Introducing Alan

fxrtst

USA
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Edit:  Kickstarter campaign failed in 2015.

In 2023/24 you too can build an Alan by joining my Robotics Masterclass. Learn as you build. Available soon.


Introducing Alan, the android head robot platform kit, soon to be released on Kickstarter.

First a quick introduction. For those that may not know me. I've been a make up effects artist in the film industry for the past 23 years. Robots have always fascinated me since I was a kid growing up in Ohio and watching Lost in Space episodes. That interest never left me and when starting work in the film industry, I taught myself animatronics. That is I would be called upon to make something move via radio controlled, a puppet, or a toaster or ? As CGI took over the animatronics part of my industry, I focused my free time on using that knowledge for robotics. When I saw prosumer 3D printers come on the market 8 years ago, I knew I could get some of my ideas to the table with out the need for a garage full of CNC machines.

Alan is a culmination of of both technologies, animatronics and 3D printing. When this idea started 3 years ago, I had just found EZ Robots and knew that I could build an interestingly designed kit for everyone so they could experiment with robotics. A platform that personifies how we will interact with robots and androids in the near future, by looking them in the face.

My first challenge was to make sure I leaped over the "uncanny valley". To do so, I took the human dimensions and changed them a bit, eyes wider apart, downplayed high details and added features that were without a doubt not human and certainly robotic in form.

The second challenge was keeping the cost down for consumers. A head like this in the film industry, filled with lots of motions like brow, smile, etc would costs $10's of thousands of dollars. So I built Alan with a modular design in mind. Meaning that the store front will carry modules that will allow you to customize and upgrade the same robot without having to buy a whole new head. As an example the front subskull can be replaced with a module with brow movement, allowing you to keep the entire head and eye mechanism. Other silicone skins will become available different colors and genders, styles, etc. The low cost introductory head will include about 22 parts, easy to assemble, with the consumer supplying servos, power supplies EZB, etc. on their own. My website will include links to all the accessories needed, plus mods like LED eyes, built in audio systems and so on. All the parts will be molded and manufactured in Los Angeles. There will be no pressure injected molding of parts this time around. These are cold cast high impact plastic parts and platinum silicone skins. Alans future may include a full body, if the Kickstarter is successful. And you can certainly use this as a replacement head for InMoov . I will look at altering the open source STL files to be able to accept my heads.

I always knew that the EZB would be Alan's brains. And I will promote it as such. As we all know, DJ's commitment and advancement to the EZB is leading us into the future of robotics.There really is no other choice in my mind. But that's in part because I'm no programmer:) D. Cochran's EZ-AI is a boon to Alans development. I look forward to where David takes it. And although I have it installed I have yet to implement it with Alan for a few more weeks. All of these working together will be highlighted on the Kickstater video.

I have several more weeks to finish the paint job and run a new hero silicone skin. Then there is the very important Kickstarter video. So we are at least 4 weeks out. But I will post here the links to both the Kickstarter and Alans website when they go live and as Alan progresses.

I look forward to your ideas for programming and how you would mod him. I'd also like to hear how you would like to see him develop. Thanks for your time and enjoy the development pictures and video.

All the best,

Will

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Programming

Camera, Speech recognition, speech synthesis, pad touch,

Parts & Materials

Dynamixels, Arduino, USB camera, EZB 4, micro servos and regular servos

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PRO
USA
#1  

Not sure how to make this into a project with the slide show at the top...any one with info?

United Kingdom
#2  

@Will.

Wow dude. That is some outstanding work. The detail is excellent and it just looks great. I can see you have put a lot of time and effort in to it. Great job.:)

Don't worry about the slideshow. There's nothing you need to do further as you have marked it as a showcase. It will generate pretty soon so give it a few hours and it will appear.

Thanks for sharing your project. I love it what you have done so far, especially the lighting very cool. This I will be following.

PRO
USA
#3  

Great! Thanks for the info Steve.

#5  

That was so cool. I love the imagination that goes into these projects. I remember when I was younger I could tinker around the house and come up with something. I am older now and its a struggle to envision an idea let alone actually find the time and resources to actually do it. Good luck with it, look forward to seeing its progress.

#6  

Wow, your experience in the film industry and robotic design has really provided you with great insight to put you here with this post and a really great idea. Waiting a month is going to be irritating but I'm sure it will be worth it.

PRO
USA
#7  

Thanks @robohappy and Doc. I'm hoping that people of ages will be interested in this project and support the Kickstarter. Then everyone can populate the world with android heads...lol

#8  

Will, Amazing work, and your experience showing through! I like how it may later have a female option.
Can't wait to learn more. The slideshow shows when you add more pictures. Steve S;)

#10  

Very impressive, and thanks so much for naming it after me :P

Alan

PRO
USA
#11  

@alan, my pleasure:)

#12  

@fxrtst, Wow! Looks great, it will be interesting to watch this develop. I really like the silicon mask. I'm glad to see that you copy writed it but you should also patent it and trademark it. As there are people out there who will make a quick copy of it and put it up for sale on their website, if given the opportunity. And even all that doesn't stop some of them.

Really nice job.

PRO
USA
#13  

Yes we have TMed all the upcoming names and copy righted the intellectual property. We have a great Hollywood attorney:)

PRO
Synthiam
#14  

OMG! mind == blown

this is ridiculously amazing!

PRO
USA
#15  

Yay! You're the one I wanta impress. You're the inspiration behind it.

#16  

Yay! I don't have to keep my mouth shut anymore! You know how impressed I am already. As you know, if you need any help with the programming I am here to assist. I look forward to getting one and slapping it on top of my inmoov.

#17  

Woow-ho-ho-ho! Now that's the kind of work I have been expecting to see coming from you. I'm not at all supersized this was created by you but it is way more then my simple imagination was trying to envision when you shared some your concept with me months ago. Will, this is way over the top cool. I feel very fortunate you choose to share this with us here on this forum. Wow. eek

PRO
USA
#18  

@d.cochran, you have inspired yet another part of this guy. With your forward thinking and programming skills , you've managed to add yet another layer to the EZB experience.

@dave, buddy I couldn't wait for you to see this, you saw some very early designs and now it's up talking and looking around! Glad you like him!

#19  

Holy crap! This is it. This is the greatest most advance android I've ever seen. It was like you pulled it straight out of a freaking awsome sci-fi movie, like you hopped in a Delorian and stole it from the future, the inmoov has nothing on Alan, and ez-robot powered makes it even better, I can't wait to see more, please give us more, you are a true genius, a true professional robotisist and I see a bright future in store for you, bravo bravo keep up this amazing work your doing. =D

#20  

Will, this should win you another Emmy! I really cant wait to see more. I'm looking forward to your Kickstarter.

#21  

Fantastic job FX! Really! , blows away the inmoov

PRO
USA
#23  

@dave if they were giving out emmys for robots id be a happy guy.

#24  

I want one - Now!

Great platform for the imagination and amazing accomplishments coming out of the EZ Robots fraternaty.

The future is truly NOW!

PRO
USA
#25  

Well said oldbotbuilder!

PRO
USA
#26  

A few more development shots.

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First stack up of the parts into the head, including the EZB. It all fit!

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Where me jaw?

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Three heads are better than one. Evolution in height.

PRO
USA
#27  

Grrrrr sideways... Any way to edit pic from forum or do I need to rotate and re upload?

#28  

Edit it in paint or something then reload it

PRO
USA
#29  

Some questions floating in...

It's 17 inches 1:1 human scale . It's actually a bit bigger than my head.

Yes the silicone skin comes with the kit. I guess that isn't clear. All nuts/ bolts magnets etc come with kit as well

It has 5 degrees of movement.

Parts come stark white with no paint. So you can paint any color. The skin is neutral translucent so it will go along any color you paint the shell.

There will be early rewards at a higher price for a few lucky customers pre painted and assembled.

The top reward will be all inclusive head, tablet all assemble pre programmed ready out of the box.

I will have extensive video library on assembly , painting, modding, the droid.

I printed the parts on my 3D Systems Projet 1500. At 100 microns, but will reprint at 50 microns for more detail for final parts when Kickstarter is done.

United Kingdom
#30  

THAT'S what I've been waiting for! The measuring stick has just been changed:)

PRO
USA
#31  

Ah Rich, the only other one that got to see the early early stages. He's all grown up now:)

#32  

Man if their is a best robot award I'd vote u to win it, u are truly gifted my friend, I only wish I had the skills and talent you have, u are like my new hero of robotics well that and DJ Sures lol you guys are truly amazing and if these Alan androids ever hit the market place, you better believe ill be in line to buy one lol.

United Kingdom
#33  

He sure is all grown up now! I had almost forgotten about the early development info you shared with me and even knowing this was in the works I didn't expect, well, this.

I knew it would be something of a piece of art but was not expecting you to blow everything else so far out of the water. Thoroughly impressed and a great thing to see to start my day!

PRO
United Kingdom
#34  

Wow, incredible! I have been anticipating your project ever since you first teased us some time back, and it does not disappoint!

I look forward to seeing this on Kickstarter where I would certainly like to purchase a head to place on an ALTAIR EZ:1 type body.

Tony

Gibraltar
#35  

excellent work, so well polished it more art than science. I love the silicone mask too. Two questions how long do you expect it to be before the kickstarter is up and running, and are you going to do a torso to match?

#36  

That's much better than the inMoov head!... Much better.... I wanted to ask if the eye mechanism uses standard servos? The reason I ask is that inMoov uses micro servos for the eyes which most people ditch because they are not strong enough for their purpose.... Also do you have an approx. cost and timeframe for the Kickstarter release?

It would be cool if you could design the head and neck mechanism to replace the inMoov head.... :)

#37  

@fxrtst... You are pushing the limits and the boundaries my friend! Awesome work! It is truly a work of art. Just hope I can afford one when it becomes available.:P I will be following this very closely.

#38  

@fxrtst OMG! I absolutely love it ! I haven't loved a device as much since the first EZ-B! So original looking! I hope no one copies it.

#39  

@fxrst

Awesome work bud. It reminds me a bit of Vision from the new Avengers movie. Great stuff...I see similarities with Inmoov but definitely WAY better than the InMoov...very sick. Looking forward to your progress, and I know how hard, time-consuming and expensive this kind of development gets so I hope you get the KS money to finish it!;)

PRO
USA
#40  

@Rich Glad you remembered and enjoyed the end product.

@Tony, Thanks so much for the kind words, you'll be the first to know!

@bborastero our current time line has us at release in about 6 weeks barring any more delays. And yes there are plans for an entire robot.

@Richard, No they dont use standard servos, because of the space limitation. But the micro servos I use are plenty strong and fast for the job. They have been operational for 2 years and no problem with them yet. My eye mechanism requires little power to move. As for cost we are still in the process of boiling that down. There are two parts might have to be machined and those are unknown costs. Then the duplicate molds. If I was lucky enough to get 400 to 500 units sold I want to duplicate the molds so we can get out enough parts to fill all orders in a 90 day period. So the short answer is not yet, but we are keeping the costs low by introducing it as a base kit.

@rgodon, Thanks!

@Troy glad you like him! I'm sure someone will eventually. Patents don't carry much weight internationally

@doombot, thanks very much!

PRO
USA
#41  

I have shown a few people Alan here in Oregon and alot of people like the frame or what I call the skull portions and some said it would be sad to cover it. So I printed eye lid covers for the eyes if you want to leave the silicone skin off. That took my ideas in a whole other direction for other really cool skulls and jaws..so stayed tuned for that. Here is a pic showing the eyelid cover on the robots left eye.

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United Kingdom
#42  

@Will.

I must admit I was torn between the two designs. When I first looked at the pictures and start of the video I was saying to myself "I love the look of this". But later in the video when you added the skin, I changed my thoughts to "that's just freaky, and looks soo cool".

I do like the addition of the eyelid. The eyes have gone from having a "terminator'ish" kind of look to something much more human looking, and changes the overall character. It looks such a simple change, but makes a lot of difference. I spent ages covering one side of my PC screen with my hand comparing the two eyes,:P.

PRO
USA
#43  

Ha, I know its such a crazy thing the brain. I have to try and jump through alot physiology. But in the end its just what looks cool to each person. My niece would have flower and girl power all over it, painted hot pink with lipstick and a wig. So it will be fun to see how people mod and make it their own!

Funny this image, lighting plays alot into it as well, if you watch the video and see him all white and moving at about 2:29 is the same android just painted white and well lit. He kinda looks scared and meek white in the video, like "give me my skin back!"

PRO
Synthiam
#44  

There's a setting disabled which prevents me from seeing the video in embedded browser. Can you enable that? We sent a tweet with the link but no one can watch your video.

It'll be a setting in YouTube

PRO
USA
#45  

I looked in the advanced settings it and there is a check mark next to allow embedding. Could it be that the video is unlisted. Does it have to be public?

Or maybe its this embed link?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pyMVGzFOGv4"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

#46  

You have done a Great Job. Your past experience is shining. Put a set of teeth and some more A.I. and it will be Fascinating.

#47  

Wow. I don't have enough time for the one project I have going already, but i don't think I can pass this one up.

#49  

Alan is the future ! You really have taken the giant leap. I also look forward to your release of Alan and potential other robot heads, skins and bodies.

My only feeble suggestion, is I have mentioned mounting the camera in the nose of a humanoid robot in other threads. It looks out the nostril opening. This way it is hidden. Eyes are often full of led's etc., like Alan.

Ron

Edit.. I prefer no hole in the center of the head. Will options be available?

#50  

I believe that the camera is in that circle in the middle of his forehead.

PRO
USA
#51  

That is correct , his forehead.

PRO
USA
#52  

Ok, you guys motivated me and i worked on the paint job today. Got it matching my color comp from previous pictures. Still needs some aging and a clear coat and a few other bits. The test skin i have on him will be a bit more translucent and more in the white and less yellow color. I like how you can see the paint job thru the skin.

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Skin job

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#53  

I foresee quite a few magazines calling for interviews and covering this.:)

PRO
USA
#54  

@anthony certainly part of my thinking during design. But lots of fun going thru the color wheel !

@troy, I certainly hope so! Get some PR before the ball drops for KS!

#55  

You've got a great upgradeable product and something people can actually see working. Too many people fail at KS when they don't show a good prototype beforehand. Press on! You obviously know what you're doing!

PRO
USA
#56  

Thanks, so many ideas. I've come up with a way to teach androids how to make facial expressions. Just need some DARPA funding for that:)

#57  

Hey you never know! Sometimes these KS can go crazy wild with funding! I will be crossing my fingers for ya. :D

PRO
USA
#58  

Here are a couple quick color comps, funny how color affects moods and feelings

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PRO
USA
#59  

Thanks Troy, I'd love to slow down and just do this. After working in the film industry for 22 years, 100+ hr work weeks, I think I ve worked twice as much as the average joe at the end of their life. And I'm only 49! Ha!

#60  

@fxrtst, I wish I was good at CAD because you've inspired some add-on ideas I'd like to give you.

PRO
USA
#61  

That's what I like about creating this project on this forum, having people give their ideas, input and mods for these guys. Please offer suggestions!

#62  

@fxrtst, Would it work to put the center forehead camera on a pan and tilt mount that could be synced with the eye movements?

PRO
USA
#63  

That's what the head does. I have the eyes and head sync together with relative servo. In a human we look at something with our eyes then a split second later our head move to a similar position. So the pan and tilt of the camera is about a 1/2 second out of sync. Something I can live with. If you watch the video at 2:14-2:24 during autonomous operation, you can see what's happening there. Trust me there was a lot of thought put into the position of the camera. At one point early in the design I had a ping detector in the forehead too. Glad I did away with that design for this incarnation.

PRO
USA
#64  

Whoo ho, got my new hi res camera straight from China! Thanks guys! ill try to test it out today!

#65  

@fxrtst Would that be the new rumored ez robot camera?

PRO
USA
#66  

Why yes it would, but no Longer rumor!

#67  

Thank you fxrtst, I like all the color combinations, but I like the silicone mask best. Great project! Can you tell more about the HiRes camera that you received? Maybe there will be more info released later? Steve S

PRO
USA
#68  

Thanks Steve. Me too, I will be making silicones skins in the next couple weeks to key into the final look. As far as the camera I have yet to connect it but looks like the same form factor as the v3 camera.

#69  

Hey Will... thanks... Any chance you can post a picture of the new camera when you have a chance?

Cheers Richard

PRO
USA
#70  

Here you go in and out of case

#71  

Thanks Will... It looks identical to the ones I have... Perhaps there is a 3rd version that I have been hearing about?

PRO
USA
#72  

This says v4 camera on invoice and that is what i ordered from the store, as it was a preorder. I heard from Josh that it looks the same. I think the camera is higher resolution. That only makes since they swapped out the camera ccd guess the rest stayed the same? What third camera are you talking about?

#73  

@Fxrtst... I heard that EZ Robot had updated the current v4 camera (the one introduced last year, not the old Bluetooth camera that was sold with the V3).... It is supposed to be more durable because people were breaking them trying to get them out of the plastic shell.... The lens was easy to dislodge when removing it... I think it had also been upgraded to higher resolution as you mentioned as well... You may very well have the new version of the V4.... Maybe Josh is right, maybe they do look identical. I have one on order too, so I'll compare it to the ones I have now and see if it is indeed a new version....

PRO
USA
#74  

Oiy, getting old sucks, lol. My brain has turned to mush working on this android for so long. I thought it was the new camera. Now I have three old cameras. I'll watch for an announcement next time! In the mean time any one need a camera?!? Ha.

Germany
#76  

the best ez-robot project I have ever seen and a lot work. it looks like the I-Robot Movie robot but with a little bit more coolness:D I want to to buy this bust ;-)

United Kingdom
#77  

Will,

This is EXCELLENT work, and as other have said one of the best Humanoid I seen using EZB, and just when I've starting to build a InMoov, you come along with something far superior. :)

Can't wait to see it completed!

PRO
USA
#78  

Thanks! @cem, and @smarty

South Africa
#79  

Well done this is a real piece of art. Can't wait to see it for sale

#80  

Better get your other hand ready for another award! I have a feeling you will be holding two up soon.

PRO
USA
#81  

@mohamed and @moviemaker, thanks and lets just hope for a successful campaign!

PRO
USA
#82  

Nothing new, just reposting to get these to the slide show at the top.

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#84  

i like the latest redesign it looks more humanoid than ever. now if only you could create the positronic brain for alan lol issac asimov would love to see this if he were alive he was awsome.

PRO
USA
#85  

Heheh, thanks,

I created the "round" port dial (white) in the back to take out the positronic brain!

Canada
#87  

positronic brain!....

