Here is the main difference between something like Rafiki and Alan. Both have their strong points for sure and both have different things that make them valuable in different areas. This is mainly due to the makers skill sets.

Alan - The value is in the STL files. The look of Alan is what makes it desirable. Protecting the STL files = profits.

Rafiki - There was a lot of work that went into the design but nowhere near what went into Alan. The appearance isn't even in the same ballpark. Where Rafiki's profits are is in the programming as Will has mentioned. This includes the subsystem controllers and in the plugins that are being written. There is also some value in the electronic boards (the first batch of which should be here today) that tie everything together and consolidates the wiring.

The cost to build one would probably be higher than the mass produced version. I think that I went through about 10 KG of ABS to print him out. I am sure that the body of a mass produced version could be much cheaper. There are also cosmetic things that are required after printing, but this isn't where the value is. Alan is a completely different thing all together. It is because of this that I really want and need to focus on the programming of the plugins. Without them, the capabilities of the robot become lessened.

Almost all of the parts (except for the subsystem controller board, Communications board and signal spliters that are used to take one USB cable to 2 cables) is purchasable as consumer products. Some are automotive grade components and the components are not cheap. Because of this, one off purchasing is expensive but every part was chosen because of its ratings and ability to withstand abuse. The only exception to this is the LIDAR that is currently being used, but in this area I decided to see what could be done with this sensor. The issue with this is that it will drive some away due to the cost unless mass produced, but if I go this route initially there are benefits as mentioned.

Programming is an interesting part of this. There are things that should be easy that end up being complicated. There are things that should be complicated that someone has already completed, which then makes them easy. It all takes time to focus on to either find an existing solution (like the licensing solution I found yesterday) or build something. Focus is really the key as interruptions shoot a timeline right out of the water. It is these interruptions that I need to get control of. Many of them are impossible to predict as the situation that I am in now, but many can be avoided. I am focusing on getting the boards completed so that I can then go focus on the programming. My brain multitasks at work all day. It doesn't like to do it on this project as I think that each part requires my full attention. I don't want to overlook things and end up with something that people are not happy with. Once something is released, it is hard to make adjustments.

This is where the DIY type people would be beneficial. They are much more willing to take something that might require updates than those that buy a product. This type of customer would also be able to make improvements and share those improvements with others in the community if they chose to do so. It is such an interesting time now for these types of products. It is also a challenge in that if I went this route, I would be competing with InMoov type products. Looks have a lot to do with peoples decisions on where they want to spend their money and many people are fascinated with human looking robots and I totally understand it. I have built one and look forward to getting back to it. This does however, reduce the selling aspect of a kit.

I will take care of myself and my family as that comes first. I will take my time to get things right on Rafiki as much as possible. It is an interesting balancing act for sure, and I am just looking for a way to focus on what needs to be focused on to be able to make a profit from this venture. The good news is that the expenditures are very low so far and it wouldn't take much to be able to make a profit.

I just spoke to my investor about making Rafiki as a kit initially. There are some things to iron out still and I have a meeting with him Tuesday to iron these out.

Right now the kit would include the Built and ready to use Circuit boards Programmed subsystems controller boards Any special wires needed to connect the communications board to the system controller board A list of the components needed for the build along with recommended vendors. All of the STL files needed to 3D print the robot along with any special instructions.

I am going to be building another Rafiki shortly. I will make video tutorials of how to assemble it.

While I am doing this, I will continue to program the plugins for ARC that will make everything work in one application.

The main reasons for this decision are

1. Much of my support from other people have moved onto other things so this all has fallen back on my shoulders.
2. The goal was to get a product to market by the end of the year and mass production will take a long time to get up and going.
3. There are a lot of robots that are being released this year. We will watch the market to see how these do once released into the general marketplace and make a determination as to if now is the time to release something like this based on how these other robots do.
4. The availability of inexpensive 3D printers has become far more prevalent.
5. The 3D printed parts have proven to be very rugged and reliable so far due to the dome type structure of Rafiki. These 3D printed parts don't break easily at all.
6. If the investor backs out in the future (no sign of this at this time), this is still a method that I can get Rafiki to market.
7. It allows me to focus on getting the code complete instead of worrying about manufacturing processes.
8. Sold as a kit, it removes a lot of the legalities associated with selling a completed robot.
9. It lets us test the market before diving in and hitting our heads on the bottom of the pool.
10. Technology and the changing of abilities in different components that I use (including the EZ-B) has changed in the past 6 months. This allows us to adapt to these changes as they are made.
11. This allows people to replace components with things that they already have and allows the cost to be spread over an extended period of time for them. I don't have financing options so, this is a way to finance the build over time.
12. It removes the supply chain issues associated with this large of a build.

