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Is Drawbot Affordable?

Reader Evan suggested I use Ponoko to print out my parts in bulk and then deliver them to customers. Great idea! Let’s see what they charge…

Holy crap! That’s just the printed parts. After the $30 Arduino and the ~$42 stepper motors (their price, not mine) and we’re already above my current asking price. That’s crazy pants.

So if you’re wondering “is Drawbot value for money?” I hope this settles the question.

“But what about these surplus parts, or these bits I got driving all over town?” Well… your time * your hourly pay + travel expenses = how much you just spent above and beyond the cost of the parts. Don’t forget the time you’ll spend modifying the code to make your stuff work. Was it still worthwhile?

I’m always looking to lower my costs, so let me know if you find a cheaper alternative and keep the ideas coming!

PS: I put the Drawbot printable parts on Ponoko anyways, just in case.

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Be More Convincing?

Robots are coming, there’s no question about it. They’re everywhere from Mars to your living room and in between. In order for our kids to understand them and leverage them to full advantage our kids need to understand how robots work and how to talk to them. 3D printers are sexier than what I’m making. They’re also a heck of a lot harder to put together, calibrate, fix, and program. That’s why I’ve designed my kits to teach the fundamentals in a much safer and less expensive way. If you can put together a Drawbot and understand how it works then you can probably assemble a 3D printer without blowing $600-$2000. Does that sound reasonable? I hope so.

The challenge is fitting all that into 10 seconds or less and getting parents and teachers to listen. So I ask you, dear reader: How would you do it? I need to get my message out to the people who need to hear it and I don’t know how. As you can tell from the link at the top of the page, my IndieGoGo campaign is not doing so hot. Your help would be awesome.

I’m going to get a chance to practice my sales pitch at the Vancouver 2012 New Forms Festival from September 13-16. Come out and say hi?

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Back orders, manufacturing, NEMA 17s, and where’s my package?

Hello, Everybody! (I’m doctor Nick!)

I’m back from Black Rock City where I’ve been sequestered for the last 2 weeks. I’m delighted to be back at work filling orders and making awesome robots. It used to be I dreaded coming home to my j-o-b and now I find I can’t wait. I’m facing so many new and exciting challenges that keep me young and entertained.

Case in point, I just got word of my first damaged shipment. Uh oh! Craig (our unfortunate victim) was also really helpful with great tips about ways to improve the kit. He seems to know his stuff, talking about unique value propositions and tooling. As soon as I get a breather I’m going to be implementing most (if not all) of his ideas. Thank you, Craig!

I’ve also received my first order for printed parts. This is where I run into some manufacturing problems I’ve been trying to keep on the DL. You see, ladles and jelly spoons, so far I’ve had to depend on other people for 3D printing. This has proven to be a monumental disaster of enormous delays. Please tell your friends about my Indiegogo campaign to get robots into schools so I can afford my own 3D printer and (I hope) solve these issues once and for all.

One more good piece of news is that my first order of NEMA17s from china have arrived. They’re 0.3a each and come with a 1m wire and a D-cut on the shafts. That means they’ll be easier and tidier than ever for including in Drawbots. I’ve got to run them through some testing. Expect to see them in outgoing shipments really soon.

To prevent further chaos, I’m going to update all store inventory to “out of stock” if it has a 3D printed part until such time as I can get this sorted out. DONT PANIC – I’ll still be filling orders. It’s just a stop gap to slow down the orders until I can get this streamlined the way I’d like. All I’m saying is Please be patient with me and I’ll update here as often as I can.

I’m also going to put priority on acquiring some boxes for safer shipping. Do you know someone in Vancouver area that can supply them at a good price? Do you have a template for a cardboard box I could run through a laser cutter? I love the idea of making them on demand instead of lying around waiting for a fire.

I see now that happy customers = short delivery times + good communication. I’m dedicated to making you happy. If you have any ideas about how to make things better (or maybe just to share the love), please comment below.

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Drawbot at the Vancouver Hack Space Super Happy Hacker House 23

MCing the lightning talks at the VHS Super Happy Hacker House was a blast. I was really nervous about the robot because I had not calibrated or tested it before the event. In the end it turned out great! Sadly, the camera man forgot his equipment so I didn’t get the raw footage for a new Drawbot video. I’ll have to work on that, I think an Indiegogo campaign is in my immediate future.

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Drawbots in the Wild, Michael is awesomesauce

Did you know? As of this moment there are sixteen Drawbots in the wild.

I love giving people props for being mad crazy good, and Michael is 105% awesome. Not only has he built his own version of the Drawbot, he’s contributing to The github project.

Saturday night we’ll be taking raw footage for a new Drawbot showcase video at the VHS Super Happy Hacker House 23.