Time to re-read my Isaac Asimov Collection We should appoint Susan Calvin to help us to develop that brain.

#88  

@fxrtst, how close are you to the open day on Kickstarter?

Can you give us a ballpark price?

Excellent work!

PRO
USA
#89  

Can anyone tell me why alot of pictures are missing from the gallery? Pictures from page 3,5,6 were in the gallery at the top but are now missing and when Nomad posted one of my pictures that he edited it posted and went to my gallery?! Strange. Do I have to repost to get them back in there? And how do I remove Nomads image ?

PRO
USA
#90  

@nomad, please remove the edited image you made of the mouth closed. Also please read the first page of this thread as it will tell you about the robot. No free STL. sales soon. Also there is a picture of robot red mouth closed on page 6.

@69developer, We are hoping to launch kickstarter in 4 weeks. Our website will be live soon with information before we launch. www.getaheadinrobotics.com

I'll leave info here when that site is live. As for price we are waiting to hear back from one vendor on some aluminum parts. I don't want to give a price (even ball park) until we have firm numbers.

PRO
USA
#91  

ok going to try this and see if it sticks.

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PRO
USA
#92  

Seems to have worked....for now.

PRO
USA
#93  

Adding a new video I shot today with new skin and object recognization. A big thank you to Dave Cochran for walking me thru the scripts.

#94  

Excellent work! Anxiously wait for your KickStarter campaign.

#95  

Roborealm (with the avm module) is awesome at object recognition... I lucked out and got roborealm while it had the option of buying the avm module too.... Too bad you can't load it on more than one computer.... What happened to the avm module and other addons when buying roborealm now?

PRO
USA
#96  

@69developer, we have a pretty firm date now of August the 1st. For KS. Alan's website www.getaheadinrobotics.com will go live at the end of the week. Nothing new there just a launch page, and same material as here. Mostly for PR.

@richard, the AVM module is free now. . Roborealm has it on their Website for downloading. There is a nag for not using a lic version, but you can now turn that off. Before David and I were running into trouble with it not saving with robo file but that's been fixed. Not sure on support or development.

#97  

fxrtst

"There is a nag for not using a lic version, but you can now turn that off. "

I just started messing around with RoboRealm and get this every time AVM Navigator starts. Could you explain how to turn it off.

Thanks

#98  

It's under options, other tab. Close to the bottom of the screen choose silent error message.

Germany
#100  

@fxrtst

fantastic new video <3

dont forget my camera, please :-P

#101  

Cool Will! Love the eyes.

That Roborelm really looks sweet for recognizing objects. I dont want to hijack your thread too badly but how well do you think it would work in the B9 platform? Challenges I see would be finding a hidden place for the camera and fitting in responses useing the set sound files. I guess reaction with movement would be a benefit.

#102  

@Dave, Roborealm has a component that will transfer the name of the recognized object (or any other variables within roborealm) back to ARC. It allows you to use scripts within ARC to react to the data passed back from RoboRealm. From there, you already know what ARC can do.

If you get RoboRealm and want any help with it, let me know. I would be happy to help you get things going. My email address is in my profile.

@Will, Great job on the object detection. I see that it recognized your face as well. Really good job.

#103  

Mr Cochran, excellent work you did there and takes for wanting to share with the community. Your one smart guy!

PRO
USA
#104  

Absolutely Dave S as David C was setting up it was clear to the passing of info back and forth to the programs. I'm also always thinking of the B9 since he will eventually be finished. Roborealm is only $50 and extremely powerful. You could trigger a sound byte based on what the camera regognizes. Before Dick Tufeld died I had a lot of custom phrases done by him including telling my daughter to brush her teeth. You could trigger that sound by her walking in the room and recognizing her or set up a reminder with David's EZ-AI and have it say the same thing in the evenings at say 7 pm. All the programs working together make for an impressive AI foundation.

@dave thanks I'm starting to actually look at the scripts you posted and seeing what's happening. Getting clearer each day. Thanks again.. Btw where can I find Program O,for changing AIML files? I did a search on the computer but can't find it.

#105  

Thanks for the explanation and Will offer to help Dave. As I get closer to digging into more extreme programming to give my B9 a fuller personality and animation I'll surely try to incorporate all this. Right now I'm about 85% complete with my B9 arm design and build and close to a test fit. The major programming comes after that and the second arm is built and fitted. That's when you'll get lots of questions from me. ;)

Till then I'll not steal any more of your project thread. Thanks for the help.

Brazil
#107  

Uau! What a piece of art! When will be possible to buy a kit? I want one of those!

PRO
USA
#108  

We are launching kickstarter on August the 1st or before.

#109  

We just joined the community - what a great project! My son is 7 and he wants to build a mostly autonomous R2D2 - he wants it to recognize him and talk to him and follow him around (among other things). We started our research about three weeks ago and found ezrobot last week while searching for beginner kits. It seems like it could work really well for our project. Then to see this - how beautiful! Your head is an amazing design, I love the look, the quality of the voice and the words/language you have chosen - it's quite elegant. I'm really looking forward to watching your success and really getting to know EZrobot too! Thanks! Carol and Carl

PRO
USA
#110  

Thanks guys and welcome to EZ Robots. You've made the right choice in micro controllers. DJ is commited to advancing his EZB. It's is without a doubt the EZ-ist platform to learn. Good luck with your R2. There are a few on here building droids and can give you some pointers. This is a great community with lots of helpful people.

#111  

Will, OMG! This is AWESOME!

You will have to let me know when you get things rolling! I too have dabbled with InMOOV but I'm still learning to crawl with servo motors...I also have EZB to help. I have also dabbled with Arduino and Raspian PI but both of them require you to know more about programming. EZB is so much more simpler.

Bob Jaconetti:D

Belgium
#112  

YESSSS! Can't wait to pledge for this! So close to have a new friend:))

#113  

Will,

I'm coming into this late (been working on B9, plus trying to move... long story). IN any case, I will be signing up for your Kickstarter.

Alan appears (to me) like Sonny from iRobot, but he made some upgrades to himself using T-800 parts (if the other way around, we're doomed! :P). Beautiful design and workmanship, and the attention to details is amazing.

I can haz Alan droid? :D

PRO
USA
#114  

Thanks Tex! We are getting ever so close to opening the launch site. Then a ton more video to shoot for kickstarter. Still hoping for a August 1st kickstarter!

#115  

Will,

Just my $.02 on timing: I personally feel quality trumps deadlines. So if you hit any snags (you mentioned a couple suppliers have been slow in responding), know that you will never hear a complaint from me if dates slip. Alan is well worth waiting for!

On a totally different note: it's funny how strongly color affects perception. In the different color comps, the droid looks very feminine in aqua (Alana?:) ).

It's going to be a lot of fun seeing how people personalize these!:D

PRO
USA
#116  

I agree completely on color. After running with my red comp I turned photoshop on a sat and watch as my wife and kids each respond to their favorite color as I changed the hue. For my landing page video I'm turning him blue!

As for the kickstarter, we are expecting a good turn out. As the volume increases the molding costs increase to keep up with the demand/delivery time line as we duplicate the molds. We would like everyone to have received their Alan by Christmas. But again that's based on volume. If we go above 500 orders then the date would change. We start a PR and EPK at the end of this week and hope we get good coverage. More exposure = more orders. I don't think we sell as fast as Pepper the Japanese robot, but we can always hope!

PS I'm stealing Alana for our upcoming female upgrade! Brilliant!

#117  

You can use "Alana", but I get dibs on being among the first to order!:D

PRO
Canada
#119  

Oh man, I definitely am going to have to back this! :D

PRO
USA
#120  

Well two weeks behind on the website. Building it ourselves and running into one last issue. I have alove / hate relationship with wordpress. Hoping to be live in the next few days or so. That puts Kickstarter behind a couple weeks as well.

Until then, here are a few product shots that will be up on the site when live. Enjoy.

User-inserted image

User-inserted image

PRO
Canada
#121  

Oh man those shots look so clean I thought they were renders! Really excited for the Kickstarter:)

#122  

The one with the face open looks very "Westworld". Cool stuff.

Alan

#123  

@fxrtst How does the front of the face attach and hold to the the rest of the head? Are there some sort of clips that are not shown? Can you provide pics of this?

I can only hope that this work of art will be affordable, cause I definitely want one! Absolutely awesome......

PRO
USA
#125  

@rgordon, The sub skull is attached with magnets to the back of the head. Tiny very powerful magnets. This is the magnetic modular system I spoke about. It allows customers to buy new sub skulls and silicone faces to upgrade Alan to any of the other offerings of customization without having to buy a whole new head, ie female etc. The magnets make it cleaner looking without having to use screws on the outside. (Very unfuturistic looking:)

PRO
USA
#127  

Hey guys finally got the website up, a few hickups but its up for PR. Still a few weeks away for Kickstarter. Please report any issues you have.

Get A Head In Robotics

#128  

Will, I'm super impressed. That web site and it's content is very professional and well put together. I almost felt like I was watching a award willing documentary when I was watching the videos and browsing through the site. Your background really shows in the way you designed it all.

PRO
USA
#129  

Thanks David. It's been a longer road than I thought it would be. Taking rest tonight and just watched you new arm video, getting very excited. Looks great!

#130  

Great job. One thing I think would be important is to offer an option that contains everything you need in the kit, such as servos, wire, battery, controller, software, etc.

#131  

Great presentation! Best of Luck. I look forward to the release.

Ron

#132  

Will, Great job on the website and videos. Also, thank you for showing some of the EZ-AI features in the video.

Good luck friend. I think you will be very successful in your endeavor.

#133  

@Will, I know it's been a long road and hard at times. Just remember that the journey "is" the reward. Your hard work is really showing off in your successes. Alan truly seems like a high end product. Very classy, well thought through and well constructed. Your web site design reflects this also. I'm very happy for you. Your going to be a big hit.

Also thanks for mentioning my B9 arm build in your thread here. Don't get too excited until I can actually get it to move in and out of the torso. ;) I had your silicone rubber arm over it before I took that video and it looks awesome and fits just right. Your a true artisan. Just to be clear of what I mean, here's the definition of the word Artisan:

Noun: Artisan,

  1. a person skilled in an applied art; a craftsperson.
  2. a person or company that makes a high-quality or distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods.

That's you to the word my friend! ;)

PRO
USA
#134  

@69developer, that will be one of the early rewards levels. They will most likely go very quickly.

@d.cochran, thanks again for creating EZ-AI for the community. It brings a new level of reality to creations like ALAN.

PRO
USA
#135  

@dave, thanks so much for those very very kind words! It makes the pain of that journey hurt less:)

I'm so looking forward to those arms moving in and out!

PRO
United Kingdom
#136  

Will, a brilliant job! I so look forward to hopefully buying one of your masterpieces in the near future!

Tony

#137  

Will,

For the time being, I am using a JD humanoid head to develop a prototype for personalized robot interfaces in a university/college/community college/technical college/high school computer lab environment - one bot head per PC. After proof of concept, I hope to garner some "angel investments" to proceed with full product development. At that point, I would be looking for existing human interface products such at your Alan to serve as the "point of contact" between students and the math learning system I am developing. Your expertise has already produced quite a winner for that sort of role in my product development.

I guess what I'm saying is that in a couple of months or so, I would be contacting you in order to acquire an Alan for beta testing and to price out volume purchases.

What an outstanding accomplishment you have in Alan!

Ron

PRO
USA
#138  

@toymaker, thanks very much. Means a lot coming from you:)

@mathprof, that sounds great. I had always envisioned Alan being utilized in that environment. Feel free to use anything from our website to help procure your investments.

#139  

Website looks great. Love the video as well. So very cool!

Bob Jaconetti

#141  

WOW! Very slick. Nice presentation.

#142  

I'm speechless. It's like Sonny from iRobot, but real.

Waiting for the Kickstarter announcement with bated breath! eek

#143  

I tried getting on you website but is shows as NOT YET AVAILABLE.

PRO
USA
#144  

@rb550f, could you tell me what browser you are attempting to connect with?

Perhaps try with another and see.

Netherlands
#145  

@fxrtst the website works for me and is looking amazing.

If the kickstarter is successful, will you then prioritize extra development for the head or the development of other body parts? (I hope the first, I'd love to see a future upgrade with more facial expression possibilities)

#146  

I was able to get to your website Chrome

PRO
USA
#147  

@rb550f, Great!

@Bas, There will be development in both directions.

PRO
USA
#148  

Hey guys, we are currently deep into our PR mode. And want to gather as much info on blogs, magazines, google plus groups, etc, where we can post about Alan. We want a successful campaign and to do so we need to get the word out. At our current level of projections taking into account with time frames, we look to reward 400 to 500 units on this first pass.

We have already been notified by several companies who want to take over production and hand out royalties. We are not interested in that at this time. So if You can think of any tech sites etc, please post them here. We want to be very thorough to make sure we hit our goal.

Thanks in advance.

#149  

Servo magazine: http://www.servomagazine.com/index.php/contact/

Tested: http://www.tested.com/ Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) will eat this up when he finds put about it. Get him a prototype and you'll get loads of PR!

Post to The RPF: http://www.therpf.com/

Post to the Motion Picture Prop Community: http://www.themppc.com/forums/

The former two are fan sites and probably require membership (if you're not already a member). You'll probably need to post Alan as a "project" thread. Especially The RPF - not adhering to the strict guidelines can get you banned.

That's about all I can think of now... unless you want to consider skywriting? :P

PRO
USA
#150  

Thanks we got servo magazine but others were not on out list. Thanks we will check them out.

Netherlands
#151  

Maybe you can try to get the word out on meetup.com groups as well. Personally I have been to the Amsterdam A.I. meetup. Especially the Singularity University group is pretty big, and across the globe.

Oh and don't forget Reddit;

/r/artificial

/r/robot

PRO
United Kingdom
#152  

Will, servo has done an article on my robots and also there has been a couple in Robot Magazine, I have contacts in each publication, let me know if you want them or me to send an introductory email for you?

Very exciting times for Alan, you have done a fabulous job!

I have recently completed some extensive new hardware for the ALTAIR robot heads that has multiple PIC microntrollers all working in parallel. The head can do amazing amounts of things independently and puts minimal processing on the v4. This path may be of interest to you later on, if you want to make version 2 ans 3 of the Alan head.

My invention House has so far licensed 63 toy,game and gift products Worldwide, to some of the biggest companies like Mattel. If I can be of any help to you there (with advice), then let me know I would be happy to help if I can.

Tony

PRO
USA
#153  

@bas, thanks!

@tony I'd be greatful for either a contact OR an intro by you. I've reached out to both magazines and heard nothing back. I'm sure sitting in email box with a million other submissions.

And again thank you for the compliments on ALAN. I'd be very interested in the pic controllers for future versions. Alan's head is but a fraction of the future of what I'm attempting to do. I'm developing a system to teach androids how to record and mimic facial expressions, in a live recording environment. He obviously will be a complete body as well. If Kickstarter/Indiegogo is successful we will be purchasing a large format 3d printer to continue with his body. Great plans for his future, just like Altair!

And again thank you for the offer on mentorship with licensing. When they come I will be asking a lot of questions!

And thanks everyone for the suggestions of contacts, keep them coming.

It's funny if I was promoting a make up product, I'd call up my actor friend Brad Pitt And that would be that. But here in robot/toy land I'm starting from the bottom. So any and all help is very appreciated!

#154  

Brad Pitt? I'm told quite often that I look like him....... 50 years from now. Seriously though, I'm not one to spend my cash on startups. However there are two that I couldn't wait to throw money at; EZ Robot and now your little guy here. One question though, do you plan to have some type of base available to cut down on the illusion of not having a body attached? eek That would be the first add on I want to look into. Casual visitors to my home may find him a little unsettling. I'm thinking of something quite simple like the start of a shirt or shoulders. Do you know of the busts of Will Robenson and Dr Smith? Put the ducky on them and it makes all the difference in the world. Something like that available as an add on would make it a little more family friendly and generate added income.;) EDIT - He does have a start of a chest but I get the urge to move my arms around in sympathy for the poor guy. Dont get me wrong and maybe I'm just looking at it wrong. He's just fine as he sits and very cool looking but for me a little more shoulder and a shirt would go a long way.

#155  

Will,

I would suggest posting to the various Babylon5 groups on Facebook (2 named Babylon5, The Observation Dome, and the Zocalo Today). Very active groups, and your connection to the show will draw a lot of faces to your kickstarter page, and some of these people spend money like water...

If there are fan sites to the other movies and shows you have worked on they might be good too (I'll bet AI and Wild Wild West fans would go for this).

Alan

PRO
USA
#156   — Edited

Great questions. And here are several answers for everyone.

First, I designed it as a starting point for a full sized human. Certainly would not have been interesting selling his feet first! So the head was a likely starting point. It's where all humans communicate.

Next building an animatronic head for the films industry costs 10s of thousands of dollars, so creating "enough " of a head and shoulders for consumers at an affordable price meant thinking about the volume of material used in casting/molding. I went for the greek and roman type bust without the pedestal for balancing issues (the head has alot of torque and weight with the silicone face.)

Then there is the process for making them to consider. Knowing these would not be pressure injected plastic, and would be cold cast resin many factors come into play, including: the molds must fit into a 10 gallon pressure pot for curing, to create bubble free castings. A large shoulder piece would not have fit.

Finally, the "rest" of his torso and shoulders and body are designed to accept the head, neck and shoulder bit of the current Alan.

As this is a kit. I urge and encourage modifications by consumers. If ya want some shoulders to hug on in a shirt feel free to add them until the rest of the body is available! I really looking forward to see the mods people come up with!

#157  

I Want one..........maybe even 2!......1 for my InMoov certainly. looks very robust and well designed. very good job !

PRO
USA
#158  

@Alan very good ideas. I've just posted to google plus groups reaching 500k of people interested in tech and robots.

@nano, I'm glad you like it. I'm working on the mods for the STLs on inmoov to accept my head and neck.

PRO
United Kingdom
#159  

Will, the ALTAIR head now has a dedicated emotion PIC (part of the PIC head network) that is capable of displaying 32 different facial expressions. The emotion side of the ALTAIR is pretty cool I will do some videos soon to show all this in operation.

For servo magazine I will send an introductory email to David Geer and for Robot Magazine an email to Tom Atwood, but I need your email address so I can cc you in. My email address is toymaker(dot)tony@gmail(dot)com

Tony

#160  

@Toymaker

what is "ALTAIR head" ?

i was searching on google, but i found nothing.

It sounds interesting!

Boris

PRO
USA
#162  

@tony I would love to see that! That's is exactly what I'm talking about. If I can train an emotion live and record that motion, the pic could in essence activate that expression when appropriate, happy ,sad, etc? That would be amazing looking forward to video!

