Well, I have been quite busy and therefore haven't been around much - sorry :). EZ-Robot has been getting some amazing attention from a few very large and awesome companies, specifically on the topic of partnerships and even probing to purchase us. Flattering as it is, we will continue positioning our little company to provide enterprise solutions for the big guys.
So, as you have been speaking with Jason and Jake in this other thread - I'd like to add a little update from my eyes. I have been traveling between Montreal, El Paso Texas, and California over the past 2 weeks. It's been exciting, but I really missed my bed. I returned to the office to witness an amazing amount of progress from our team.
As we had mentioned in our last update, not all of our parts were acceptable for manufacturing. We had no idea how much work it is to make injection molded parts. And on top of that, we are literally pushing the injection molded process to the limits! There is a post on here with someone who mentioned he had a car built in the time it took for us to build this. In that case, I will remind him that there are tens of thousands of cars built around the world every minute
It's a process which has evolved over 100 years since Henry Ford's assembly line. Now, modular robotics? That's a very different discipline! To quote one of the engineers responsible for our DFM (design for manufacturing) process: "<i>This is the most complicated part to manufacture I have ever seen in my career.</I>"
Anyway, I returned to excellent progress in our office. Firstly, all of the mold designs and new designed parts are being displayed and organized as they arrive from DFM. The mold creation is coming along great and we will see our first completed injection molded plastic robot parts in a week! It will be a big day and don't worry we will share it with you.
Here's a video of JD from a STEM Education Presentation I was doing in Texas last week.
For those wondering what that mess is on the Office Cam, they are all of the DFM parts lined up with the Mold Design Schematics and Details...
Due to the manufacturing requirements of the parts, many of them have changed. This includes the EZ-B shell, the bodies of the robots, legs, and even the servo adapters. Every single part had to be modified to be properly manufactured.
Jeremie has been very busy with the last final tests of the firmware before we begin shipping EZ-B's on Monday. In this pic, he calls the setup the "Rastafarian" EZ-B because of all the colorful wires connected to it.
It's rare that we ever have robots in the office because they are requested by media sources. Wired Magazine returned this bunch of robots to us - and we're not quite sure what they're up too.... Sure looks like an intimate robot party
Our office is lucky to have a WowWee MIP robot to play with. He's a cute little balancing (inverted pendulum) robot which cruises around on two wheels. He's also controlled by your mobile device! MIP will soon be part of the EZ-Robot supported fleet of robots in ARC with a neat-o backpack sporting the EZ-B v4. Oh yeah, and here's Six doing a dance that Jeremie had made
Thanks for the informative update! I know we all appreciate your candor
and those of the Forum who have been with EZ-Robot from the very beginning must also feel flattered and proud! I think for the most part, members would appreciate a smaller company "providing enterprise solutions"
Ha! A robot orgy! Now that's a scream.
I'm glad you didn't accept an offer to sell the company DJ. When you mentioned that my heart skipped a beat and I swallowed.
Congrats on navigating all these turbulent and excited waters to this point. You must be very proud of yourself, your co workers and how far EZ Robots has come so far, so fast! I know I'm very proud of you all (for what my small opinion is worth
).
Awesome update
And excellent decision on not selling out, I'd hate for some money hungry corporation to take over and ruin your hard work!
DJ, thanks for the informative update and video of JD walking!
Is that a Wii controller the lady is using to control JD? Does the EZ-B v4 have bluetooth built-in? If so, it's not mentioned at the specifications (and probably should be)
I'm an avid follower & sometimes pledger of kickstarter projects. Now that I know a tiny bit more about the "injection molding" process, I get a chuckle when I see optimistic production times in some of the projects that include injection molding.
I was pleased to see injection molding and supply chain & logistics as the key risks to this highly oversubscribed 3D Printer Project https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m3d/the-micro-the-first-truly-consumer-3d-printer. Hard to believe their goal was only $50,000, which I now know pays for only one mold. Lucky for them they got over $2.8 mil
DJ :-} Well first of all, Thank you for not selling the company, for if you were to sell, things would no longer be affordable, especially if you sold to a larger company, I believe prices would soar and greed would set in, I have seen it a lot of times when small companies sell, keep doing what you are doing, another big plus for you is your customer service :-} The videos are good, but my robot is still waiting patiently for the V4, the other night I heard him praying for wisdom and a heartbeat :-} Keep up the good work up there :-}
Really a Great Update DJ. Looks as though with you at the helm, EZ-B is gonna start kickin some booty soon.
DJ! Living his dream, soon we will too! Thanks for sharing the update!
@Tony1952... The V4 uses WiFi so no need for Bluetooth...
Thanks @Richard R The Wii Remote uses bluetooth, so how do you get a Wii Remote to control JD as in the above video above? Is the JD in the video using a V3 board? Or, with the V4 board does the Wii Remote connect to bluetooth on the PC or Android phone?
Just looked up specs on the Wii remote... apparently they are using a Mitsumi DWM-W004 WiFi 802.11b/g wireless module... Mind you I did find this info on Wikipedia....
I'd like to echo the others statements on your decision not to be bought out. It wouldn't be the same and who knows how much EZ-Robot would have changed for the worse.
@Richard R I think that Mitsumi wifi module is for the Wii console. If you check out the wiki page on the Wii Remote it says the remote operates via bluetooth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_remote
I've just found some info on this site. Under Learn/Support/ARC Manual/ Misc Controls - Wii Remote it describes connecting the Wii Remote to the PC instead to the Ez-B. I wonder if that's the case for Android as well?
@Tony1952 , Both the V3 and V4 EZ-B always require a computer (Windows, Android, or soon iOS for V4) to control them. Any additional controller, WII or other joystick or game controller talk to the computer, not directly to the EZ-B. So, the EZ-B v4 only has WiFi, but if the computer has Bluetooth, you can use a Bluetooth remote.
Alan
I hate to be one of the "More JD video please" people, since I don't even expect to get one, but so far all of the videos have him walking a straight line, and then doing some dance moves. I would like to see him execute a turn, and maybe see him stand up after getting knocked over. When you have the time of course. Getting stuff made and shipped obviously takes priority.
Alan
Duh, forgot that fact... Of course the Wii... controller connects to the PC and not the ezb board itself... thanks Alan
Thanks for that info @thetechguru ! It's been a bit of a mystery to me for some time
Thanks everyone.
The Wii Mote can be used in two ways:
If used in a mobile device, the mobile device simulates a Wii Mote including the accelerometer
Connected to the PC via Bluetooth which is connected to the EZ-B v4 over Wi-Fi
More information about the Wii Mote and EZ-Robot can be found in our very large Learn section: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=154
haha @stonewolf "praying for wisdom and a heartbeat"...I find myself doing the same often!
Thanks for clearing that up @DJ It all makes sense once you know the facts! Pointless using Wii Remote if the Android phone can do the job
Good news about the WowWee MIP as I have one on order! Probably won't hack it for a while though unless it's a simple exercise