Has The New V4 Controller Started Shipping Yet?

Question

Have the new controller started shipping yet? Looking at building a hexapod now wither with this or ExtraCore 32 Channel servo controller I prefer the V4

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

Not yet.... And if you haven't ordered yet, you'll be at the back of the line (meaning shipping for orders placed now will take even longer).... I ordered mine late September 2013 so I have been waiting nearly 4 months... We're kinda' all in the same boat...

Rich · Answer

If you haven't ordered yet be aware that DJ mentioned the other day that there is a backlog of a couple of months. But no, to my knowledge none have shipped yet. We are hoping to see shipping start late January from the sounds of it but nothing is certain.

Nomad 6R · Answer

wooh thats long

Dave Schulpius · Answer

Yes, it's frustrating having to wait these past 4 months and another one to wait. However there are other projects and family and home to keep busy on. Watching the new releases and reading DJ notes on how they will enhance ARC to work with the V4 also makes me anxious. It's kinda like giving a kid a set on batteries on Christmas and telling them that they're going to get a real cool toy to use them with in a few months. tired

jdebay · Answer

@dschulpius stated: "Watching the new releases and reading DJ notes on how they will enhance ARC to work with the V4 also makes me anxious. It's kinda like giving a kid a set on batteries on Christmas and telling them that they're going to get a real cool toy to use them with in a few months. tired" I agree... confused confused confused confused j

Jeremie · Answer

Hey guys, I wanted to address the idea of clone hardware. If someone were to clone the EZ-Bv3 or v4 they would have to go through us anyway to be able to access the software, remember DJ is the guy the writes our code and can change ARC at any point to get around clone hardware I don't think it'd be reasonable for a company to try to do this. So simply put, clones won't work with ARC unless we give them our stamp of approval. On another note we have a professional relationship with Trossen Robotics and they are very good at producing their own ideas & products, I am extremely confident that they aren't trying to clone our product. Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you guys that as much as you guys want the EZ-Bv4 at your door now, we at EZ-Robot want it more! (Well maybe just as much) Remember, we are a team of Robot enthusiasts as well and we want to use these robots too!

Fattywoo002 · Answer

I was chatting to an Ez-Robot guy via Facebook messenger and received the following polite and reasonable responce. The fact that I received a responce within 12 hours was impressive, most web based companies you would be waiti days, weeks or forever for a responce. "Hello, Thank you for your email! We are anticipating to begin shipping February 2014 as we are in the final stages of setting up our manufacturing facility. At the moment, we unfortunately do not have any products available for purchase. We provide semi-daily updates to all of our customers via the EZ-Robot Community Forum. If you haven't already, join our growing community of amazing EZ-Robot builders: www.ez-robot.com/Community/Forum/ Thanks, and Happy Building!" I asked abut the back order situation because I hadn't orderd as yet and received the following: "It depends on when the order was made. Those customers who ordered their products first will receive them first. All new orders will be shipped around the middle to end of February." So... It's not to long to wait now. I'm an impatient person at the best of times but I would rather get my v4 in perfect working order rather than a rush job and from what I can see from the other users experiences with the hardware, it's always well built. Thanks

Rich · Answer

You would be surprised what you can find that's been cloned! They do clone crap, although I agree with you that copying is the biggest form of flattery. Even if they would work (which they wouldn't) then you're going to get what you pay for and with a clone you wouldn't get support when the item goes wrong (and it will since clones generally use cheaper parts and cut corners). Anyway, back to the delivery... I may be alone in the fact I'm not staring at the mailbox every second waiting for a package to drop through but I hope I'm not alone in thinking that it's best not to rush manufacturer and have future issues. Get it right then get them to us I'm sure EZ-Robots are doing everything in their power to get these to us as soon as they can, after all they can't be receiving any revenue from sales at the moment so clearing the backlog is no doubt right at the top of the list. We all know it'll be worth the wait

jdebay · Answer

So the earliest shipping date is 20th of January of 2014. sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep j update: 45 days from letter tell us thy would be late shipping...

Rich · Answer

What makes you think it's that soon?