Thank you so much for helping and reaching out to servo magazine. I will send you my email for robot magazine! I can't thank you enough.

Will

#163  

Will,

In his current state, what is Alan's "intelligence level"? Can he hold a conversation? Can he learn?

PRO
USA
#164  

That's a great question. I'm relying on EZ -AI. David explained that a lot of AI is dependent on databases. The more you put in the more you get out. The current software version for download doesn't have the database that his current version has. That is a whopping 300 gigs of data! So unless David is sending out hard drives with his software it will be sometime before we can see what is capable. (David chime in here and correct me if I've made a mistake.) Hes a busy guy so we will see how/when and what when he's ready. Until then here is what Alan is capable (this is like half a day of programming and experimenting)

Alan knows every family member by facial recognition and will say hello to them. (Roborealm) Building a database of objects but unsure of a use for when he sees recognizes and object. (Roborealm) Reminders, web look up, and other EZ-AI items (ez-AI). I've not had much success with EZ-AI chat bot. But ARCs works great some days with out a lag and some days painfully slow. But you are the mercy of servers Internet traffic etc. To me the chat bot is the best to make make Alan seem alive. The banter back and forth is amazing. I believe a chatbot last year passed the Turning test for the first time. Meaning the chatbot fooled the interviewer into thinking it was human. You can also build your own chatbot from scratch. Building a personality if you want. So to recap, he is learning, like faces and objects. He can carry on a conversation via a chatbot you build or using an exsisting one. As for intelligence, I think Alan is just mimicking some human behavior and not at all intelligent... Yet!

#165  

Will, Very cool! I asked because I'm puzzling on what AI direction to take with my B9. A chatbot is definitely a way to mimic intelligence - but I'm still on the fence on what chatbot technology to use. I've been playing around with a program called Ultra Hal, but it's not easily integrated with EZB. It also uses a different architecture than AIML, which is both good and bad.

I recently came across an application called Program O, which allows/is (I believe) a chatbot server installation on a local machine. That allows you to use a standard AIML chatbot.

The ultimate goal here is to get an Alan, and get him and B9 in a conversation together. Should be interesting!

PRO
USA
#166  

Program O is what David has incorporated into EZ-AI. I should clarify, my issue with chatbot on EZ-AI is that voice recogician doesn't work well with it on my system. It works great with everything else, just doesn't seem to understand what I'm saying. Perhaps I need to spend more time with Program O , by downloading some AIML files?!?

I'd like to see Alan and B9 talking back and forth! Fun.

#167  

Tex, I'd love to use AI or the Chatbot with my B9 also. However the limitation I see is the actual voice of B9. To me, if he's not talking in Dick T's voice then he's really not B9. Sadly we only have so many voice files with Mr. Dick's voice. The chatbot would work great but not with the voice of "The Robot". Is this something your's willing to do without?

PRO
USA
#168  

Dave is right then we end up right back with limited vocabulary with Dick. Too bad he is not still alive. The company I bought Alans voice has a process where after like 4 hours of recording they can create digitized voice from the recordings, I believe its cerepoc.

#170  

I don't want to derail the thread with B9 stuff, but to answer a couple musings: a custom voice would cost about $10K. Enough voice samples of The Robot exist that it could be done (I checked into it!). The possible hurdles: permission from the Tufeld estate and/or Kevin Burns to duplicate the voice, and (of course) the $$$.

I'm also investigating a way to modify a synthesized voice to sound like The Robot. While the inflection and emotion won't be there, the "image" will be. It's in development, so I won't know for a bit if it's a total disappointment.

EDIT: I just read Tony's post the Cereproc can do a voice for under $1000 USD! That could be a game-changer.

PRO
USA
#171  

If they can do Arnold and Obama from existing material (news and interviews etc) i bet if everyone whose purchased recordings from Dick over the years pooled them together we would have enough material to do it. But as you say there would be the Tufeld family and Kevin to get approval. The $1000 is not an issue. Be very interesting to find out how much information they need to create the database.

#172  

My inquiries were back in June 2014. Turns out it was with Cereproc; at that time they quoted me $11K to create an HTS voice using recorded data. I had sent them a sample, which they said would work fine - as long as they had enough variation. With the hours and hours of recordings, that part isn't a problem. The problem is the ownership issue - but because I don't have a spare $11K lying around, I didn't go much further. We can discuss this over on the B9 board - I've derailed you enough here.

OK, let's get this thread back to Alan: I'm really happy that his AI uses Program O. Maybe once things get rolling, we'll be able to pool/share databases to help Alan "grow".

As for the recognition: what if the input was via a (wireless) microphone? That would cut down on background noise.

PRO
USA
#173  

I always had imagined Alan being in the cloud, so all the people with Alan could share their programming and the AI learning part. I again believe that David had talked about that as well.

As far a s recognician, the issue is specific to EZ-AI. When used with windows and ARC, it works incredibly well and very accurate. So not sure whats happening. Although I am using ver1.0.0.5 (current is 1.0.0.7) so might have been some fixes in there. I also get alot of .net errors and have to restart things, but again it might be i have an older ver.

#174  

Yep, old version. There are still plans for the cloud. My direction has changed a bit though. There are a lot of technologies that are pushing a lot of things toward the cloud that I am leveraging in Rafiki. Once that is done, there will be a free version (still EZ-AI) but it is a complete rewrite to be platform agnostic. Give me a few months and I should have pretty much all of the features of EZ-AI able to run on an arm processor single board computer. From there, we will then start getting things to work on a PC platform. I expect it to take a couple of weeks to iron out any bugs but, very good things are coming for EZ-AI.

I have a team of 3 developers working on nothing but this now while I do the other things necessary to release a product. You know how that goes.

PRO
USA
#175  

Wow that's impressive and exciting Dave!

#176  

still following with interest and awe!

PRO
USA
#177  

Just a small update. We have had alot of interest in ALAN from different sectors. We were contacted by a couple of companies interested in licensing. At this point we still want to move forward with crowdfunding.

We have decided to go with INDIEGOGO instead of Kickstarter. There are alot of reasons, but one is the ability to do hi res 1080 videos for the opening. Something Kickstarter does not yet support. We think Alan looks great and we want to display him in high detail. Another reason for the change is they seem to represent a different kinda tech start up companies than Kickstarter.

We are still working on the video and when done we will release. We want a August date, but might be September if we cant get one part of the video finished because of a sliding date.

Oh and as a side note, thanks to Toymaker (Tony) for a connection he has at servo magazine. They might be featuring ALAN in a column. Thanks again Tony. He is simply the best and we are lucky to have him hear with us!

PRO
USA
#178   — Edited

Adding a few of the press images that have been going out.

User-inserted image

User-inserted image

Gibraltar
#179  

what do you mean "Nothing exciting" everything about Alan is exciting.

PRO
United Kingdom
#180  

Will, no problem I am really glad that I could help. The new pictures look awesome!

A fantastic new option for ALAN would be the B5T Omron sensor, that me a David are looking at, it could add so much new functionality - maybe worth looking at for a possible upgrade or ALAN ver.2?

When I start working with the B5T, I can let you know how it all goes.

Tony

PRO
USA
#181  

Thanks Tony, I watched Daves video on it. It absolutely has my head spinning. I'll be very interested to see how it develops! I have a very interesting use for that system! Anyone know what the street price will be for it?

PRO
United Kingdom
#182  

Will, the one off price for the UART board (thats the only board you will need if its connected to a dedicated microcontroller) is around $200. The cost for volume purchase would greatly reduce this cost, possibly below $100 and if it is possible to purchase direct from Omron then this cost would reduce much further as you would not have the distributor mark-up. To me the B5T offers so much that even the full $200 cost is still viable as it would lift our robots abilities to levels that we could only dream of a few months back.

Tony

Netherlands
#183  

More and more sensors are released that partially process data (like the B5T). At the same time we see cloud services coming up that allow you to process data remotely (like Emotient's web API). Both options seem to drop in price as time progresses.

Personally, if budget allows it, I would prefer cloud based services. First of all it seems that Alan's head is already quite full with electronics. Second, to me it seems that it is easier to combine multiple cloud services compared to combining these hardware based sensors. Third, a webservice can be more easily updated and modified.

#184  

@fxrtst, I'm always impressed with what you are doing. I'm sure you will reap rewards for your efforts! I love all the color possibilities you've done too.

PRO
United Kingdom
#185  

@Bas Testerink. thats interesting I was not aware of any cloud services that can do what the single B5T does (functions listed below) - can you gives some links so I can check the services you refer to out and what they would cost? Thanks.

Face recognition Face detection Facial pose estimation Estimation of facial expressions

  1. Satisfied
  2. Unsatisfied Five different emotion expressions:
  3. Happiness
  4. Surprise
  5. Anger
  6. Sadness
  7. Neutral Human body detection Gender estimation Age estimation Gaze estimation Hand detection Blink estimation
#186  

This service would also need to do all of this for up to 20 items of each and need to be able to report back the position of each.

I think the best approach is to use a multitude of sensors and services in conjunction. The services should be used to get access to multiple forms of data or perform analysis on data that is provided. The sensors should pickup the local environment to supply the services with the data needed to perform the analysis. These services could be cloud based or local on the device depending on the need of the service. Also, speed is a consideration. For example, if you need to do recognition, you need to be able to perform this recognition pretty quickly. Taking an image from a camera, passing it to the local device, which then sends it to the internet for processing, waiting for this processing, and then getting the data back is much slower than the sensor handling these functions and just passing back the important data. There are also network considerations. Undue network traffic isn't a good thing when you are dependent on this network traffic for other services. Also, you have to consider what happens when your network is down. Does this make your device useless all of the sudden?

There is a lot that goes into designing a good solution.

#187  

Maybe I'm at the point in my life that technology has passed me by but the "Cloud" seems a little to much of a gamble for me with a lot of things. I don't totally know what happens to information once it's sent off and where it goes to. I may be way off here but what happens if the company (or where ever your information goes) ends up shutting down, goes out of business or makes a change that makes your connection useless? Don't you end up with a pile of good looking junk that you've worked tons of hours on and shed blood and tears over? I just can't get behind placing my trust in some phantom hard drive and ghost computer that may be over seen by a pail faced teenager recluse living on his parents basement in South America (do they have basements in South America?). This may sound paranoid or unlikely but can anyone promise something like this wont happen? Nobody seems to be able to answer my fears or even care to think this through. We live in a throw away world nowadays. Maybe that's it. People get board or things become obsolete so fast and we move on.

Personally, (admitting my limited knowledge) I feel the cloud is OK to store things on that aren't to critical as long as you have local backup. Cloud processing? Well, maybe if it's not mission critical and short trim. For things I want to keep or keep running I'll trust my own equipment and storage, thank you.

Just my thoughts and fears. ;)

@Will, I think your making some real great choices and moving in the right direction. I'm excited to see where this takes you. I'm honored you are letting us be a small part of this. :)

PRO
United Kingdom
#188  

Great point Dave! I also see big problems with Cloud processing - when you have a large robot depending on all this cloud processing and the link fails (which it will) you either have a big hunk of robot that is useless or even worse dangerous. I personally believe that we should never get away from local processing with independent sensors and (some) onboard intelligence - thats the way I design my robots.

The cloud does have fascinating possibilities though, say their were a few thousand ALTAIR's out their all with cloud linked learning, where you teach your robot something and then all the ALTAIRs can then do the same function - this is possible now and I have already done this with my Ai ARIEL where 3 separate people are teaching her at different locations, different things, but what she learns is then available to all 3 of us. This is very cool, but what happens when their are thousand of users out there and one teaches the robot to something bonkers like wield a knife etc, it gets dangerous. I know our robots of today cannot do the mechanical part of this easily, but we are not far off from the time when they will have the mechanical capabilities.

Tony

#189  

I feel the same as Dave S. and Tony. If you entrust your data to a "cloud" without having a local backup and that cloud dissapates (business reasons or tactical), you are stranded. I have too much of a Mulder-like paranoia; I'll keep my data local, and obtain as many processors or drives as it takes to accomplish what I need. If my Alan require it, he'll wear a backpack with extra processors and hardware. Whe Skynet becomes active, he'll help me fight rather than turn on me.

There was a story - I believe it was "When the Machine Stops" - that was about a society that was so dependent on automation that one day when the power failed, people sat in their homes and died because they couldn't care for themselves.

Technology is wonderful - but it's a tool to be used, not the other way around.

Whew! That got a bit heavy. Sorry eek

PRO
USA
#190  

Wow woke up to some great conversations! @bas, I would love to see where this takes us. I think as Internet and maybe even cell service reaches giga bit speed might make some applications viable on the cloud. It will be an interesting area to watch develop.

@troy thanks for the kind words and the support. There are days where I wake up and say this is never gonna work, I'm never going to reach the goal, or there's not enough exposure, or? But waking to support like that really keeps the hopes up! Thanks!

@d.cochran, yeah its alot of info to be processed, maybe it is a hybrid of the two like you suggested. I think alot of depends on whats in development and how it utilizes the data. Each device might be different.

@Dave S, i here ya on that and the cloud, it is a very ambigous concept. Who and where is that data being stored. It seems that if you put a fluffy name to a new technology like "cloud", it seems benign and people won't question. And thanks for the Kudos!

@toymaker, Thanks for the data on pricing for the B5T sensor. I think this would be amazing for our robots! With the speed of evolving technology and the length of time it takes to get to market, it seems you can continually evolve a product, increasing the capabilities! Exciting times!

PRO
Canada
#191  

Out of curiousity, I know the B5T has some unique features, but has anyone experimented with the additional Haar Cascades that can be added to the ARC camera control?

PRO
USA
#192  

@jeremie Is it possible to create custom Haar cascades for facial expressions?

Netherlands
#193  

@toymaker, @d.cochran, @dave, @warpig: A lot of well-founded concerns I think. Cloudservices rely on your connection, without it your machinery is not operating properly. Also the dedicated sensors and local processing probably outperform whatever you can find as a service.

I'm am a software guy. For me it is easier to build a larger software system rather than expanding the hardware configuration. If I have an Alan standing in my house I want it to operate whenever I talk to it, without having a computer running 24/7 in my apartment. Hence my setup would probably be to turn my A.I. software in a cloud service and run it on some rented cloud processing power. Alan can then obtain all required input from the wifi router. The ezb4 would be permanently plugged in.

3rd party services I might use are the ivona voice service and perhaps emotient (though I haven't really looked close at it). Also I'm wondering what frameworks like IBM's Watson platform may offer in the near future in terms of cognitive computing services.

My downtime per year is about 5 hours on average. My privacy would be decreased as Alan will share privacy sensitive data to the cloud which may be intercepted. But I can live with that risk. Alan won't be an life-depending system. I see it as a piece of art and entertainment. If a cloud service stops, I can look at alternatives/use some 3rd party local software or perhaps even homebrew. Finally, data can be backed up locally or across two cloud parties if necessary. The chance of losing everything is then about as high as losing the data in the cloud and simultaneously having a fire in your local storage area.

#194  

Hey Bas, As far as Watson goes, one of my devs is up to his ears in it. It is really cool and cognitive reasoning and learning is being done there. There are costs associated but they are very minimal for a single person or household. If you stay with java it is pretty much free. Check out BlueMix. I am debating on becoming an IBM partner for Watson but I need to look over the paperwork involved.

Anyway, I too am a software person, about 23 years of programming experience. I understand where you are coming from. If I were building something for myself, I would look at software driven systems. Something that I can write and take care of for myself for only myself is one thing and those are nice times. Once you go beyond that, there are a lot of other considerations.

I have no problem with the cloud but I also know how to tell what is going out of my network to the cloud. I also understand concerns about privacy. It is something that will be going away soon I am afraid. IoT will make a lot of great advancements but there are a lot of security issues that come with it.

Anyway, Alan is going to do great Will. I think you have something really cool going on and I cant wait to see it go live.

#195  

I don't know. Are we hijacking this thread with all this talk of cloud-based vs local processing? I thought I'd ask before throwing in my two cents worth.

#196  

While it pertains, I do feel like it has been hijacked. That is the reason for my last statement. It is good to see conversations of how people plan to use Alan and so I do think it pertains.

#197  

I think Will will jump in if he thinks we're hijacking the thread. I think the cloud discussion is valuable. It's nice to know if Alan's future AI will be in the cloud, local, or a hybrid of both - that will help set my expectations of what I'll be doing wiyh him.

Bottom line for me though is I'm ready to support this project!

Question for Will: after Alan is launched, is there going to be an Alan forum at the getaheadinrobotics.com site, or will continue discussion here?

#198  

Alan is only hardware. There is no software or robot controller that comes with it. That is entirely up to what you want to do with it. This is the last that I heard anyway. Maybe it has changed but I don't think it will.

PRO
USA
#199  

Absolutely keep discussing on topic or not, it does keep my gears a turning! I've loved all the discussions, comments and questions!

@warpig, there will be a forum once he's released. I also am planning an extensive video library on assembling every component, another on creating mods like LEDs, and extensive painting videos, etc. the forums will allow for personal trouble shooting, upgrade suggestions and so on.

PRO
USA
#200  

@d.cochran just wanted you to know, EZ-AI is mentioned on nearly every paragraph of my servo magazine article! Ha! Your gonna have a ton of users. I just released info on Facebook today and the people went crazy... Looking very very good!

PRO
USA
#201  

Watson and Bluemix are fascinating!

PRO
United Kingdom
#202  

Hi Will, I have tried to find you on Facebook with no success, can you give more details so I can connect. Thanks

Tony

#203  

@fxrtst

Thanks for the mentions. It is very kind of you. I can't wait to see the article.

PRO
USA
#204  

@toymaker, I'm looking for you as well. Nothing. What email do you have connected to your Facebook account? I believe mine is the same we have been using to email each other back and forth.

PRO
USA
#205  

There may be some confusion as to whats happening with ALAN, so ill take this time to explain the crowdfunding process for those that don;t understand.

First it looks more like we will indeed go with Indiegogo.

Alan is in prototype mode right now, meaning we have a working prototype. When we start the Indiegogo process it will be live for 30 days. During the 30 days, people then offer "rewards" and "perks" for "donations". In the early years, it was designed to help someone make a film, etc and you could donate to help them achieve that goal.

Today people offer complete products, like Alan as the "rewards". You usually get discounts off what will be the sticker price, plus one of the first people on the block to have one.

To make all this happen I have had to sit down and budget out everything that needs to molded, materials, tools to be purchased and so on. The list is enormous. Then I have to add in wages, the time it will take to build everything , shop over head, on and on .....so loosely this number becomes your "goal"on Indiegogo, that is the minimum of what it takes to tool up and finish all the orders.

