Robotics is becoming more accessible for many people, but the complexities of legged robots mean they remain beyond the reach of most consumers. The complex mechanics, electronics and code algorithms make these robots much more difficult to simply get working. Four legged robots are especially difficult, they might seem very stable but simply lifting a leg up can cause the robot to fall.
QuadBot is an open-source, 3D printed robot that aims to change this.
Unsatisfied by the low cost, low precision and poor functionality desktop robotic arms on the market, a group of six hardcore robot makers decided to quit their high-paying industry jobs, and build their own. Their first product is named Dobot: an affordable robotic arm that can actually DO the job, with industrial precision.
Last year Congress passed Title III of the JOBS Act to allow smaller companies to get an exemption from the strict and costly rules controlling the sale of securities to individuals.
The SEC has developed equity crowdfunding rules in response to that law – rules that help companies raise capital but also protect investors from scams. Those rules are now out for community review and will be enacted shortly thereafter.
Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and the others can apply to qualify but there will likely be a flurry of new Internet portals just for this purpose.
Let the Wild West begin anew!
Welcome to Robotics by Invitation! This month we’ve asked our experts to weigh in on the best way to create tomorrow’s robotics industry. Here’s what they have to say:
Raffaello D’Andrea on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
The best way to commercialize robotics research is to make better connections between academics and entrepreneurs. Academics venturing out into the business world tend to …
Henrik Christensen on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
The public should in most cases not subsidize companies. Tax payers should not be venture capitalists. The new wave of Lean Startup going around the world is a great model to ensure that …
Mark Tilden on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
Funding schemes aren’t viable until we can make more innovative roboticists, and over the years I’ve tried several methods of engendering the Divine Frankenstein Complex in others …
Frank Tobe on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
Funding new robotic projects in America is mostly done two different ways:
(1) strategic funding from NASA, DARPA, DoD, NSF and other government organizations to do the pure science involved in solving stumbling blocks in robotics, and …
Nicola Tomatis on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
I would like to start from the other side: “Why is robotics great in creating new technologies and poor in creating new businesses? …”
We hope you will join the discussion. Feel free to post your comment.
Funding schemes aren’t viable until we can make more innovative roboticists, and over the years I’ve tried several methods of engendering the Divine Frankenstein Complex in others. Teaching at a university had some merit but little flexibility. Starting international robot competitions brings in exposure but promotes more involvement than innovation. Scientific publications vanish into the ether (though books fare better). Movies, TV shows, and toys are never treated seriously though they spread memes universally. Even being a government research program manager (dispensing millions of $) is a slow bath in futility against IP lawyers and rigid corporate policy.
The most successful (and enjoyable) funding scheme I ever took part in was through a science outreach organization that distributed ‘Angel Cards’. We would actively seek out people who were frustrated but brilliant and give them a $10,000 US a month Visa card to spend on their research “hobby”. No other paperwork. At the end of 6 months we’d assess what they’d done and up their card to $20,000/month if good, or we’d just cancel the card, thank them, and walk away.
26% turned out something amazing, and not always in robotics, but that was fine. It was an excellent integrity test proctoring scientific conviction, but it’s exhausting for the managers, which is why we had to recruit successful candidates to take our place when we moved on. Regrettably the program stopped a decade ago, but for a while there it was like Santa Claus for innovation – an option to explore exotic, tangental paths without consequence, and I’m glad to see many of our docents have diversified profitably.
Money well spent. Always hoped someone else would take it up, and it seems a form of it has with the net-wide Kickstarter trend now raging. Rather than indenture a researcher to servitude under a venture-capital scheme or the bureaucracy of government funding, pre-customers can buy into a future product on promises and universal visibility. The personal investment is small, the risk distributed, and some of the products look promising.
Though crowd sourcing lacks the ‘blue-sky’ appeal of pure research outreach, I feel the best robotic funding scheme at present is to invest in cool and visible crowd-sourced ventures.
Or you could fund my ass. A cool hundred mil otta do it. :)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the Robot Dragonfly from TechJect. Developed over four years by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology for the US Air Force, the researchers are now investigating commercial and consumer opportunities through their recently released campaign on the crowd-funding website, IndieGoGo.
Kickstarter’s recent decision making it very difficult for hardware projects to use the platform just highlights two very useful things to know about crowdfunding. Firstly, not all crowdfunding platforms are equal. And secondly, the decision to disallow renderings and multiple product rewards only affects the lazy kickstarter projects that probably weren’t going to be successful anyway. Lazy crowdfunding projects make two big mistakes; like hoping that the platform will do all the marketing; or using the project as a learning curve in design, manufacturing and delivery.
Claire Delauney’s Botiful Kickstarter campaign is in its last hours and as she crosses the funded line, Claire shares with us some of her strategies and insights into running a successful Kickstarter. (SF Bay Area Robotics Meetup) No, it isn’t always easy or #botiful, but Claire’s tips include:
- Have a captivating video with a clear message in the opening seconds.
- Engage with audience via updates – extend your story.
- Conversion rates are very low, so you have to reach beyond your own channels.
- It takes 100s of attempts to get media/blog interest.
- Be full time on your campaign, and in hindsight, also engage a PR specialist.
Jeremy Conrad, from Lemnos Labs, had some price point insights:
- Add 40% margin to your max cost estimate to protect against unforeseen.
This is a great tip because many campaigns that I’ve seen operate on a “we only charge what we’ll need to manufacture”. Firstly, this doesn’t leave you with any margin when shit does happen, and potentially leaves you out of pocket or your backers without any rewards. Secondly, unless you only want to make one batch of your robot, how are you going to distribute in future?
Distributors need to have a margin on top of manufacture and if you set the public expectation of your price point below the final market price, then you aren’t an attractive distribution prospect. It’s not enough to think about how to fund the project. You have to think about how to manufacture and distribute afterwards, including packaging and branding, so that future products have some tie in.
I provided an introduction to the Meetup with some Kickstarter “robot” project statistics, which I’ve scraped from their site. I’ll share a full post later on but in brief:
- 50% projects are unsuccessful
- Kickstarter is a long tail business – drop off in $ raised from 1st to 10th is huge.
- Majority of projects are about $3000-$4000
- Average pledge is $80ish but median pledge is closer to $30
- Claire Delauney (Botiful) – Botiful campaign (video & updates)
- Elad Inbar (Robot App Store) – Botiful/RAS blog dialogues
- Saurabh Palan (iRoboticist) – most number of #botiful shares (twitter, facebook and face to face)
- Jeremy Conrad (Lemnos Labs) – promoting and supporting robot startups & events generally
January 18, 2021
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