This won't be a kick starter or anything like that. I will be setting up a store on the CochranRobotics.com website. When a purchase is made (don't know the cost yet) you would receive all of the downloadable content and then I will start manufacturing the board. I will have plenty of the controller boards and other custom type products on hand, but I would suspect that it would take me about a week to get the boards built if needed, tested and shipped out. There will be very little if any soldering needed from the purchaser. Most, if not all of the wiring would be as simple as plugging in wires to the appropriate sockets.

I realize that I will be doing a lot more documentation doing it this way, but this is all good in the long run. Having instructional videos for a build like this should easily translate into maintenance and repair instructions if this were to be a produced product. Also, these would be good for manufacturing anyway.

Anyway, just an update. I would suspect that this will reduce the timeline to have this out to somewhere closer to the summer instead of around Christmas.

I am excited about this new direction as I feel I am much more capable of providing this solution at this time. It takes a lot of stress off of my shoulders and allows me to focus on making the best robot that I can. This will be far less lucrative initially. This isn't really my goal at this time anyway as I have a good paying job and can more than take care of my responsibilities with it. I believe that it will pay dividends in the long run if we were to take it to the next level.

This direction allows me to start working with more of the maker community instead of the general public community. As seen with the Revolution robots recently and with Anthony's experience with one of his customers, I believe that this will allow me to "interview" the potential customer to figure out if they will be wasting their money on this type of a build or not and offer advice to them prior to the purchase, along with fine tune the platform instead of answer a lot of questions from people who don't understand or shouldn't have purchased in the first place. This lack of communication and research before purchase is where I see the issues that we have seen recently. It is also why I made the post "Is this for everyone" or something to that effect. I am really concerned about the company needing to hire a huge support staff to help people who bought this as a toy. I am concerned about people who have bought this and think "I just plug it in and it goes without any maintenance or repairs being done by me". It is a different mindset and I hope to set expectations prior to the purchase. This is a huge concern for me. I understand that it will cost me money to run a business like this, but I genuinely care that someone doesn't waste hard earned money on something that they will never understand or use. It keeps me up at night...

Thanks David

Lots of great points. Many that I myself have come across with the ALAN project. I'll be interested to see how this goes for you. It's a similar idea in the business plan we had minus the crowd funding.

It is an interesting thing for sure Will. Manufacturing moving to the home brings in so many more possibilities for something like this. It also requires some redesign of a few of my parts but not many.

There is something about the "this is a robot that I made" feeling when you see it running around your house, even if someone else designed it. It puts me into the same space as InMoov I suppose but for a totally different type of robot. From my InMoov build, I learned a lot about making durable 3D printed parts. I also learned a lot about peoples reaction to InMoov. There were some things from the InMoov build that I wished I could have used, but I decided to stay as far away from those types of design decisions and opted for the stronger option where possible. For example, I could have used the shoulder gear type design that the InMoov has for moving some components with a rotational servo. I opted to use a linear actuator instead because of the strength that it provides for a minimal cost difference. Also, I lost all concerns of the gear breaking at that point. Also, this allowed me to keep more of the robot running at 12 volts instead of having to step down some of this voltage to something like 6 volts for different components.

DJ mentioned this before and the longer I am in the community, the more I understand what he was talking about. It would be awesome to have a consolidated effort by many of the members to come up with a robot platform that really made people stand up and take notice of ARC. So many members are so talented in different areas and each is working on their own robot. A consolidated effort by many of us on one platform would result in a simply amazing robot. That is so tough to do and I haven't thought of a way to make that happen with everyone working their own jobs and having different likes/dislikes and all. It is an interesting thought though...