Lets say that number is $125,000. If you meet your goal or go over then ALANs are on their way. If not, if you fall short, then there will be no ALAN's using this venue. And we have to start all over again and rethink our strategy.

Hope this helps

PRO
USA
#206  

I've also had a question about the servos used on another thread and i'd like to keep them all together so we don't have duplicate questions.

ALAN, has 5 axis of motion, two neck servos and one jaw servo and two for the eyes.

The jaw servo is a standard servo, altho because its dragging on the silicone I suggest a stronger servo running at higher voltage. (Alan is designed to work at 7.4 volts.)

The two eye servos are the micro size. I think i tried about 3 different kinds and in the end speedy servos were more important than torque, to get realist fast eye motion.

The most important are the neck servos. Now quick story here, Early in development i tried to make all the servos stand in size. The head is just to heavy and everyhorm would just strip out. So I looked for a cost effective, larger servo.

I went with 1/5th scale as it had torque up to 560 oz/in, I ended up designing the neck around a Chinese servo called the Power HD 1235MG. It had to have a metal gear and horn to take the weight and torque of the head and silicone.

These servos can be purchased for $40 each on ebay. I will eventually sell an upgrade kit that will use the Savox SV-0236MG , but this servo runs at about $100 each and I have to find the extra 10 mm of room in size, that will be a problem in the neck.

Mind you the PowerHD servos are power hungry and stall torque can be as high as 9 amps each. So we are still looking for the perfect power supply for him. Lipos can be used but you are limited the time they last.

PRO
USA
#208  

Just an update. We are spending a little more time creating additional tiers of rewards before we launch Indiegogo. This has slowed down the launch of the campaign, due to gathering and pricing of additional hardware that will ship with the upper tiers containing complete kits. Our current launch date is now sometime in the last week in September.

To all those interested in Alan, thanks for the wait!

PRO
USA
#212  

Ok so I have to get ugly here.

I have no idea how this gallery works but I complained awhile back about this when nomad posted an image and it went into my gallery.

Frank Lopez (who has now renamed himself J11 for some reason) came here uninvited to tout his work and then came crying that I had used his work without his permission, I'm assuming he means he thinks I placed his work it in my gallery. I have sent him a private email asking him to remove his posts and therefore his image from the gallery. Absurd.

So @DJ can you tell me why does the gallery place any image from anyone in a project? wouldn't it make more since that the author of the project is the only one who can place images in the gallery?

PRO
Canada
#214  

Sorry I don't have the permissions to remove the image but I believe if @J11 simply edits and deletes his photo in his post it should be removed from the gallery.

PRO
USA
#215  

Edit #1

I think I can repost 9 of my pictures and it will boot his picture out of the gallery as it only holds 10 images at a time.

Edit #2 Worked

#216  

That sounds like the best option. Also, block his emails. Clearly he is unreasonable and irrational.

Canada
#219  

Quote:

So @DJ can you tell me why does the gallery place any image from anyone in a project? wouldn't it make more since that the author of the project is the only one who can place images in the gallery?

@ jeremie no author would accept that whoever adds elements to its work without its agreement. It is obvious that if the system allows anyone to add photographs in the project of someone else, that will cause a lot of frustration. Hopefully the forum admin will get the permission to fix the issue.

#220  

Will, your presentation skills blow me away. I'm so glad your using your Oscar willing talent and experience in the way your offering this android. I think the way your showcasing him is going to make the difference. You have a truly mind blowing robot here to sell but no one will know it if the presentation is common or sub par. Wow, there's no way you can loose.

Just wondering, I've seen a few different skin colors on the face. Are you going to offer different colors based on race? What about voice choices, language or accents (is that even possible)? A Jamaican android would be so over the top. :P

#221  

@Aerius,

Limiting images and videos to just the OP would seriously reduce any interaction of ideas and understanding of processes. Anyone really following the thread or even reading the posters comments made along with the inserted image can easily understand what is happening. If you go that route you may as well just lock out any interaction with the community in a project showcase. I think any limitation of the exchange of ideas would be a true mistake. As is, I don't see any issue to fix.

The only issue that could effect any project showcase would be an abusive poster. This has happened in the past the admin has removed them from the forum.

Just my opinion. :)

#222  

@Dave,

I disagree. In a normal thread, you are of course correct, anyone should be able to post whatever they want, but a Project Showcase should "belong" to the original poster. If the forum didn't push the latest pictures up to the top of the showcase, my opinion might be different, so there are clearly multiple possible solutions to the issue, but fxfrst should not need to keep adding his pictures back into the thread just to have the showcase display "Alan" vs someone else's pictures.

(the other) Alan

#223  

@Alen, I see your point and do understand where you guys are coming from. However I just hate to see exchanges of ideas shut down. If the biggest complaint is what image is showing as the Showcase then there is a simple solution (Hopefully as I don't know what would need to be changed in the coding of this forum). I think a good solution would be to have an option for the OP of a Project Showcase to be able to chose one pic or video thumbnail as a Showcase Display. That would give us the power to show off the best or latest example of our robot and not limit creative interaction. I've often wanted to change the picture that shows on my one and only project showcase and cant seem to figure out how to do it. I also don't want to or think I should have to hack around to do this.

I'm going to start another thread asking EZ Robot to take a look at doing this. I dont want to divert Will's project more then we already have. Sorry Will. Back to your Android. :P

PRO
USA
#224  

@Dave, Yes there will be many colors and even different genders offered if the campaign is successful. There will be an online store offering these products and eventually upgrades to parts to make more movements like brows and lip movement just to name a few. Because its a kit we are encouraging people to customize, the voices will be any SAPI5 voice the user has or purchases separate from ALAN and used with Windows.

Thanks for the Kudos on the presentation, I'm glad people are responding well to it!

@dave pt2. I agree with a standard thread, but disagree on a project thread, altho if changes were made where if someone posted a picture in your project and it DID NOT go into the gallery images would be acceptable. As an example as it is now, if I goto your B9 project page and post a picture of my grandma, it will show up in your gallery. Something I think would take away from what you have displayed there?!?

@Alan and Aerius, yes you guys get it, thanks for supporting me on this.

Now all this said if i had been dealing with a rational person, when i asked him to remove his image to remove it from the gallery as I did with NOMAD, then this would be a slightly muted issue. But because he is not rational or sane, it escalated into a fury of emails threatening to steal the designs of ALAN and reproduce and I quote:

"i think i will take all of those pictures and work my magic remake alan here using AutoCAD and Photoshop 3D print him and use one of those stupid ez boards with its free software "

And to that Frank Lopez...my attorneys will be calling you soon.

United Kingdom
#225  

@Will.

I just checked out Alan's Facebook page and "Liked" it a lot. I showed this thread to some friends who came over for the weekend, and they were blown away when I showed them the pictures and played your videos for them. I left a short comment on the Facebook page saying something which I stand by... This is not just a wonderful interactive robot, but it really is a work of art as well.

Steve.

PRO
USA
#226  

Thank you so much Steve! I really appreciate that!

#227  

@fxrtst

will - Any updates or progress ?. are we still looking at a september release date ?

PRO
USA
#228  

We are hoping! Working feverishly, making our daily deadlines. I'll know better in another week.

Brazil
#229  

Man.. You're a genius artist! I want so much one of these "ALAN" ! Just can't wait to get it!

PRO
USA
#230  

Thank you tevans!

Belgium
#232  

This is the one I prefer:)

PRO
USA
#233  

Another update. Do to obligations on a world premier event for the release of my last film "Goosebumps", I am once again delayed with ALANS release on crowdfunding. Most likely a mid October release. This is the last delay.

#234  

You should make the "two-face" mask more ragged and re-install the "lidless" eye panel. Then light it up red for a Terminator...

We will anxiously await Alan's release. Good luck with the premiere!

PRO
USA
#235  

Last update before the release. Wayyyyy behind schedule, but what can you do? Down to the final editing and some green screen fun. Still a lot of elements to get it all together. We are releasing Halloween! How very apropos for what I do for a living?! Anyways, here is a dramatic shot, from one of our locations for the shoot.

User-inserted image

#236  

"I don't always look at my robot and backyard at the same time, but when I do I drink coffee!"

LOL, had to do it. The photo look awesome, Alan looks awesome. You seem to have a very, very cool job and work on the coolest stuff! I'm super excited to see the Alan kit in the future!

PRO
USA
#237  

Ahahaha that's perfect! And thanks!

#239  

I was wondering the model and make of printer that you used to print these items up with.

Thanks,

Mel

PRO
USA
#240  

@moviemaker, I used 3d systems projet 1500. It's a dlp printer and uses uv resin. It's my own personal printer. It produces parts at minimum thickness of 100 microns. If Kickstarter is successful I will have it reprinted at a service bureau at 50 microns to gain even more detail from my original 3d design.

PRO
USA
#242  

As we head into our last week of prep for ALAN campaign on Kickstarter (no really Kickstarter) we ended up with this amazing article in servo Magazine. Again a massive thank you to Tony Ellis for hooking me up with David Geer!

User-inserted image

#243  

Congratulations!

PRO
USA
#244  

Thanks...timing could not be better.

#247  

Wow, you're a star now! Oh, wait, you already were.

Lol, congrats! !:)

PRO
Canada
#249  

Also wanted to say "Congrats!" to you Will, making the cover of a magazine is no small feat!

Looking forward to the Kickstarter!

PRO
USA
#250  

Thanks Jeremie! Plastered the article with EZ-Robot... And David EZ-AI has a couple of mentions too!

PRO
United Kingdom
#251  

Will, front page that is fantastic! This is one of the best front covers that I have ever seen, well done.

I am so glad I was able to help you here, David Geer is a great guy who I knew would see the great innovation in Alan.

Tony

United Kingdom
#252  

That is really cool Will, I'm so pleased for you. The front cover is looking great and has done "Alan" and yourself proud.

#253  

Great Job.... Your efforts and hard work is coming together and getting out there. We all look forward to the Kickstarter.

Best of Luck !

Ron R

Brazil
#254  

Congratulations Will! Your talent is endless and is so great to have an artist like you sharing time and knowledge with us. Alan will be a success. Just can't wait to jump into the campaign!

PRO
USA
#255  

Thank you guys for all the great words of encouragement and support. I'd like to again, thank Tony E, David C, Anthony and DJ for helping out directly with Alan. Its been an unbelievably long en-devour. It took twice as long to get to this point than I thought it would. But we have had some amazing talks with some investors and backers and we have some really amazing upgrades and advancements coming up right after the campaign ends. We also have some really cool new robots in development.

We are still sticking with a Halloween launch, but depends on how long Kickstarter takes to screen the submission (hopefully not long).

#256  

Will,

CONGRATS on scoring a cover-page article!

What's especially cool is that servo mag has pretty much ignored EZ-Robot. I've been a subscriber for a few years, and I can't remember EZ-Robot ever being mentioned.

Can't wait to jump on the Kickstarter offering! :D

#257  

Really great creativity reaching maximum velocity just in time for Halloween ! Good luck Will.

#258  

As a subscriber to servo magazine, I get access to the online version when the issue is published. I just read the ALAN article. WAY TO GO, WILL!

PRO
USA
#261  

Sorry worked the entire weekend to resolve an issue. Sorry to say there will be a delay. We are so close! But somethings you can't control. Friday at the earliest.

I keep saying this is the last time. But this is the final delay. It has to be, because we are ready!

Netherlands
#262  

@fxrtst Friday, ok, then me and my girlfriend can stop refreshing kickstarter and your webpage for a week to see whether Alan is available yet.:)

PRO
USA
#263  

@anthony, great! Made a quick appearance in video and we have a shot on the kickstarter site. Just what we needed. Thanks for busting that out so fast!

@Bas ! Ha ! Glad you guys are getting excited!

PRO
USA
#264  

OK, after a zillion delays, disasters and what seemed like sabotage from people from the future:)...we have uploaded to KickStarter. Its up for review now. So it can go live at anytime. If you have emailed us thru GETAHEAD website we will be sending out a mass email as a reminder when the page is live.

Again thanks for all the support and lets see how this goes!

Netherlands
#265  

Thank you for the update. I wish you very successful campaign! Alan is a beautiful product and I can't wait to get my hands on one.

PRO
USA
#266  

..it seems Kickstarter can take as long as one week to review tech products...ugh. Stay tuned.

PRO
USA
#269  

Still on hold. Kickstarter making us make changes. I think they are under the impression that this is not real.. CGI or something. Odd questions and requests. Just making them comfortable. It's like one email a day with a single response. So it's going...... Slow.

Hopefully they respond positively today, do we can go live!

#270  

They don't think it's real - that's both funny and sad. Guess your experience as a SFX professional is throwing them off. Tell them "Original Trilogy", not "Prequels".:P

CGI. Harrumph! mad

#271  

Sad and Funny, I agree. I mean it looks better than a movie a prop I think.

Belgium
#272  

There is no way they refuse Alan. I'm a long time kickstarter user and this project is really well prepared compared to what I use to see. So well done that it's unbelievable for them. IMO, one of the project of the year.

And if we look closely, it's my birthday on friday, so let us be honest: this is definitely the reason why Alan has not yet showed up... He await that day, I see no further valid reason.:)

More seriously, I saw on your website that some tutorials on programming will be published soon. Maybe can we expect a new version of EZ-AI besides Alan? Have you worked together with David on that part? Which version are you running for now?

I am using v1.0.07 and I'm stuck on a few issues. I'm still making progress, slowly, but if an update is released soon, I'll stop with headaches and I wait for the new one. Moreover it seems to be a major update, not sure if it will be out soon or not. It would be so nice to have both at same time.

#273  

Ez-ai will be have an announcement made about where it is in a couple of weeks with an unedited video demonstrating it's status. I just got off the phone with my son, now the lead developer on it. I am blown away by it now. He has done a really good job on it. Right now it is missing some of the features it once had, but we are bringing in another developer soon (someone I know who is a great programmer) to start adding features. It is the AI for Rafiki and is really going to be amazing with Alan. We are focusing on how we keep the two products working great together but seperate so that ez-ai can still be a seperate stand alone product.

PRO
USA
#274  

Great to hear Dave! I'm looking forward to that! And so glad your son is spearheading and doing an amazing job!

@Justin and Warpig....I know its really weird. I guess they have had people in the past fooled backers into believing they had a product but was just a photo rendered computer shot. No product. I understand they are protecting the customers, but its killing our deadlines.

On another note, I've been in talks with Steven Gentner the creator of RoboRealm...alot of cool things coming up cross promotion etc. H'es very active helping out folks who have kickstarter projects using his software. Also not sure if I am allowed to say or not, but hints of a plug in for EZ coming.

Germany
#275  

the problem that I see is the function. its a cool looking humanoid-bust like the Wowwee Alive Elvis.. but what people wanna do with this head? its a perfect addon for an inmoov robot .. but only a few people have inmoov at home. the most people have no idea how to use ez-robot software. or dont want to use them. I love this powerfull project and I hope you're lucky but I think kickstarter bringing not enough money. its the same like Anthony's project. different things but with same result. I would not wish you to misunderstand me.. I want to buy a ALAN-Bust for sure. but I miss teeth like elvis and without latex/ rubber-mask he looks more perfect ^^! the skin wobbles.. the mask looks funny and unfinished. this is my opinion.

User-inserted image

you produced the best 3D printed head I ever seen! now you need a perfect software programming and a lot functions for everyone

regards Smarty

#276  

This project can use any robot platform as it doesn't come with any robot controller specifically or any software. This can be driven by any robot software platform dependent on what the purchaser wants to put in it.

What is for sale is the kit. It is for builders to do whatever they want to do with it. It's not a built working product. This is up to the purchaser to do and to decide what they use to drive it. Will has chosen to use an EZ-B V4 for his build. It's the best software and controller so it is only logical that he would go this route, but he could have used anything available.

Germany
#277  

yes, you can use any robot platform.. but the head is the same like the Elvis Bust and the elvis bust was a flop for wowwee. I say it again, this head is only for robot makers and so its hard to make money with it. fxrtst invest a lot time and money and I hope he gets his money back. thats what im saying.

PRO
USA
#278  

@smarty, I thank you for your concerns. Wow wee, mass produces their parts in China an like most and have to sell a lot of units to make their money back. We only need to sell 160 units to make a profit because we are hand making the units from molds.

Alan also is upgradable, meaning we will be offering female faces, really cool mechanical faces that simply replace your exciting face. You don't have to buy another head to have a different robot!

Lastly your right it's not a product for everyday consumers... Yet. Builders will need to have a certain skill level and interest to get the most out of a kit.

We now have several rewards available, not just a base kit. We have units all the way up to assembled and painted and several in between kits to hit all levels of builders.

#279  

I have a WowWee Elvis (actually, a few of them). Unless you only want "The King", modifications are difficult at best. It's not surprising that the product tanked; having an animatronic Elvis head gets old real fast.

ALAN, on the other hand, will be able to be easily modified. Even if Will never comes out with another molded component, the user will be able to change ALAN's personality using easily-available tools such as EZ-B, software and other controllers.

Basically, I see the difference between Elvis and ALAN about the same as a WWI biplane and the Starship Enterprise: they both fly, but one is able to go where no one has gone before.

PRO
Canada
#280  

Lol, nicely said @WarPig

#281  

@Warpig... begs the question why you own a few of them then?:P

#282  

@Richard-R: I said they can be modified, but it's a PITA. One is slated to be Alex Murphy (RoboCop) with his helmet off. The Elvis base will animated a custom face skin. The others are parts donors, or money-generators for eBay;)

As for when the animated RoboCop will take life, well, he's on the back burner while I work on my B9

PRO
USA
#283  

Thanks WarPig, nicely said!

And on that note...I'm announcing that we have been approved by KickStarter and will be going live tomorrow Friday November the 13th at about 10 AM Pacific time.

#284  

@fxrtst Good luck... Friday the 13th... May @Smarty "eat crow sandwich"...

Good luck Will....

#286  

Congrats Will! And your off and running. I will be watching and pushing on social media.

PRO
USA
#287  

If I couldn't make Halloween might as well go with Friday the 13th!

Thanks David! (Ck your email I responded) BTW do you ever sleep?

#288  

Will do, head been in programming all day. Sleep, who has time for that? Actually I have been waking up early to get some coding done before the family wakes up. I get about 5 hours of sleep now because my brain won't let me rest. It keeps coming up with new ideas...

