive than to prototype one of these Romos, so I don't get what they need 6 times the funding of the Bilibot project for. $78 per…

This was my first thought as well. I built a similar robot in terms of physical design and motorized capabilities a couple years ago for ~$400. It wasn't controlled by a phone, which will admittedly adds some complexity, but I really can't see their overall hardware costs, including prototypes, getting into the 10's of thousands. Is the expectation here that this is also covering a living wage for the developers? It seems like they would be more successful with a lower funding request with the plan being to make a profit once the device hits market.

EDIT: It looks like they aren't even applying a solder mask to the board, which is a really cheap way to improve quality and reliability. For an extensible product that they want people hacking, I'd be spending the few dollars to help minimize short circuits. From my experience, everyone who has skimped and not gotten a solder mask applied to their board ends up regretting it down the line.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#42

Post by zmmmmm »

Done! I've made several half starts at robotics projects, mostly based on Arduino but I always felt exasperated at how weak they were compared to the smartphone in my pocket, which I can already program over a zillion standard interfaces. Getting an Arduino kit with the equivalent of this functionality would cost hundreds of dollars ... this is a steal.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#45

Post by dwc »

marekmroz wrote: post #36
wanorris wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Revolution may be overstating the case, but taking a technology that is accessible to enthusiasts with the technical ability to program an Arduino and construct a robot out of components and making it accessible to users with the technical ability to plug in a smartphone and use a GUI opens up the technology to a whole new audience. Expanding the number of people interested in robotics is a good thing. Just as I'm su…

I understand the sentiment for a getaway robot, however, I believe there are better alternatives for introducing people to robotics such as Mindstorms that you mentioned or Arduino. To clarify, by "better" I mean such that actually get you building and making things, rather than what to me at least boils down to playing with a toy. It may be just the matter of personal preference, but to me this project is closer to…

> To clarify, by "better" I mean such that actually get you building and making things, rather than what to me at least boils down to playing with a toy.

To me, this is one of the attitudes that relegates robotics to the background. Tinkering together hardware is one small part of robotics, but even if you're interested mainly in other aspects you are forced into it.

I'm very interested in the autonomy and programming aspects of robotics rather than in soldering. A ready-to-roll platform that allows me to write my own code is exactly what I want. I've learned enough to design and build my own robot (motor drivers and the rest of it) and have done so, and I realize that this part is something I could hand over to pretty much anyone with an EE degree, or better yet just buy the hardware platform pre-assembled. I can do it but I'd rather not, because this isn't where I personally can do anything truly interesting.

There's room for hardware tinkerers and software people, and people in between. There's no reason for a one-size-fits all attitude that mandates that you need to assemble hardware to be "into" robotics.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#46

Post by p0ckets »

wisesage5001 wrote: post #31

I don't see what they need $32,000 for. There was another robot project on Kickstarter a while back that was successfully funded (the Bilibot: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/147564168/bilibot-an-aff... ) for a lot less. The hardware required to prototype the Bilibot is a lot more expensive than to prototype one of these Romos, so I don't get what they need 6 times the funding of the Bilibot project for. $78 per…

You needed to pledge $650 to actually get a Bilibot, versus $78 for a Romo. It looks like for $5665 three Bilibots will be built.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#48

Post by jamesbritt »

ytai wrote: post #47
jamesbritt wrote: post #35

Very cool. Looks like something quite doable using Android device + IOIO board + Arduino

Android + IOIO period. No need for an Arduino.

I picked the Arduino for the "rest of the hardware" stand-in. But yeah, could be any hardware.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#49

Post by appendix_a »

wanorris wrote: post #39
marekmroz wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the sentiment for a getaway robot, however, I believe there are better alternatives for introducing people to robotics such as Mindstorms that you mentioned or Arduino. To clarify, by "better" I mean such that actually get you building and making things, rather than what to me at least boils down to playing with a toy. It may be just the matter of personal preference, but to me this project is closer to…

That's actually an awesome point. A robot construction kit that you could connect to a phone would be a cooler way to really learn about robotics than a delivered, finished robot. Even if it were modular -- so that you learned nothing about connecting wires, soldering, etc. -- having the experience of getting to choose how you build your robot and what sensors and drive train and such that you use would make a huge p…

i make the software for romo, and the robot can come as a kit.

Re: Turn Your Smartphone Into A Robot

#50

Post by Florin_Andrei »

Blunt wrote: post #33
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Romo is something a primary school kid could assemble. I'm actually doing various projects (robotics-related and non-related) with AVR and Arduino, and they are definitely not primary-school-friendly.

so a $400 iPhone or even a $200 smart phone is a better option than some of the $25 robot kits you can buy that have much more to learn from? not buying it.

(sigh) You don't have kids, do you?

It's not about price, it's about complexity. Plugging an old iPhone into a chassis is something anyone could do, even my 6 year old son. Programming an AVR from scratch is something many adults cannot do.

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