Yes Tony and I had discussed the same thing. A combined effort would be a great achievement for sure. Many talented people here. I've tried many many times in the past to work starting companies or be a part of a start up. It takes a very special group of people to successfully combine strengths, have the same vision without egos personalities clashing and getting in the way of progress. And probably why so many try to do it on their own.

It still would be interesting to start a thread with people throwing out ideas from potential robot ideas to sensors they would have, tasks they perform, software/hardware they would run, etc. We know from watching successful robots on crowdfunding what's popular with consumers now ( social robots) and consumer robots that have been out for awhile like the roomba and lawn mower robots. The balance is always cost and performance.

You never know what could develop out of talks like that!

I have ordered the parts needed to build a second Rafiki. I am documenting its build process as I build it so that the documentation can be used in a kit type build. The structure of the documentation will be in the following format...

Image to reference showing the STL file locations Summary of the build steps for the current part you are on. List of the parts and the recommended vendor along with expected cost Detailed step by step instructions Testing procedures to make sure that this series of steps was completed correctly

There will be videos available for the build process showing the step by step instructions.

While the lengthy print process is completing, I will work on finishing up the code for Rafiki to tie it in as plugins in ARC.

Is there is anything else that anyone can think of for documentation purposes on the build process? I would like to get input because so many kits have limited instructions that frustrate those who buy them. I am trying to make this as complete of a build kit as possible without causing frustration to the buyer.

David,

I know it would be a great pain in the ---, but detailed, dimentioned mechanical drawings would be a big help to those of us would like to build a Rafiki.

Are you planning to make the printed parts available through someplace like Shapeways?

When do you think you will be able to release a parts/price list?

I have followed your Forum entries and answers and learned very much from them.

Thank you.

Initially, I think I will just make them downloadable through my website, but I suspect they will find their way to other sites eventually.

I agree that mechanical type drawings would be good. I will look into doing that. Good advice.

The first part (base) price list is pretty much ready. I just need to identify what the kit would sell for. Also, I am making any adjustments to the STL files as I print them. As you know, the first print gets things about 90% correct and then adjustments are made. I made adjustments to the STL files from lessons learned during the first build, and will make further adjustments with the second build before releasing them for download.

I am also identifying what is easily purchasable from vendors and what I need to include in the kit. Things such as wiring that is the correct length and such would be included in the kit along with the things that are specific to this build like the subsystem controllers, circuit boards and such.

I will probably release everything in chunks (like the InMoov project) so that someone can start the build. The difference between this and InMoov is that all of the design and STL files already exist when someone starts the build. This is nice, and it will help with the build process as changes dont have to be made to fix something in order for it to fit with the next component developed. Also, by doing another complete build, I will be able to document it as it goes along. This should make the documentation process more complete.

I expect to release the first part of the build process in about a month with the final parts released by July or so. I think that is a reasonable timeline. The large majority of the cost is in the base. The motors and battery make up a large portion of the cost. Unfortunately, to test things out at that point you would need a 12v battery and the motors/motor controllers/motor driver and kit. The base is about 1/2 of the cost of the total build. I dont want people to think that every section of the build costs anywhere near what the base costs to complete so I am trying to figure out a way to convey this.

To set expectations, this build will cost around $3,000 to complete. Mass producing or mass purchasing some parts would reduce the cost but would require me to stock items and make a much larger kit that I am not equipped to do at this time. I wish I was, but unfortunately I can't. I believe the completed robot is well worth this cost when looking at what it will be capable of doing as the other plugins in ARC are completed. This path allows me to do those things that make the cost of the platform much more understandable.

Also, the cost of the parts are higher due to being either industrial grade components, automotive grade components, or just very robust components. The parts that normally fail in a robot are the moving mechanical pieces. All of these are really high grade components so, the hope and goal is that once built, you won't have a need to replace these in the future. Really, nothing is hobby grade where motors or sensors are concerned except for components that have been used for many years and have been proven to be stable and reliable. The battery that is used is very light weight for delivering the power that it does. This also costs more money initially but is really a cost savings in many areas over time.