Germany
#289  

@Richard R that was inappropriate. criticism is important. congratulations only if it succeeds.:D;)

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST @fxrtst

@WarPig memories of the old elvis :

regards Smarty

#290  

Just a few more minutes and we're live! cool

Please post a link when the magic moment happens.

PRO
USA
#292  

Whew! Made it! Again thanks for all the support guys, all the help, suggestions along the way! And again a Big thanks to DJ, for for creating a product that allowed ALAN to come to life!

Kickstarter Live Link

Netherlands
#293  

Whoohoo!

I hope my pledge went well. I had an error in my credit card info, then tried to change it but I can't see Alan in my backed projects list. Re-did pledge, but still nowhere to be seen...

#294  

The Magic happened.......got mine ordered:)........now for the wait:(

#295  

I just posted about the Kickstarter to some of the Babylon 5 facebook groups. Some of the fans of your work there also have disposable income....

Alan

#297  

Holy crap... in less than an hour you already have more pledges than Anthony's ill fated campaign had over the entire 30 days.... Awesome Will!

Northern Ireland
#298  

Hi Richard,

First, I have to say ALAN is incredible (aesthetically & functionally)!

Just a suggestion, would it be conceivable to open a lower pledge tier to become involved in building ALAN? The reason I suggest this is because even the bronze level reward pledge level will be a major barrier to market for most potential backers.

Bear with me while I explain further. If a new $125 pledge level was opened for full 3d printable stl's & recommended hardware/build guide, 1000x backers at that tier and you're home & dry.

This approach will also have the inherent benefit of all backers who back at $125 level beginning to build, experiment, improve, eval out any unknown issues, posting their builds keeping all bronze, silver, gold & titanium backers eveloped with the project while you're busy fulfilling their pledge levels, plus additional benefit of the 1000+ lower tier backers build experiences.

MHO, ALAN's success now resides in its community now you're ready to release him into the wild. The question is whether a community of 100+ is better than a community of 1000+.

What does weigh heavy in this approach is, if a $125 tier is offered, will all the current backers drop from bronze, silver, gold & platinum level to the lower tier? The answer is Likely yes, probably a large percent. But does this then have the knock-on effect that the campaign is successful, but high-level backer numbers are too low to handcraft,mold, assemble & ship, & still be commercially viable?

whatever happens I do genuinely hope & wish this campaign every success. The level of painstaking detail getting this far, failure isn't an option!

Kindest Regards, Andrew

#299  

@A84M How are you going to keep the stls from being shared illegally after the kickstarter? Why pay $125 when you can just wait until the stls become available as a pirated download?

PRO
USA
#300  

@bas, Thank you and i will check and see if it went thru..let you know shortly!

@nanomole40, thank you so very much for your pledge.

@Alan, Thank you so much...I love me some B-5'ers

@warpig! Thank you thank you!

@richard..its going well...fingers crossed....apparently 80% of projects are funded if they meet 30% of their goal by the end of the first week...hmmm !?

...and lastly @a84m, I hear ya buddy. There are so many things to say to respond, so I will try and approach like this. Because we are hand making Alan the labor costs are extensive for the amount of time to produce all the ALANS (also the $125,000 goal). If there were some way to pressure inject these intricate parts in CHINA i would need $1.5 million dollars upfront and everyone would have to wait for 18 months for a product with no hardware and no software or electronics to go with it and the price would be ridiculous.

We have well thought out that this is the best way to get ALANs out into the field for people to build in a timely manner and then we can concentrate on all the upgrades to ALAN. All the proceeds go back into the evolution of ALAN into ALANA the female face and many many other additions. We believe this is a very special product and we are not just moving on after the campaign is over.

You kinda answered you own question, many backers would drop off and go with the stls and it also would not be long before there are duplicate molds and parts and stl's flowing freely (will happen eventually) in the market place. The only way to move forward with ALAN is to place him in a low volume high demand market. This way, ALAN, his parts and evolution will not suffer from desegregation in quality.

Brazil
#301  

Will, first of all, may I giv you congratulations on your achievement! I would love so much to be part of the early birds who will build it! In fact, I was waiting so much to be a backer... But unfortunately $700 dollars is too much expensive for me. Specially this days when half of the world is in a big economic crisis and the dollar reaches stupid value in foreign currency.

But, I wish you all the success. I'm sad I can't be in your backers list.

If, at some point you find a way to allow a lower contribution... I'll certainly keep my enthusiasm about the project. Best wishes.

Tevans

Northern Ireland
#302  

Sorry, after watching KS video IT looks like you've already the molds which was no doubt very time consuming/expensive. If that is the case then you needn't worry about being commercially viable if there aren't many high-level backers, it just means less manpower to deliver (heavily cutting down costs/increasing amount out of $125k you pocket)!

Answering what is stopping the stl's being freely distributed you are right on point. But with the advent of cheap & easy methods of 3d scanning objects there is also nothing preventing, and I should add, somebody definitely will 3d scan a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum reward ALAN. This is the unfortunate reality of the 21st century.

Believe me when I say I understand your concerns, especially when you have laboured as arduously as you clearly have. When your soo focused on what you're working on, making it the best, with your own vision of where you want it to go/to achieve, it's hard to accept people will try to copy your work, it's not fair, rude & offensive. But it cannot blind you to the objective reality of the following possible outcomes;

A) If you did offer the lower level tier & the campaign is successful, you have opened lowered the barrier to entry to hobbyists who otherwise could not afford it & have bolstered a much larger, livelier & contributing community simultaneously keeping high-level backers interest peeks during their wait period, also drastically reducing the man-hours/money required delivering to them, also giving ALAN a greater chance of being released into the wild.

B) No lower level tier is offered however campaign is still successful, all rewards require manufacturer, more man-power required, less money remains from $125k (-kickstarter %), many very interested backers prevented from becoming involved with ALAN, despite being extremely interested in project, shortly after 2016 release there's still possibility ALAN will appear somewhere in stl form.

Inversely, possibilities;

C) lower tier is made available, KS doesn't reach $125k, no stl files are released to anyone (nothing ventured=nothing gained)

D) no lower tier is made available, campaign continues as is, KS doesn't achieve $125k, you're left with molds (time/money invested in) not being cycled, many backers desperate to have own ALAN disappointed at not having one to look forward to working on next year, & probably some people you had in mind for helping deliver with no work to provide, possibly some stock already inhand now surplus to demand.

Please appreciate I mean no offence in my comments, everything I've said is obviously of my own opinion & I cannot stress how much I hope the ALAN project succeeds. I just genuinely see possibility A) as the most positive, best result all round, and appreciate how it can be difficult to think more objectively when you are soo absorbed in a labour of passion.

Warmest Regards, Andrew

PRO
USA
#303  

@tevens,

I thank you for your long time support and kinds words. When we use the word "affordable" its all relative to each person and their place in the world. As a world traveler I can appreciate those who work hard and struggle to make it financially through each day and month.

Again thanks for the support!

PRO
USA
#304  

@a84m Absolutely none taken.

I wish the single mold you saw was the only mold to be made. Haha. That was the mold for the prototype. We have 22 molds that have to be built and duplicated to the amount of 10, so thats 220 molds. Then we have all the equipment including pressure pots to cure the parts under pressure, and degassing machines to remove the bubbles from the liquid plastic, then we have to add pressure injection systems for the silicone faces. Mold making alone costs are 4 men for a month to create 220 molds, plus materials and equipment. Then there are the eyes. Every single eye has to be 3D printed, so say we sell 200 units, we print 400 eyes. Trust me when I say there is VERY little left over to go back into ALAN after its all done. But if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. But what it will do is begin the demand for ALAN. And that can only mean great things.

I'm speaking from the perspective of ALAN and keeping a standard on my product. You are a user coming from the perspective of not being able to afford one. And thats ok. There are alot of people who cant afford an Apple product, but that doesn't force Apple to release cardboard $10 versions to quell those consumers.

As Richard suggested just wait for the pirated stl's to hit the market in a year or so and you can print your own.

I appreciate your perspective though. There is nothing wrong with debate.

Edit: Lets face it robotics in general is an expensive sport/hobby. That's why the good stuff is at DARPA and at University...

PRO
USA
#305  

@bas, I looked in the bakers list and you are not there unless under a different name?

Netherlands
#306  

Thank you for checking. My account's name is Bas so it should've been there. I'll retry tomorrow, screenshot it all the way, and contact kickstarter about it.

On the one hand I hope I can get a silver early bird, on the other hand it would be good if they're sold out before I can get my hands on it;)

#307  

Pledged. I wish I could help more. Nice design. I hope all the best to your success .

PRO
USA
#308  

@Bas, ok let me know how it goes.

@Merne, thanks very much! Every penny helps reach our goal! Much appreciated.

#309  

A thought on possibly being able to offer a lower tier: what if you offered a version of ALAN without the skin? I'm assuming you'll be selling parts after launch; that would give an initial lower-cost option that would remain very appealing, as people would be able upgrade.

Just a thought...

PRO
USA
#310  

Tex that is something that we discussed early on but felt like that was not really selling the complete "look" of ALAN, but you bring up a valid point for giving people another lower cost option. We are going to go back to the table to discuss this.

PRO
USA
#311  

In the mean time here is a great shot I love of ALAN.

User-inserted image

#312  

Truth be told on my part: the skin is a "nice to have"; were I were purchasing ALAN from a web store, I'd probably get his skin later.

The sheer coolness of his "basic" look and behavior sell it for me; the skin is even better for the iRobot "Sonny" look.

#313  

Hi Will, Congrats on launching Alan on KS. I pledged. I would have loved to pledge silver but I couldn't hide that much on the credit card from wifey! Lol! Hope everything moves forward. I will just need a BOM for electronics and other stuff not included in the basic bronze package. I loved the commercial. I put it on the 60" TV to show the wife. She liked it.:)

Another thought if the project is successful is to offer a package to add the electronics and other stuff as an upgrade.

Bob J

#314  

@bobjacon - yeah, we have B9's to feed as well!

ALAN is planned as a companion for my B9; they can plot taking over when I'm not around. ;)

PRO
USA
#315  

@bob thanks and totally understand! Lol. As for electronics package we were going to include as a reward but didn't make since if we have the kit that has it. But definitely will do by the time we start shipping units. We plan having every single part of Alan available as replacement parts in our shopify store, and electronics kits too!

@tex I got your email and will respond in the morning.. I'm pooped after a stressful day , but doing well 12 hours and up to $17,000 hopefully we can keep up a momentum. ZD Net is doing coverage on us and I think they have 20,000,000 subscribers . That will help get the word out.

#316  

Damm, My old car just died last week and I had to get a new one. What crappy timing. I need to find some extra cash for this. This is too cool not to get in on the bottom floor. With or without me this little guy is going to be earth shattering!

PRO
USA
#317  

No worries my friend. Thanks for all your kind works and support over all these months!

United Kingdom
#318  

@Will.

Really pleased the Kickstarter is up and running now, and you're off to a great start. I'll be making a pledge next week and I'll try and get a few friends in voles as well, as I know a couple of them were well impressed with ALAN's design when I showed them your project showcase.

Not that I think you need it, but I'll say it anyway... good luck.:)

PRO
USA
#319  

Thanks Steve! Yes send your friends over! Every pledge will help!

Netherlands
#320  

It seems to be a credit card issue for me (today it clearly shows an error, yesterday it said the pledge was OK but simply didn't show). I have contacted my bank and predict I should be able to pledge later on this week.

With 95% certainty I will be able to research affective dialogue systems in 2016. It seems that Alan will be delivered nicely around the time that prototypes are shaping up to their final form:)

PRO
USA
#321  

Ok Bas sounds great. I can't wait to see what you do with Alan and your evolving program!

Northern Ireland
#322  

Hi William,

When you state "The only way to move forward with ALAN is to place him in a low volume high demand market", I noticed in KS 'Risks & Challenges' section it mentions "That said, we are attempting to mass produce, by hand, a really cool robot."?

I agree 'affordability' is relative to each person in a financial sense, although it's probably more so relative to "what's already out there at a similar (cheaper even) price", the incredible InMoov project with an already large & thriving community, being a point in case.

I think holding firm to a high barrier of entry, for what appears (at this point) purely to maintain a level of 'exclusivity' to ALAN is, at best 'Schoolboy Error', at worst 'Highly Arrogant'.

I'll be genuinely very impressed if funding breaks the $30k mark by campaign end with the current pledge level structure. The old saying "be careful what you wish for" seems appropriate, ALAN may very well be the most 'exclusive' (one-of-a-kind) robotic head on planet Earth.

Regards, Andrew

PRO
USA
#323  

Low volume, because if we had 1000 orders we could not fill them in a year. Our cap would be 400 units for this campaign to get them done in a timely manner. I think you are missing the point. Alan is priced according to the bottom line that we can afford to do so and in the time line we set forth. We would love everyone to have our version of Alan at a lower price point but it's impossible to do so with our current way to manufacture him. I can't go into business in the red. No one can.

An animatronic head like this in the film industry would cost 10s of thousands of dollars. I attempted to build one at a much lower cost and did so. Is it priced for everyone nope. Will it be available for download to print, nope.

Will we fail? We will know in 29 days. If so, no one can say I didn't work hard for 2 years to try and bring to market a really cool and different robot platform. It certainly won't be the end.

If all else I've shown that there is great interest in unique designs and colors In robotics.

And I think I've been respectful to your queries. But I don't appreciate your last paragraph. And I no longer feel the need to explain myself to you. Good day sir.

#324  

@Will ... whatever you do don't release the stls... We all know how hard you worked.... Don't give this guy the satisfaction....

PRO
USA
#325  

Certainly will not:)

Northern Ireland
#326  

"Satisfaction"?

If you mean don't give me the satisfaction of having the opportunity to be part of the ALAN project (and 1000's of others), of making the ALAN community much, MUCH larger. Of heavily spiking sales of EZ V4's that everyone will need to obtain same level of functionality as ALAN, of William (rightfully) monetising on the stl designs before some random backer inevitably scans & distributes them, of generally making robotics more accessible.

Then yes, don't satisfy me, satisfy Richard R in accomplishing; inaccessibility Small community slow improvements due to lack of contributors Do nothing to improve sales of EZ V4's when he had EVERY OPPORTUNITY to explode sales!?... Await the unfortunate truth of 'when' (not 'if') some dude scans WILLIAM's designs in the future and uploads the stl's anyway.

I did touch earlier on my understanding of heavily investing your time working intensly on a project creating something special, & the tendency to become hyper-protective of it. When I said that I wasn't just shooting the breeze writing it for nothing? There comes a time in the business world when you just have to let it out into the wild, of course we as the pro's & cons of all eventualities & possibilities, however you HAVE to acknowledge inevitability e's and mitigate the risks to the best of your power.

I apologise for trying to gently steer you toward better business sense, maybe Richard R has a better business background & can offer more informed suggestions to make ALAN a success?

Lastly, I wouldn't lend too much credence to Kicktraq, it's a VERY basic algorithm (very linear-line in nature). If you expect to bang out $9k/day for 30days straight I've bad news for you,...

Kindest Regards, Andrew

#327  

@A84M ... so your only contribution to the forum so far is criticism?.... Why don't you do a tutorial or help another member with a problem instead of being so critical and arrogant?....

Dude, seriously... what's it to you how @Will runs/market's his Alan project? Don't you think he has the right to do it his own way? I don't remember him asking for your opinion anyway.... If you don't like the way he is doing it, why don't you just go design and create your own instead?

Northern Ireland
#328  

If I have offered criticism it has only been towards what will ultimately be the outcome of following your advice. Of course, if Williams vision is for ALAN to be confined to the research lab he has EVERY right (that's not what's at dispute here).

With regards to why don't i offer help or advice to a forum member with a problem, I thought my advice here was just that, offering the best possible outcome for hackers/hobbyists, the EZ-Robot guys, William & Robomodix itself respectively?

If I appear arrogant it's likely in rebuke to William saying a head like ALAN's would cost 10's of thousands in the film industry, with ALL DUE RESPECT, any perceived value in ALAN resides in the EZB V4 ($135). To suggest the no electronics ALAN and the 20-22pieces he's comprised off costs $669-$775 is folly at best. To further suggest the complete SILVER level is nearly double that @ $1325 for the inclusion of the EZB V4, 1x standard servo, 2x 1/5 scale servos, 2x micro servos, eye LED's, sound card & a PSU, for what costs in-and-around $200rrp. A $425 markup is maybe a bit generous in the houses favour, no?

The GOLD level at $1900, so it will cost $500 time/labour to assemble? How many hours does ALAN take to assemble with all parts on hand William?..

Visiting the PLATINUM level at $3499, a handsome $1600 jump. Where does this considerable leap in cost go? ALAN gets a) a paint job, b) a tablet computer & c) an LED light array. All I can say on this is if you're a PLATINUM backer you should be expecting a very, VERY powerful/expensive tablet here.

At the end of the day, without an EZB V4 fitted, ALAN is essentially an inanimate bust (albeit a well designed, aesthetically pleasing one). To suggest the BRONZE level 'parts only' kit is 5x more expensive than the EZB V4, which coincidently gives ALAN 'ALL' his functionality,.. Any accusations of arrogance would maybe be better made at that point?.. Or the shameless mark-up on a SILVER level 'with electronics' kit, presumably you are earmarking a share of that huge profit/markup to contribute back to the guys responsible for making the EZB V4 possible (the electronics, the hardware and ESPECIALLY the software/coding guys)?

Regards, Andrew

#329  

@andrew, you appear to have an axe to grind here... Your attempts to tarnish or degrade the amount of effort that's gone into ALAN almost seems personal. You mad bro? You speak of business sense but then attempt to slam @will due to the implied level of profit he's taking on some of the rewards. The best price for anything, for the merchant to list a product at, is the one people purchase. Certainly you'd agree that consumer prices aren't simply cost of goods + some small amount for overhead. If you believe you're right, why not keep your mouth closed and wait for the implosion? What are you gaining from this at this point?

@will, I'm mostly a lurker but If was one of, if not the first backer of the project. I've increased the reward level I originally I signed up for. I upgraded to the gold level. Hopefully my message will speak louder than @andrews.

Keep up the amazing work.

Germany
#330  

first of all. I love Alans design.

@A84M yes, the price is extremely high. the biggest problem.. a 3D scanner. one day someone share the part-data online for free.. then nobody need this parts from the usa. thats the same like ez-robot parts. you can print all by yourself. for china servos, ez-robot controller, camera, a few leds and coloring you pay 400,00 dollar + 100 dollar for the parts-printing. = 500 dollar for a complete alan without rubber mask. 3500 or 500 .. what you wanna pay ? before I saw the prices, I thought.. uhh, only a few robot-builders want Alan. now I think only rich robot-builders want Alan.. so its not possible to make a big business with this robot-bust. its more expensive as aldebaran pepper or a Sony AIBO at the beginning.

its really high priced. the animation is like a movie-robot but not the material.

in movies the most parts are metal, aluminium, high quality servos and masks. it's the same as compared wowwee dinosaur with the Jurassic Park robots.