Sudo the Banned · Answer

I really don't care how long it takes my EZ-B v4 to arrive. Infact, i'm more worried about my dad cancelling my order because it's taken so long. If it doesn't come when they first said it would arrive, he takes it to believe it's a scam and promptly cancels the order. I've lost many a pre-order item (almost lost my pre-order for the oculus rift) because of it. (even though it's my money) Oh well. blush

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

@Cupcakehat.. if he cancels just order it youself dude... I would never let anyone tell me what and what I can't buy, including a family member... it's your money (as you stated) so spend it your way....Get a credit card or paypal as soon as you can.....

Sudo the Banned · Answer

He's got access to my debit card, I can't really stop him. He also uses his credit card on big purchases (like this) and then I just give him the cash/transfer the funds.

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

Get paypal he'll never know.... but use it wisely

Bobbob21 · Answer

It's not a good policy to go behind your Dad's back. Just explain to him the situation and I am sure he will understand.

Nomad 6R · Answer

its never a good policy to go behind anyones back.maybe he dont understand ,but he sure apreciate your anesty.

Sudo the Banned · Answer

My dad wants me to ask yet again - has the EZ-B been delayed or should I expect it to arrive by early february?

CardboardHacker · Answer

The ez-b was delayed from its original release on December 4. The new date is suggested to be January for those who bought early. People who buy now should expect a months delay. That's what I understand.

Sudo the Banned · Answer

Okay, I ordered mine November 28th. If it comes by January / early February, my dad shouldn't cancel it.

DJ Sures · Answer

We're in a limbo position as we wait to hear about the manufacturing delivery... Because we do not have the ability at our little office in Calgary to manufacture plastic pieces and EZ-B's - we're at the mercy of the manufacturing facility. However, the time frame is something they're working on fitting into their schedule. The toughest part is Chinese New Year - which is like 3 weeks long! I mean, great for them, but pretty terrible timing for us We had tried really hard to find north American manufacturers for our product. Sadly, the prices weren't double or triple - they were 10-100 times more! Also, most north American manufacturers never got back to us with quotes. We really tried hard to have our product manufactured at home, but that sadly won't happen due to those reasons shrug I understand if your dad is concerned - and it is concerning to people who are used to purchasing products with availability. Our product was sold in pre-order... our own source of crowd funding. You can present this message to your father, as he may find it useful to have his concerns addressed by the founder of the company Don't feel alone in your pre-order, there are many thousands of people like you who are anxious. And for that, we are super appreciative! This product couldn't have been created without pre-orders. We had worked hard for a while to obtain investment funding to create Revolution. Sadly, the investment world is a game that my personality wasn't designed for. I'd like to think that I have a strong soul with integrity and respect. The investment world of VC's put strange values on your hard work and their only goal is to take as much of your company as possible. There is a huge future for EZ-Robot, and Revolution is only one small part of our potential. Giving 50% of my company away to a VC would prevent us from having future products. We would essentially end up like Sphero or Romotive - and that's not what we want. Our hardware and software has enterprise potential. Which means, if someone were to create a new product it would make sense to build it around our product - rather than re-inventing the wheel. That is the future of EZ-Robot that I dream of... I would like EZ-Robot to be the "Intel Inside" of robotics. Anyway, back to your pre-order concerns. To put all the cards on the table - the absolute only issue we have is manufacturing time. The product absolutely works. The product is absolutely complete. In fact, I just finished filming a video which we will upload tomorrow that is an entire walk-through of what the heck Revolution is.... A video that truly answers every question any of you have. I know that videos don't compete with having the real thing in your hand. However, it's the best that we can do to show you our sincerity work with your patience. Again, non of this would be possible without your pre-order support. And for that, EZ-Robot and the future of our contribution to robotics in the world thanks you!

Sudo the Banned · Answer

Thanks for the info - I'll show what you said to my dad, hopefully he calms down about "being scammed"

Dave Schulpius · Answer

Nice post DJ. Thanks for the info. It's good to hear from you on this subject. I don't think there is anyone here that have any doubts about EZ Robots or your product. It's just that Christmas Eve syndrome we're all suffering from. We're call just a bunch of kids that cant wait for tomorrow.