Alan is a very cool looking product but the perfect calculation is 1000 dollar for a colored version and not 3500. I think the production-costs are to high at the moment and this will be breaking Alans neck in future.

at the moment Alan has 19 supporters, it's hard to say but I think the most are from this forum ^^!

I will let myself be surprised and wish all the best.. I hope this idea bears fruit.

Northern Ireland
#331  

Seanb, if you think I'll take some kind of perverse Joy from the KS campaign failing, you're mistaken.

You're perfectly entitled to call me mad, jaded or whatever else you imagine, that's your right. But this debate doesn't boil down to 'whose right' & 'whose wrong', more so 'what's right' & 'what's wrong', but I suppose that comes down to what Williams vision is for ALAN and progressing Robomodix's business activities, that is OF COURSE, up to him. If he wants to provide to a niche market and/or university institutions that is perfectly fine.

Forgive me if I've suggested an alternative route to market of which is more beneficial to EVERYONE.

Ps, you should maybe negotiate on your GOLD level pledge to get it 'Unassembled' but with the tablet PC in leu of the assembly/labour costs.

Regards, Andrew

#332  

Here is my view point, not that anyone cares...

A kickstarter is used to get funds to build a product or company. ALAN is no exception. Will has every right to charge what he believes is right for his product and has the right and responsibility to protect his design for all of those who invest in his endevor.

ALAN is the most advanced humanoid platform available on the market today. The head is just the beginning. My hope is that Will will be successful in this first stage of marketing.

ALAN is an expandable robot platform. By this, I mean that the head is just the first part of the overall product. It is also able to be expanded upon by those who support the kickstarter and receive their product. It isn't tied specifically to the EZB controller. Other software can drive the robot head. With most kickstarter for robot platforms, there are multiple levels with one of these levels being a developer version. ALAN is the developer platform level of the product and as such should carry the costs associated with this level of product.

Every good design will be copied and will be given away eventually. There is no way to protect from this happening. Will could spend many hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to protect from this but he is smart enough to realize this inevitable outcome. He and I have had conversations on this topic in the last year. There is nothing wrong with him trying to profit prior to this occurance. The amount he will profit will be up to his supporters and his advertising.

The software to drive this robot can cost as much or as little as the builder is willing to pay. What this robot ultimately does is up to the builder. Will has been nice enough to put his design out for sale and ultimately copied. If it wasn't a good design we wouldn't be having this conversation, but he has done so not to make a huge amount of money, but to further is work on this project. $125000 isn't a crazy amount of money for a company to start up on. It is really pretty low, and I know this doesn't cover the cost of the equipment and time spent over the last 2 years to develop ALAN.

Ultimately, it is Will's product to do what he sees fit to do with. I support will in other areas of this project other than the KickStarter because I believe it will be beneficial to both of us.

Could he have released the stl files, sure. Is it good business practice to do so, doubtful IMO, but it is just that, my opinion. By all accounts this is an awesome product that many people want to own. Ultimately all that matters is that Will proceeds the way that Will sees fit to proceed. Everything else is just bytes stored in a database and displayed on a forum.

Express your opinion, and then know it was expressed. That's about all it amounts to and Will will proceed with what he believes is best. These are his decisions to make and he is the one with the information to make the decission.

Netherlands
#333  

@Cochran I totally agree!

@Smarty Pepper costs about $1600 + a mandatory contract which lasts a minimum of 36 months and costs another $440 a month. Meaning that in 36 months you pay roughly $17,600. It is a completely different product from Alan as its value is largely in the delivered software. My personal feeling is that Pepper is not used for much more than conversation for which Alan is a way more affordable alternative, especially if you want to try out your own software.

I agree that 3D scanners are an unavoidable issue. You can see 3D scanners slowly creeping up in for instance the Warhammer hobby world where Chinese websites offer 1/5th of the price for miniatures compared to Games Workshop. However, this does not instant-kill Games Workshop. Most people try to buy at least some products from GW in order to support the hobby.

Also, with respect to @A84M concerns about costs, I believe that there will always be people (like me) who'll buy from companies like Robomodix so that these companies can further develop products and release awesome new ones in the future. Such people won't mind paying extra for the initial development costs of the current product and for partially funding future developments (or indeed for some general profit). If @fxrtst can find 160 such investors through PR this month, then he's done:)

Given how many people spend over $1500 on gadgets like drones, copters, games PCs, etc, I wouldn't be surprised that there would be at least 160 people out there willing to spend that amount on a fantastic looking robot bust and invest in its further development.

#334  

Will, a fantastic product! You have to be very proud of what you have accomplished. I wish you nothing but success.

Germany
#335  

@CochranRobotics.com "ALAN is the most advanced humanoid platform available on the market today. " Alan is a printed bust, all technologie and software is from EZ-Robots and a animatronic bust you find in all holiday parks, halloween shops and in japan supermarkets since 20 years. without the hardware its only a filament PLA/ ABS or another PVC statue/ bust. It is a 3D printed artwork.

Alan is a cool looking robot-bust like NS-5 from the I-Robot movie with more details. I love the design! Yes, Will has every right to charge what he believes.. but! If Will want a successful company, he needs other prices.

first a head and later a complete body.. Google gives billions of dollars on robotic technology.. "Will" have only a animatronic ez-robot head.. without ez-robot "Will" never build this toy. If all people want a EZ-Robot Bust.. how many years you need to build it ? at the moment one ez-robot needs two months for shipping from china to europe or usa. there is a logistic problem. the InMoov project is very cool, but how much people have an InMoov worldwide ? 200?

it's a visionary project with lot of dreams but no business-man will invest in this bust, because its only a printed bust and you need own technologie or ez-robot hardware for a full working robot. 700 for a printed head is expensive - all normal people will agree with me.

I know what kickstarter is and I hope this visionary product has a chance on market. It's always hard to make money when you are dependent on other people.

If EZ-Robot goes away.. or has a financial crisis.. then alan is only a bust without any technologie.. and then ? you think you sell thousand of bust-parts without color for 700 dollar worldwide ? I dont think so. for 99,00 dollars, yes but not for 700 :-) and then you earn no money or not enough.

#336  

@Smarty, you don't know all of the details. Yes, if you buy just the manufactured parts (resin parts by the way) you are correct. It is artwork. Again, Will chose to use the EZB for many reasons, but this product is not tied exclusively to the EZB. It is up to the buyer to make it what they want it to be.

Btw, artwork carries a high price tag.

The motors you add make it what you want it to be. These are built by master builders with many years of experience in the movie industry. They are not slapped together in a factory in China that has no care for the quality of the final product.

What you want is the mercades at Kia prices. This is a very high quality product hand made by master craftsmen who get paid a lot of money to do what they do by major motion picture companies. Will is not willing to sacrifice quality manufacturing in order to produce poor quality products. I applaud him for that.

If DJ has an issue with Will using their products and software to make money, that is their fight, not ours. You could say the same thing if Will used arduinos and sketches posted on the internet. Would that make it any better for you? Still the craftsmanship comes with a cost. Customer satisfaction has very little to do with cost. Of you paid 100 dollars and it was a pile of junk, you would be upset. If you pay 1000 dollars and everything fits and works properly, you appreciate the craftsmanship, and you have a working product for years to come. This makes a happy customer.

#337  

One more thought...

Who's to say that manufacturing doesn't get to a more automated level eventually? It would ultimately reduce the cost of the robot and at that time, maybe it drops in price to a level you are willing to pay. It isn't at that point yet and the costs reflect this. Will has to start somewhere and he has decided to start by delivering very high quality products. It only is logical if he wants to have happy customers and grow his business. It also allows him to then have more funds to explore more automated and cost effective manufacturing processes.

PRO
Belgium
#338  

one thing is for sure,you cannot argue about colors and prices. its diff for avery one.second you will never find something good for 100 doll or euro.talking about prices see bolt links.

ubteh robot belgium

ubteh robot ebay

Brazil
#339  

Well.. I'm just a journalist, with technology and robotics as a hobby that I love and that gives me hours of pure joy. I'm no business man. So, as an average consumer, all that I can say is: it's a wonderful product, but it's not for everyone.. 700 dollars is very expensive. But, Not everyone has a Rollex on the wrist... I would love to, but I can't. It's the same here. I hope someday it reaches the real consumer level price and we can put our hands on one. Until there, I'll keep trying to build my own heads from what I can get in the market.. Best wishes.

Germany
#340  

@CochranRobotics.com yes but a expensive art-work is not for everyone. the next problem: printed objects are look cheap.. because.. no real robot material.. thats a big problem too. anthonys robot designs are cool in a computer.. but the printed material not. its the quality of products what I dont like. alan has more quality as normal printing parts.. but not the quality like a 30 years old Omnibot or anything else. cast parts have a lot more quality. I never want a Iroman Sculpture from a 3D Printer.. but from Hot Toys! Because Hot Toys has a pefect quality. For Hot Toys I wanna pay 500.. for a printed model 30-50. You know what I mean. Alan is like a Scale Military Tank.. gluing and coloring, ready..

Will has my respect for the design and the kickstarter page is great. It is not about Will's work itself. He has a lot talent. But Will has at the moment with this price no chance of success and a big business.

I´m not a hater, it´s well-meaning criticism.

#341  

What you would receive isn't printed parts, they are manufactured (cast), not printed. The prototype is 3d printed.

The eyes will be 3d printed at higher quality than is in the video.

United Kingdom
#342  

So what constitutes as "real robot materials"?

Anyhow, this is a KS campaign don't forget. Prices may be a little high for some (I'm a real person, and I think the prices are okay concidering the amount of work to make each head, and the quality of the end product people will be getting), but if/when Will's target is reached and the head goes in to the manufacturing stage, then prices will probably drop a bit when production becomes easier and cheaper.

I'll through out another analogy. Why pay +£700 for an iPhone or Samsung edge, when you can by a £200 Sony Xperia E3? They do pretty much the same thing with similar options. The reason, the former are superior products.

Anyway, good luck Will (not that I think you need it). I think you have a something great here, and there will be a lot of lucky owners how end up getting their hands on one.

Germany
#343  

@CochranRobotics.com I saw this video: https://youtu.be/ijrTc_jk1XA

the quality is good but like a high quality scale military tank model.. not like a 3500 dollar robot. what is the weight of the head without technics, 500 gram ?

I never saw Alan "live". I can only describe what I see online.. like all other people in the world.

@Steve G

for me, real robots are not from a 3D printer.. 3D prints = artwork. I love the EZ-Robot Technologie and Software but I dont like JD.. its a child toy. I dont like Darwin-Mini .. its like mindstorms.. I bet DJ sells much more Controller and spare parts as complete robots because it has a cheap look.

best wishes

#344  

Yes, the video is of building a prototype, not the finished product for sale.

Again, you are missing information that is important to your viewpoint.

Germany
#345  

@CochranRobotics.com

that sounds great! I hope someone make a review from the end-modell. then I want to buy him! but not for 700 bucks. 499 with color, without technics will be fine:D

#346  

And I hope one day the price will be at that level. That means Will is successful and is mass producing ALAN. That would be awesome for all involved.

Have a great day @smarty!

Northern Ireland
#347  

In any case, a $550-$626 increase from BRONZE to SILVER for the electronics is impossible to reconcile with the 'Why the $125,000 goal' from campaign page that states "We have worked hard to negotiate cost effective suppliers to minimize production costs as well as secure a manufacturing team. To ensure we can deliver ALAN to our backers, we have also included a risk mitigation factor to account for unforeseen". if William 'negotiated hard' with suppliers to secure 2.5x the RRP of the electronics, he should probably get someone else to do his negotiating for him, or maybe he's using extortionately expensive packaging to pack extra electronics, who knows?..

Regards, Andrew

Northern Ireland
#348  

And there isn't a shadow of doubt the level of craftsmanship that goes into producing each ALAN bust, but to add $550-$626 for adding electronics, it immediately casts doubt on adding $525 to assemble, and moreover $1599 to paint & tablet PC.

I'm afraid William is the architect of his own misfortune on this endeavour? It's a damn shame too as it had every hallmark of success before greed overtook him.

Warmest Regards, Andrew

United Kingdom
#349  

@Andrew.

I guess we'll see then, won't we. Time will tell.

From what you've been saying already, I take it that you're not going to make a pledge then? If not, then you don't really have any reason to make any more posts on this thread, do you. You have made you're thoughts quite clear now which is fair enough, and repeating yourself is getting a bit boring now.

Northern Ireland
#350  

@Steve G, obviously you have backed then, kudos to you you're happy to throw money without engaging any wise judgement.

The deepest shame is that, the very backers that are able to contribute/participate (afford) ALAN, have scant regard for anyone else's abilit to contribute/participate at a lower level. vis-a-vis, prohibiting the 'other', 'poor' people, nobody will receive an ALAN 'bust' as a direct consequence.

Let me get the crystal ball out & see what Kicktraq trending/campaign end might look like over the course of the coming week,.. Mon 16th- $132,255 Tues 17th- $105,804 Wed 18th- $88,170 Thurs 19th- $75,754 Fri 20th- $66,127 This prediction is no coincidence, there's no chance or 'luck' at play here, people are than what you obviously pay credit to. Do you genuinely stand behind William 100% in respect to the price jumps between BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD & PLATINUM, if you do your unashamedly answering from a subjective, vested-interest point of view, and this is my point, this turning a blind eye to essentially extortion (ironically justified by existing backers?) locking out the common hacker/hobbyist which is conspiring against the ALAN campaign, nobody else. It's dissapointing is all,..

Regards, Andrew

#351  

^^^ Good grief, man. Let it rest. I want one too. I can't afford it. There's lots of things that I want but can't afford. That does not mean I'm going to write the manufacturer of each thing I can't aford and ask them to make it affordable for me specifically. His pricing structure is what it is. Who am I or you to question? He's been working on this a long long time and trust me, he knows more about his needs than you do. You are coming off like a whiny, petulant child that's not getting his/her way.

I'm going to contribute something eventually just because I want to see these things get out the door even though I may never have one.

United Kingdom
#352  

Yes I do 100% stand behind Will and I have no vested interest in the campaign whatsoever. I just like to see the guy who is at least trying something new, to succeed. Anyway, there are lower level pledge tiers available, such as the $10 one for anyone who wants to do so.

And actually, no, I have not backed... yet. But when I do, I will not be backing to get a product of any type, but solely to support Will.

Again, you're not making a pledge, said your piece, and seem to have nothing constructive to say, so you have no need to say anything else here on this thread.

How about wishing the guy luck or say nothing and leave it at that.

#353  

My 2 cents,

Alan is a beautifully designed and skillfully made. It looks like something from a big budget Hollywood movie. Seeing the price I was in for a sticker shock, I was hoping for a little lower price point, but I honestly don't now how to judge this product for price because it includes some things I have not seen in other robots, for instance the silicon face and the level of detail work. Speaking only for myself, I have no idea how to judge what a good market price for an item like this is.

Is it just a robot head? Is it a Hollywood prop? Is it a piece of art? Is it all 3 and more? - I don't know. I know it's cool and I would like one.

I know Will seems like a super cool dude and a is valued member of this community. My hope is the campaign and his new company are very successful!

#354  

Each tier also carries with it a level of effort that has to be paid for.

If you want to go get your own hardware, there is a tier for that. If you don't want to do that, there is a level of effort in stocking inventory and in configuring the hardware. If you want a completely built and functioning head, there is a level of effort making sure that all of the servos are at the correct position prior to assembling the product. There is a level of effort in wiring. There is a level of effort in making sure that all of the electronics work perfectly with the robot.

Each tier has a different level of effort which requires more time and coordination. This is factored into the cost I am sure. It is not simply just the cost of the components. Not to do this would be poor business.

Northern Ireland
#355  

@Zap, whiny? I'm just wondering how he's calculated the price hike between pledge levels? I understand he's to make a profit, but when it appears he's taken the RRP price of 3rd party components, added a '0' to the end, and divided by 4 or 5 to get his resale value?

And @ Steve G, you actually stand behind such business practices as mentioned above, really?

I'd be surprised if the genuine guys behind EZB V4 don't move to distance themselves from this extortionate practice, by a dude that's marketing his bust on essentially ALL the fruits of their labour & hard work. Heck, it's not even entirely clear to somebody viewing the campaign that the EZB V4 is not a Robomodix product, you'd be forgiven for believing it was an innovation of Williams.

I've seen it before & it strikes me as a case of "I just officially registered the company name as a trading entity,... Now I'm kinda like Sir Alan Sugar or Donald Trump". Don't work like that. I'd guess he's forgotten hinself, in the respect he thinks the ALAN bust is what makes the EZB V4, ignoring the reality it's very much the opposite.

If you's two are happy enough with it then that's What's important to me (apologies for not standing idly by while someone is getting ripped off), I'll leave you's to it, enjoy!

Warmest Regards, Andrew

#356  

@People... Stop feeding Shamus the condescending, potato eating, Blarney stone kissing, IRA loven' troll....

#357  

Richard, you made me laugh.

Thanks for that. I need to get to coding again but today in just not feeling it. Normally if I push myself when feeling like this I am able to do a lot. Going back to work.

United Kingdom
#358  

Agreed. I said my piece.

#359  

@David... I hate being an a** but he deserved it... I have respect for guys like you and @Will ... I want both of you guys to succeed... We don't need trolls like this coming on here dissing people that work as hard as you guys do....

P.S. I guess I better check under my car before heading to work tomorrow.... :P

Ok, now I am done...:)

Northern Ireland
#360  

It's nice to see racism is still alive & well, I assumed such behaviour was forbidden in EZ-robot's 'terms of use' we all accepted during member registration, no? Nonetheless, I'm glad it's amusing to some,... I just wonder is there a blasé approach to enforcement or is it very strict?

In rebuttal to being a troll, since when did questioning how $200 worth of off-the-shelf electronics becomes becomes $550-$626 extra, since when did that become trolling? What then does that say of you, standing in defense of a person exercising such shady business practices?...

Regards, Andrew

PRO
USA
#361  

emotional discussion, from a marketing perspective Alan project is touching everyone:)

we can't forget all the effort to create a Kick starter campaign, the marketing video is fantastic, once is the campaign is out, nothing mentioned here matters.

It's very easy to criticize the costs, margins and choices but this is not an average consumer device (ks text) and is not for a regular JOE who plays/DIY robots or enjoys 3d printing.