Antron007 · Answer

I'm sort of with Rich on this. I knew it was going to be a "It gets here when it gets here" situation. I've no doubts it will get here. I also collect Transformers and Japan has Winterfest which pretty much shuts the country down for 2 weeks so I completely understand the delays. I'd rather have a well made product than some rush job to meet the demand. As far as cloning crap, all I'm gonna say is, they did make 2 Smurf movies. If that ain't cloning crap, I don't know what is. ( That was a joke. I don't want to offend any die-hard Smurf fans out there )

DJ Sures · Answer

Didn't take long for the Apple ][ to be cloned People say we're the Apple of robotics... Let's hope we don't experience those issues!

Danger! · Answer

@Cupcakehat why don't you start a new thread specifically for your Dad to read. Ask for feedback from others who have placed orders in the past. I placed three orders that were delivered before the manufacturing process was put on hold to be improved upon. I would gladly attest to the quality of the parts delivered, the outstading value for what I paid, and the commitment to keep improving the product. I am certain that many other members here would chime in as well with similar responces. He is just looking out for your best interests. Being a father is a tough job. Maybe, however, some of the longstanding customers here can help to convince him that this is an investment that will bring you years of learning and creative accomplishment.

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

Unless you're from the bubble wrap generation....everyone learns more from mistakes than their successes.... Cupcakehat's dad should allow him to make decisions like this... if he gets burned, well lesson learned.... It's called growing up.... In this case we all know Cupcakehat isn't going to get burned, unfortunately his dad doesn't feel the same way... I was sort of half kidding when suggesting him to go behind his dad's back.... still no one likes to be micro managed even if it is a parent....

Nomad 6R · Answer

well.. its a delicate matter between father and son.the less we say the better his change will be. my advies as an older person,spend some quality time whit your dad,do stuff together.

Mjv4721 · Answer

Personally, I don't mind if it takes longer to get here, I agree with Rich that a finished and well-rounded product is more valuable than a product that has been rushed out of the factory just to meet customer demand. Sure, I am as anxious as the next person to get my hands on my robot I have ordered and can't wait to play around with programming JD, there has been some serious development downtime here! BUT, never has there been a greater opportunity presented than by EZ-Robot to get a fully fledged robot (well, in my opinion at least) that has motion tracking, a built-in camera, wireless connectivity and so much more. I am really excited about playing around with the SDK with regards to controlling the robot, but also being used to writing automation scripts for games like Everquest I know the values of having something like ARC that really simplifies the process of prototyping and exploring the capabilities of your robot without having much programming skills. What I do really hope though (and I am sure it will be), is that in the near future that the manufacturing process will be sorted out to be streamlined and quicker with regards to throughput to ensure that I can order many more developer kits because I am pretty sure once I have received my first robot from EZ-Robot that I will be placing my second order for 2 additional kits just from seeing some of the videos and seeing the responses from DJ and the community. The opportunities presented by EZ-Robot to develop robotic automation is too sweet to succumb to things as simple as when will my product be delivered. I am even quite keen to develop additional scripts/C# code that can be shared among the community to expand on the existing tutorials for things I most likely want to add to JD. Also, I might end up writing a small IDE for EZ-Script because I enjoy having scripting projects ready for re-use. Had an idea of converting EZ-Script into EZ-Script++ to maybe get into an object orientated world of programming. But these are just some things I am thinking of prior to getting my delivery.

stonewolf · Answer

Goodmorning Everyone :-} I to am just like all of you, I am anxious to get the V4, but I also don't want to deal with a bunch of bugs and glitches. This will be my first robot build, right now I am still designing the layout of my robot and still receiving items I have bought off of Ebay, antique shops and have found laying around. My design has changed, I am going to be using parts from Rad 1.0 and a V2 Robosapien and a Omnibot 2000 and a few parts from a Hasbro Kasey the Kinderbot. I have found many other parts which I have collected. Long story short, I should have everything designed and somewhat ready for the V4 kit and other parts I have ordered. Once I get things all arranged and designed I will post pictures. I tell people I am building a robot and it surprises them when I tell them what it will be able to do and everything. I don't believe there are many people around my area that has a robot, I guess that is just better for me :-}

slim6072

Has The New V4 Controller Started Shipping Yet?

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