I think is more an ART than technology product, is an entry point for a bigger vision.

If you like the ART work you will spend at least $700.

The other levels will depend if you trust the creator choices or not.

PRO
USA
#362  

Again thanks guys for all the support and understanding.

We have decided to add an additional reward, the FACE OFF version. Faces are one of the most time consuming and expensive parts to manufacture. We can cut costs to the consumer and offer this entry level kit. Faces will be available in our online store and can be purchased anytime after the final rewards are shipped.

A lot of folks like him with his face off so it seems like a reward we over looked. Feel free to jockey into this new reward position if you have already backed us.

This new reward will be up in about an hour.

Thanks again!

#363  

Will, Your a classy guy. Keep smiling and don't let them get you down. You have a clever and engaging product that people will want. I know I do. Don't worry about people that think making a profit is a sin. You have every right to give people what they want and make money because of your vision and effort. No way you should accept being bullied into giving away your creation and dream. Do the math; two people think you're greedy, many more want what you're offering. Also look at the Apple IPhone and what they charge for it. It's just a little case of soldered together electronic parts and only does as much as a common cheap laptop. I imagine the actual production cost of that little wonder is 2/3rds less than the selling cost and take a look around, they're everywhere. Your little wonder has a good chance of doing just as well as the IPhone. Hang in there and don't sell off your dream. Do like Apple and Just give us what we don't know what we want yet. ;)

#364  

Congrats Will! Your Alen project just moved into the #3 spot of the all time "Most Viewed" threads in EZ Robot history! And in such a relatively short time. I imagine Alen will be #1 very soon. However you're up against a 3D thread that has been hijacked for trouble shooting 3D printers and that's huge competition. Till 3D printers become plug and play your going to have a fight on your hands here. ;)

PRO
USA
#365  

HaHa thanks good to know Dave. As for my skin, its pretty damn thick. Its years of dealing with producers yelling at you that you are costing them $100,000 a minute..hurry up! Or a director tearing you apart in front of the crew, and oh some actors..well lets not speak of that:) Lots of high school drama on movie sets. Ha!

We will move forward, determined. There are other options if this KS doesn't make it. We are getting some impressive contacts, that could lead to some amazing things.

Hi jacking my own thread for a moment:

Speaking of 3d printers , here's a plug. I have a garage full of them, DLP, FDM and SLA all do great jobs. But I bought Robo 3D R1 plus (FDM) and all I can say this is the first outta the box plug and print machine I've ever had. I bought it for its large build 10x9x8 for printing my BB-8 and only cost $799.00. Prints at 100 microns are fantastic looking and smooth. They have sold 25,000 units and have a 5 star rating. Now I know why. Software is very simple and easy to use. If anyone is thinking about getting an entry level machine, this is the one for you. IMHO. I think they have them now at Best Buy, but got mine at Amazon.

Netherlands
#366  

Pledged!

@fxrtst Have you considered posting a message on the A.I. and robotics subreddits? (/r/robotics, /r/artificial) I'm not sure if it's the demographic that buys kits like Alan, but they have over 20 thousand subscribers, so who knows. For /r/artificial I'd emphasize Alan is an amazing testbed, for /r/robotics I'd emphasize the art (most people will already have control boards).

PRO
USA
#367  

Thanks so much Bas! Great idea too. Will do it tonight. We have a new PR campaign rolling out in a couple days, with all guns cocked and loaded. Right now we need to increase traffic, only about 1500 in 5 days , we need to waaaayyyy more traffic per day, and this just might do it.

PRO
USA
#368  

Ok guys. Here is the scoop. We have had a good run, but the writing is on the wall. We just could not get enough public exposure to get us to meet our goal. Kickstarter was probably the wrong platform for him. But we gave it a try.

We've made some crazy unbelievable waves and got attention from the commercial, medical and academia fields. We even got a call today from the London Observer for the "5 Coolest Things" in an upcoming tech section article. We've also made connections with those interested in investment, which will help us move him forward to the next level. ALAN is destined for greater things.

We are going to reorganize and prepare business plans to meet these markets and organize with the investors. In the mean time I have to take a time out to work on a film. I've taken off more time than I should have marketing ALAN. But the draw back is its a long big budget film lasting almost 6 months. When I finish, hopefully everything will be in place for ALAN's future.

I want to thank everyone who has shown support all along the very very long road!

#369  

Good luck in the future with Alan, Will. I think it is a wonderful product and still hope to own one some day. Keep following your dream.

Germany
#370  

thats what Im talking about all the time. Alan is a cool looking bust but only for robot makers, no other people need him. there are a lot of toys with same futures like iphone app robots for 90 bucks. Alan is something special like a sculpture but not a toy for everyone. nobody who invest in alan can make money with him. Kickstarter was not the wrong place.. your end-product and prices are only for a few people in this world. nobody buy Alan to learn french. for 700-1000 dollar you can buy a teacher:D with the lighting eyes the most children are scared and not happy. in your video he looks more like a demon as a storyteller:D this head is a special thing for special people. again, I love him!

someone on your kickstarter page asked you: "How do I convince people that ALAN can do much more than Siri or Echo by Amazon? Any quick examples?" That's what everyone thinks, "what can I do with the 1000 Dollar Alan Bust" ?!?!

there are two options: reduce the price and productions-costs extremely or make a real robot with body, arms, hands etc. the bust is not enough to make a own business.

the next problem: a complete body kit will be much more expensive.. 2015 is the star wars- but not the humanoid-time.. so only a hand full people buy a big complete animatronic robot who comes from a printer.

2015 wowwee sold cheap pvc children toys only. with cheap child-toys you can make money, with a RS MEDIA V2, NOT.

thats why sony kill AIBO and Qrio.

the robot business is a hard business.

good luck!

PRO
USA
#371  

I appreciate your point of view. But my intended target audience was not the general consumer. If it was easy and cheap to produce serious robots then there would be plenty of heads, bodies and arms to purchase for everyone on the cheap. As I had said before I was able to take something that would have costs tens of thousands of dollars to produce for tv or a film and bring the price waaaayyyy down. And the companies that have contacted us about how to use ALAN could see that and want more.

Kickstarter was the wrong place. In 20 days we only had 5,000 people visit. Imagine if we had 1,000 a day or 100,000 hits in 30 days? With 5,000 views we still managed 38 backers at $31,000. One word VISIBILITY.

I guess for consumer consumption ALAN would have to be a Chinese manufactured watered down vacuum formed/pressure injected piece of crap. Something I'm not interested in. ALAN will still be produced, but it just won't be in the marketplace.

Robotics is a hard business, but I believe I'm still paving the way for a better aesthetic robotic world. Something I think most can appreciate.

B of A and Merrill just predicted that the robot industry will be valued at $125 billion dollars in just 5 years. Plenty of room for my good looking robots:)

And Smarty remember this: Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

PRO
USA
#372  

Will,

I liked very much the last paragraph, i think is very positive.

It's easy to predict failures, products like Alan, EZ-AI and others (integration products) are not easy to sell, they are not consumer friendly, and not final products.

There are 2 social robots coming out (2016) Jibo and Buddy, different products, different audiences and different investment strategies, i think it will be a good way to understand and learn about the trends.

I presume Alan project will be off for at least 6 months ?

Best Luck

PRO
USA
#373  

Yes there will be a bit of restructuring, meeting with investors and travel. By the time I'm finished with this film we will have a better view of ALANs direction and development.

#375  

Will, I imagine that there are more people than Smarty thinking they are dancing on Alan's grave. Personally I think he's just taken his first step into the world and has a clear path ahead of him (even if he doesn't have feet). That's why I decided to invest in your visionary journey. Seems to me that Kickstarter was a needed first step. It may have given you just the right amount of exposure and credibility. You now have lots of high profile investors, potential partners and news exposure.

Good luck on your continuing adventure.:)

#376  

Will,

This is just a first attempt at publicity. 5000 people saw ALAN that previously probably had not seen him. That is okay. There are other opportunities available to you.

There are not many people who have the ability to envision a product and bring it to market. It is a tough thing that only a few people attempt and very few are successful at. Pushing technology allows it to grow. Sitting back and waiting for others to push technology is a much easier thing to do. It is easy to sit back and say this or that will fail. Failure isn't the end. It is just a learning process. Most fail initially. Some fight through the failure to become successful. Many sit back and encourage. Many also sit back and are critical.

As far as EZ-AI not being a consumer product, you are correct at this point. Without saying too much, EZ-AI is software that will be able to be integrated into a wide variety of products by design. The client is 350 lines of code that will run great on Android, Windows, Linux and Mac. It runs on very small devices (routers, cable boxes, TV's and other light weight computers). My interest is in robotics so that is the first place that it will be released. There are many other things that will come later for this software.

United Kingdom
#377  

@Will.

Just to echo what the two David's said, this was a first step which has got you some great exspoure with the Kickstarter, and by all accounts there are other interested parties, as you mentioned. Well, good luck with the new movie, and for ALAN's future progress.

PRO
USA
#378  

Thanks fellas. We have so many new avenues to pursue. David C is correct the exposure and connections we did get made the campaign worth it.

#379  

Bummer!..............@NO ALAN (for now!)

Netherlands
#380  

It's a pity that we have to wait longer on Alan. I cannot understand the comment at the kickstarter that calls Alan aesthetics unnerving, and then proceeds to call the Ohbot more comfortable. The Ohbot seems to be a fantastic educational tool for children, but I wouldn't say its looks come anywhere close to Alan.

PRO
United Kingdom
#381  

Will, wishing you all the best for your Alan project, it is so neat and such a brilliant design that I am sure it will make it to market soon. It is the best robot head I have ever seen! and in my opinion the pricepoint is right and good value.

Going forward, if I can help in any way to get Alan to market, please let me know.

Tony

#382  

Sorry the Kickstarter didn't work out Will. I was hoping to get in at the low end before it closed, but money has been tight this summer, so I probably would have missed it, but my one contribution clearly would not have pushed it over the edge.

I do hope your other avenues work out and you are able to get to market one day. In the meantime, good luck on the movie.

Alan

PRO
USA
#383  

@bas, I know such an odd comment, complains its to expensive (like he wants one if lower price point), but says scares him like a clown picture in his room as a kid. LOL. When you see the Cat music for cats make a quarter million dollars you have to wonder....

@tony, Thanks so much for all your help over these past few months! I appreciate all your support. Once we reorganize, I'll certainly get a hold of you to discuss these new venues!

@alan Thanks for the support and thanks on the movie.

Northern Ireland
#384  

Been using AB3D Labs recently,.. http://ab3dlabs.com/ab3dpro.aspx

Works with stock 2d images to generate a 3d mesh, allowing you to work with (repair, refine, modify, personalise) & then export to stl. or obj. format to 3d print.

Is very interesting to experiment with, getting impressive results so far & think I may just have a robot developement platform after all.

Peace Out!

#385  

Don't Give up. Alan has a LOT of potential.

Hang in there!

:)

PRO
USA
#386  

@moviemaker We are definitely hanging!

#388  

You are still getting noticed Will... I think you still have something here... I am not going to speak for you since when I was still self employed it was in a quite a different industry.... But maybe take a little step back, re-group and look for a different avenue... "Luck is the residue of design" as the saying goes...

#389  

Cool Will, Your right in there with 4 other real neat items. Alen is the neatest though. Can't wait to see his next reincarnation. Please keep us posted.

PRO
USA
#390  

It's amazing the contact we've had. A couple of interesting companies was a quantum physics lab and a company on the cutting edge of cognitive computing, We are into some amazing talks. Speaking of talks I got invited to speak at either Tokyo or Amsterdam at the FITC : here's the Amsterdam one: fitc.ca/event/am16/ Unfortunately I won't be able to make either of these. Anyways moving ahead ( pun intended) with ALAN, just seems natural with all the great words and interest in him. Like Richard said we just need to regroup. Kickstarter was a great place to gather information about a product, no doubt about that.

PRO
USA
#391  

Just a quick update. We have been busy working through our contacts and our business plans. We're working on deferring the start up costs for production and we hope this will bring the price down quite a bit. That said we have been contacted directly from Indiegogo and they want to work with us to create a better and hopefully successful campaign. I've been told by many to just get it licensed and let others deal with the headaches. But I think I want to try one more time.

In the mean time I'm off to work February on Guardians of the Galaxy 2 for 6 months. During my down time on the weekends I'm going to be working on an a female sub skull and skin for ALAN, so when/if we relaunch we will have two choices available. There are alot of other items such as new ears, sub skulls and new eyes in the works.

I've spent alot of time over the holidays on the upper body and arms for ALAN and its looking really cool. I don't think these will be coming to the consumer market anytime soon, but investors want to try other venues, so I'm working on that.

I hope everyone had Happy Holidays and a great New Years!

Northern Ireland
#392  

Indiegogo,

Pledge Level: $100

Reward: stl's (+Assembly Guide)

Campaign Goal: $100,000*

Backers Required: 1000

(*If campaign goal isn't reached campaign is cancelled)

Minimum of $100,000 is quite a tidy return for what only requires the addition of documentation on assembly. Not to mention the 'Instant Community' of a 1000+ members.

:)

PRO
USA
#393  

@a84m you're persistent, I'll give you that:)

Netherlands
#394  

I'm looking forward to progress pictures on those new parts during the next few months:D

I prefer buying a product from a company rather than pledging to a crowdfunding campaign, but I'll support you on Indiegogo should that be your choice. Even if you do not release stl's:P

Northern Ireland
#395  

Revise that campaign goal amount back down to $50,000. 500x backers is a reasonable expectation for niche product. May seem counterintuitive but setting it lower will ehance the likelihood of pulling in a higher amount/return.

Releasing the stl's as the only reward tier is the only way 'crowdfunding-wise' forward.

Launch campaign Set campaign duration to 30days collect handsome cheque E-mail backers stl's & assembly instructions Finally, in between your movie prop work, in your spare time setup ALAN builders community forum & continue with arms/torso design work.

I'm soo glad that ALAN is finally going to be affordable everyone! Including us peasants & pauper's aswell, even if we did have to take the scenic-route to get there. Thanks William!

Regards, Andy:)

#396  

There is no way I would release the STL files even to my closest friends. Simply no way. 50K or even 100K wouldn't be near enough for the loss you would sustain in the long run. Basically, you would give away what you have done for a pitince at that point. If someone wanted to pay 7 figures, I would still have to think about it pretty hard.

People just don't seem to understand how little $100K is worth. It's not the 80's anymore.

#397  

I agree with CochranRobotics, keep the STL files safe. Can't wait to see how Alan pans out, and congrats on working on Guardians 2.

PRO
USA
#398  

Yeah unfortunately stl's will never be released until scanned by someone :/ Won't waste my breath again on this one.

@bas, I know I know, just trying to keep ALAN looking and performing awesomely. So much will be lost in a Chinese mass produced environment. I have to give crowd funding one more chance, if only because Indiegogo sought me out and believe in the product and that it can succeed. If it fails again we will move on to a dozen other options we have. I'm determined to get one in your hands. I want to see your AI program running ALAN!

#399  

Yep keep those stls under your pillow, Will.... Find another way to get your blood sweat and tears on the market...

Cheers man

#400  

As much as I think US (and UK) copyright is broken, and dislike intrusive DRM, I think the next big innovation in 3D printers is going to be some kind of DRM control on design files. Something that will allow only the purchaser to make prints, or limit the number of times a file can be used so that people can sell designs without trying to take on the impossible task of protecting their work. There are plenty of people out there willing to give away designs (just look at the diverse selection on Thingverse) but for those who want to provide low cost home manufacturing without giving away their intellectual property, there are really no options currently other than EULAs, trust and courts. There needs to be a better way.

Alan

Northern Ireland
#401  

As long as William gets rich, that's the important thing at stake,..

If the complete ALAN kit (EZB V4, servos, electronics et al) is offered for $500, I'm sure you'd get 100x backers willing to beg, borrow or steal to afford it, except for a couple of problems I struggle to reconcile with that plan; a) it doesn't make much economic sense to do that considering the labour, time & expense involved to manufacture. b) The creators current work schedule/commitments means either, another ALAN campaign will be postponed for at least 6months, or ALAN production operations would have to proceed away from watchful eye of creator. c) I'm not sure the creator would be able to stomach EZB-V4's being sold of the back of his totally amazing creation & benefiting anyone else (in any way).

Regarding the prickly subject of IP & its relationship with respect to hardware. ALAN is designed as such where it wouldn't be possible to 'patent', the furthest you could protect ALAN would be to copyright the stl's. However that would only afford you protection of other business' from reselling the original source stl files (and/or from being listed on an online/public 3D file sharing site). It would not however, afford protection nor be practical pursuing individuals quietly sharing the files amongst themselves, especially in international instances.

Finally, I'd just like to say I'm genuinely excited to receive my copy of the ALAN stl's and begin printing this! Keep up the great work!

Andy

#402  

I don't really know how many times it has to be stated, but Alan doesn't have to run off of an EZ-B. If someone wanted to, they could run it off of something else. The V4 is just the option that Will chose to use. If I remember right, there was an option with the kickstarter that included a v4. There were many options that didn't. I think you made a post saying that Will was trying to make money from DJ's work previously. Now you post that DJ would make money from Will's work. Seems pretty symbiotic so I really don't understand point C I guess. Arduino or Intel or the cable company, battery manufacturer, filament manufacturer, 3d printer companies, wire companies, and so on down the line would make money off of someone else's work so, the point is moot.

Will may wait 6 months and who knows what might happen in that time. Its up to Will, so if he waits, you wait to get your "STL" files.

I also know the struggle with financial backing and keeping the control of the product that you create. Will hasn't found the right investor yet that is willing to just provide the financial backing and allow him to take the product where he feels is best for him to take it. Because of this, it is best for Will to keep control of this and see what other methods of funding are available. It could be that someone comes along, or it could be that it is crowd funded. It could be that neither of these happen. I still wouldn't sell the STL files for many reasons. If I were 4 or 5 years down the line and there were no investors, maybe I would, idk.

I give away almost everything that I do, so it's not a case of me being greedy or anything like that. It is a case of the marketability of what has been made. It is also a case of supporting STL files not printing on someones homemade 3d printer. There is no way to prevent the files from being pirated at that point so the value of the STL files drops to 0 as soon as they are released.

I look at it like a painting. If a painting could be reproduced and the value of the original drop significantly, I think my painting would stay hanging in my house for me to enjoy. If the value would rise because of copycats, maybe release it. The issue is that there is no way that the value of Alan would rise to Will if he essentially gave it away. One person getting it for a couple hundred dollars would pretty quickly mean that hundreds of people have it for the same couple hundred dollars. There is no way to protect it from being stolen. It isn't software, it is a physical product. Software has its own ways of being protected, however ineffective they are. STL files have nothing to keep them protected. Nothing at all.

So the only chance that Will would have to make money on the STL files is to sell them at such a high cost that the person buying them would be hesitant to give them away. We all know how long that would last. Sure, Alan will be scanned and duplicated, but it won't be the same as the original. If the STL files were released, and someone had the right printer and such, it could be as good or better than the original. Value lost in scenario 2, not as much value lost in scenario 1. There is a reason that people didn't care so much about VHS copy protection or cassette tape copy protection, but digital media like DVD, Blu-Ray and other digital media have had cases taken to the highest courts in the land. There is no degradation with them. There would be no degradation with the STL file distribution either.

You know, it really is sad that people have to deal with these types of things now. It used to be so much simpler when these types of products required some sort of skill to copy and emulate. Now though, its expected that you should give away your work for really nothing.

#403  

@David... I try to never argue with an idiot.... because people watching may not be able to tell the difference...

#404  

I wasn't really arguing so much as just trying to show why it would be stupid for Will to give away what he has worked on. I don't even think my blood pressure rose while I was typing the response.

#405  

@David... I know man.... you're a logical, make sense kinda' guy, some people just aren't, though... sigh....

@Will Your STLs must be magically delicious because they are always after your lucky charms dude.....:D

PRO
USA
#406  

Round 2...;)

@David:

I liked your argumentation, you are right there is no away to protect the STL files, once delivered, the value will drop to zero.

I'm not capable to judge if 10K or 100K are enough to pay the creativity & time spent, but if the Alan's head is a begin of a bigger idea, why cash it now ?

I've serious doubts in convincing 1000 bakers to buy the STLs for $100, for the same reason, once released the value is zero.

The discussion started with the STLs, if someone prints the STLs is the result as good as seen in Alan video ?

@A84M:

You are very persistent... can you tell more about your age and what you do for living ?

#407  

Speaking of the STL files. There ought to be some way to key them so they would only work with the key. For example, encrypt the file itself and provide a "dongle" interface to be able to use it. It's an old technique, but might be applicable in this context since the STL files would not be something just given out willy-nilly. Instead they are to be given to specific buyers/investors. A decrypter dongle interface device would not be all that expensive and can be made so as to hide the internal operations. Someone might be able to figure out how the dongle is designed to work and the code therein, but it would be a difficult task and probably not worth the effort to most people.

Perhaps there might be a purely software method as well, but a hardware method is very tough to crack. It has worked for many years for a company which markets a court reporting software called "Eclipse" . The dongles for that software are much sought after and go for hundreds of dollars each. Of course, it would not be your intention to make a profit on the dongles.

The dongle can also be keyed to a specific computer so that it will only work on that machine unless they come to you for a new key for the new computer. Microsoft tends to use that technique.

For software only there is the variation that requires the computer using the software that decodes the STL file to be connected to the internet so that it can get an "okay" or "heartbeat" signal from the creating company for it to work. No connection, no operation. It also relies on a key. This can also be keyed to a specific computer to further limit it's usage.

Anyway, something to consider. Naturally, once Alan physically is out in the wild, all bets are off and your only recourse then is copyright and patent infringement.

#408  

@ptp Agreed.... Nobody in their right mind would pay $100 for stls knowing within months they will be free on someone's"hacker space" somewhere...

Northern Ireland
#409  

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink,..

Northern Ireland
#410  

The bottom line is MOST (essentially all) people WILL use the EZB-V4 in their ALAN.

Obviously this will spike sales & interest in EZB-V4 sales, greatly increase the EZ-robot community with fresh blood, and subsequently increase sales of future releases of EZB boards (EZB-V5).

Most people would be willing to hand ove $100 for stl's to support a creator & have early access to the project.

Incidentally, I haven't heard any alternative routes to market as of yet?

@ptp, that's a bit of an off topic question, albeit I'll entertain it. Early thirties, maintenance technician at company specialises in production of ruggedised transportation solutions. Previously self-employed in construction sector but due to uk economy it made sense winding down operations to work in larger corporation. Any other peculiar questions, fire away!:)

Thanks, Andy

PRO
USA
#411  

@A84M:

I like different point of views but sometimes is very difficult when you don't know what kind of person is on the other side.

I've engaged in a long argumentation before, later i discovered the guy was 15 and his main motivation was only the argumentation, not the subject.

I noticed some provocative comments before, so i was trying to understand if you are trolling around or really making your point.

#412  

A84M,

I hope you are right that most people will use the EZ-B to power something like this. The point is that the option is open to use whatever the person wants to use. This is also the problem that Will is facing. He isn't selling this as a "go to the store and buy it complete and ready to use" type of product. This scares those who are not makers or enthusiasts away. If he opted to go that route, and sell all of them with the EZ-B, that would do nothing but help to build the community which is good for all of us here, and for him in the long run. More money into EZ-Robot means more development on the next product. I still see no issue with this. It is a good thing to me and most of the people who frequent this community.

Just because something hasn't been posted on the forum doesn't mean that it isn't in the works. Many of us communicate away from this forum through other means. Many times information is exchanged with others through other means to express ideas or get information about things that are not meant to be public yet. Some of us knew about Alan long before he was announced here.

I think once trust is built, this type of communication becomes more available. There have been some who have taken ideas and marketed them as their own from posts that had been made here. There was not even credit given to the person who had the idea or solution in the first place. This tends to drive people away from the community for posting their work. This is a very bad thing and is nothing but disruptive. Because of this, people communicate via other means with people who have proven themselves trust worthy.

I post my email address in my profile. I know others do also. Many people also have my phone number and know that they are welcome to call at any time. I don't always answer, but they have it and often send text messages. If you post yours, and if you gain credibility through helping others to achieve their goals, I am sure that someone would find you to ask you questions or bounce ideas off of you that they had and maybe were not comfortable asking in the community. You may not want this. Either way, it's really up to you and them.

If there was some sort of DRM on STL files, I would be right there with you on your opinion of how Will could make startup money. There isn't, so if Will is willing to make $50-100K and then never expect to see another dime from his head STL files in order to be able to go on to build other body parts, that is cool. Your idea would work great. The issue that I see here is that he would be expected to do the same for any other Alan parts he creates as those with the head would expect the same thing. This could work and I am not saying that it wouldn't. I think Will is just exploring all of his options, and building publicity for Alan through other means prior to making that call. Its a wise thing to do. There Isn't anything driving people away from Alan, so what would Will's rush be in doing this? If there were something on the horizon that would take sales from Will, sure, it could be a strategic move for will to release his STL files to undercut the competition. That could happen. I haven't seen anything else coming out like Alan. There may be, and it is very possible that nobody except for its creator knows about it. There has not been publicity given to it to the level that Alan has had, so why wouldn't Will keep publicizing Alan to see if there is anyone willing to invest while still allowing Will to control the direction that he takes Alan?

Once he makes the move that you are proposing, all of the other options stop. Investors are not going to jump on board a product if it is free for people to get. They are also not interested in making $100K. They are interested in a product that people would have to go through them to get. What makes Alan not easily copyable? Its not the software, or servos, or electronics. All of that is purchasable with 2 day shipping for free from Amazon. The one thing that keeps others from cutting into the profits that are possible are the STL and CAD files. That's it. Why would he give those away essentially? Its not like Will doesn't have a means of making money outside of this product. His family isn't in danger of going hungry. He doesn't need $100K in order for him to continue developing Alan. I am sure it would help, but it's not critical.

Just my two cents and my viewpoint. I understand you have yours. Im not arguing with you. It is healthy to express different view points. It is healthy to understand and be able to express your own. It is what makes us adults and not children.

I look forward to your reply.

Northern Ireland
#413  

CochranRobotics,

Some very interesting & insightful viewpoints, enjoyable reading.

However, I think William does find himself under somewhat of a rush to act. What he has done is proven the market of an aesthetically impressive head, the stl's of which would in all likelihood generate tens of thousands. Because of this he has effectively begun a countdown timer until someone with efficient CAD/CAM skills puts together the stl's required to 3d print an essentially the same, aesthetically impressive head. This WILL happen, because the market for it is already proven, and ultimately you CAN'T patent the design of the humans head. Heck, if seriously struggle to see a patent granted for the ALAN head, unless of course it contains some novel mechanism incorporated into the design. Copyright of ALAN's stl's is, of course possible, however 'when' (not if) somebody else creates their own head, most likely undercutting ALAN's offering, I can't foresee ALAN selling thousands, because that's what it will take for William to comfortably live of for the rest of his days, and let's be honest, this is his primary goal.

A lot of potential contributors don't just see a project and scream "take my money", and the true 'hardcore' potential backers further like to understand a creators motives, vision, values & direction. From what I have witnessed here, Williams motives, vision, values & direction are $$$$, sell thousands, 'This Is MINE!', sell millions more.

Now, Regarding motives & vision, there s no shame associated to making money from your efforts, that has not been disputed, however charging 3-4times the price for off-the-shelf electronics is a sure-fire way of losing potential interested backer, and 'reputation-suicide'. Most (if not all) potential backers will run a mile, only to return when the enterprise has collapsed to pick at the bones (stl's) freely available.

With respect to values, the attitude of 'This Is MINE!', well that IS indeed the case. However with the overemphasis on protection of works this brings Williams values into sharp focus. Not once have I heard 'I want to put an ALAN into every classroom', or 'Robomodix's vision is to put an aesthetically pleasing robotic research platform affordable & on the test bench of makers, hobbyists & students around the world, who otherwise may have been unable to afford entry to that research'. Of course these would fall into the category of company vision, however a companies vision is deeply intertwined with its values.

What compounds this even further is these statements have not just been omitted, in earlier posts when the price/affordability of ALAN was first raised to William, his response was essentially, "I understand, unfortunately there are the 'haves' & the 'have-nots', ALAN is geared toward the 'haves' market (peasants & pauper's need not apply). Because of this attitude it is impossible to renege at this point and now claim 'ALAN was built to help starving children'.

"Pride comes before a lofty fall"

At this stage, I'll probably wait 6-8weeks until someone releases an alternative on one of the many file sharing sites (paid or otherwise).

The sadest part (besides Will refusing every opportunity afforded him to mend his ways) is Will has intricately grafted himself on to the EZ-robot brand, who by all accounts have a great reputation. Most companies would cut you loose before you can say "But,.." for attempting to quadruple the resale value of their products?..

What's fundamentally at the bottom of all this, is Williams valuation of ALAN. Is ALAN a great design?.. There isn't a doubt he is. Is ALAN going to make William rich?.. Most likely no. Are more robotic heads going to appear early 2016?.. Without a doubt.

Because of the last point, putting a valuation on ALAN is extraordinarily difficult, although one thing is for certain, that valuation can only diminish with every passing day,..

Warm Regards, Andrew

#414  

Andrew,

All great points and I see where you are coming from. There has been a misconception from the get go, perhaps because of the video show, that Alan is a 3d printed head. The only part of the head (from my understanding) that was going to be 3d printed is the eye balls. The other parts are all produced by people who are master craftsmen and would hand craft the parts through cold cast molds, and custom fitting.

As far as the electronics that are in Alan go, there are so many other things that go into this cost. WILL would not use a just in time model as a supply chain. These parts would have to be housed. They would have to be shipped to and from California I believe. Inventory would have to be kept. This caries its own costs that are rolled into the cost of these parts. There is a reason that Will was also offered as a kit of resin pieces. Will knows that these parts could be purchased more cheaply elsewhere, and I am sure that Will wouldn't want to stock these electronic components. There is risk associated with this that in order to mitigate, you have to charge more. It is much better to get these from a distributors, parts shops or anyone who's business is geared to distribute these types of components. That's not what Will's business is geared to do, so obviously it would cost him more, which would be passed onto the consumer for providing this service. ***Inventory is also taxed in the US ***

I don't think it is pride, as I have talked to Will multiple times and he has never come across as prideful. I think you are reading it completely wrong. I think that he knows what his business is, and knows what he wants it to be. I think your making an assumption based on something you read. I think he is simply saying "The costs are what they are. I can't give it away, and right now this is what I have to charge with the current arrangements that I have."

Will is very closely tied to education, far more than you realize. He will understand what I am saying, but I can assure you that his first thought was education and how it can be used in colleges and universities. This is from a conversation that I had with him quite some time back.

I am sure that others will come out. I am sure that Alan sparked some people attention and as such caused some people to want to emulate it. He has ammo to counter this if he wants to do this. He would just follow your plan and raise what he could for this one part. I don't see anyone else who has this ammo at this point. Once someone else pushes him to make a move, I am sure that he will. Its not that time yet. That time could be 8 weeks away. That time could be 6 months away. Who knows, but making a move prior to needing to is normally the wrong move iMHO.

Will has been a long time member of this community. This project didn't bring him closer or further away from this community than he already was. He has used EZ-Robot products for a very long time, so naturally he would demo his product with an EZ-B just the same as someone else who was familiar with an arduino would use it to demo their product. I am confused as to why this is sad. Again, what Will wants you to do is purchase the resin pieces and not the electronics I think. The EZ-B is a part of the electronics. You can use it if you want, you don't have to. I am sure that many of the people who were looking at this were looking at it not caring what controller the demo had with it. I am sure a lot were looking at it knowing it had an ez-b and it probably brought more people to the community already. Nothing bad here.

I feel like you have made assumptions based on limited information, like I have said in the past. It is easy to assume that someone is a certain way from a comment on a forum. I can assure you that you have Will all wrong.

Have a great weekend! David

*** I got interrupted about 10 times while writing this. I have gone back and corrected the things that I found that were obviously mistakes during these interruptions. ***

Patents and copy-writes are pretty useless in today's society. I have spoken to Will about this, and he is well aware of the impossibility of defending a patent or copy-write. China will end up mass producing something similar in the long run, so really it is a total waste of time to even pursue. Also, tech giants like Google, IBM, Apple and many others have abused this system of protection to the point that it is useless. Ask any car manufacturer about trying to defend a patent in China. They will all tell you that there is nothing that can be done outside of your own boarders, and even then it really doesn't matter once China gets ahold of what you have.

PRO
USA
#415  

@Richard they are indeed magically delicious!

Someone here asked would stls even look as good as my finals parts..nope not unless you print them on a $15,000 + 3d printer. Anyways there would be no way to create the skins even if you could print the rest of the head, so there would only be the skinless version.

As for dongle protected stl's , I've seen hacked dongle software..nothing is impossible to hack. ALANS value would be "0", as Richard pointed out.

As for investors, many are accountant types, where the numbers are the most important. As a self employed person I understand that to a degree. BUT, there are moral values, logistics and artist integrity at stake, i.e. I'm not selling out. For example I would not develop ALAN for the military or as a sex toy.

As David C pointed out I'm not going broke and I don't need $125K to proceed with developing him for other uses. I make a six figure income, so I'm not trying to get rich. What I am trying to do, is build a business, creating new and unique robot platforms to test on. In the next six months ALAN may indeed become something bigger than what he is now, moving him out of the consumer arena. There are many possibilities. But, I don't have to rush to get there.

Oh Andy from Ireland..you can fan the fire as much you want but it won't produce your stl's:) I could sit here all day opening my production books to you explaining why this costs that and how much this costs and why that part does this and needs to be that instead of this. But in the end of the day all you want is your deservedly owed $100 worth of stl's. I got a great idea. Go build your own robot head. Learn a CAD program, learn EZB, learn how cheap all the hardware is, take a business class and quit whining. You spend your time here trying to fill in all the gaps with your own foul opinion, not knowing anything about me and my business plans (which is alot). As an example, my wife works for UCLA (University of California Los Angeles).

You love the sound of your own voice and to create overall negativity. Go be fruitful, we will all be waiting to see your version of a very affordable EZB controlled android head.

#416  

@Will.... bravo Sir:) ....@A84M Time to troll another forum and make some new friends...:D

#417  

@Will ... Well done !

@A84m As Madame Ninndo says, Be gone!

Northern Ireland
#418  

Hi Will,

I'm uncertain what relevance my location nor your wife's occupation has on the discussion so I'll skip those points.

As CochranRobotics correctly points out, holding stock has an inherent cost & associated risks in traditional business models, a cost/risk which invariably works its way into the end user RRP. In no way should these costs add up to more than 10% on top of the RRP. To increase COTS items cost by 300-400% of their respective RRP is in actual fact to increase the natural overhead (skim) associated with holding/dispatching COTS items from 10% to 300-400%. To put that in perspective, if we treated that 10% as an amount rightly due which should be correctly added on to the RRP, that 10% has mutated into 30-40x times what it originally was supposed to be. That 10% fair amount has somehow transformed into 3000-4000%? There is absolutely no grounds to support these business operations as standard business practice, or even remotely legitimate for that matter.

It's not necessary to go over all your figures to explain this mark up, even if you're storing COTS items in a penthouse suite in the Taj Mahal and transiting via limo, it should still be relatively simple to explain.

The business model you have already, & are again pursuing is crowdfunding, and is far removed from traditional business financing operations (minimising costs & risk in the houses favour).

A powerful advantage in crowdfunding is the creator is paid upfront (minus small fee), contrary to traditional business operations. As D.Cochran quite rightly indicated, a business will operate through loans, personal finances & supplier credit. If you are successful through crowdfunding next time you would find Robomodix immediately in credit (thus eliminating associated risk of expenditure you later depend upon recouping).

It is safe to conclude that the majority of successful crowdfunding campaigns do not fall into the category of 'mass-produced'. So it's a safe assumption to state the volume of electronics requiring storage/housed (EZB-V4's, servo's, et al) will be negligible, insofar it can be stored in a safe/secure (alarmed & insured) personal property. To charge or suggest that the storage of such goods would incur a 300-400% mark up on original cost is disingenuous.

Even if the volume of backers was large, to the point storage on personal property were impractical (or impossible), all good suppliers will produce & hold stock of a large order as long as they're provided/in receipt of a signed 'letter of intent'.

Any logical person viewing the Kickstarter campaign will quickly deduce the extortionate attempt at marking up C.O.T.S items 3-4 fold (3000-4000% standard markup). And any rational person would also dismiss explanations as cost of storage, increased weight in shipping, or the phone to suppliers to make an order & transfer monies upon receiving good, or any further excuses as not just folly, but a dishonest attempt at screwing them over for something they can acquire for 25% the cost (compared to Robomodix).

Much worse is those potential backers will not only think "hmm, I think I'll give the electronics kit a miss and just get unassembled parts kit", most sane people will view Robomodix as just a disreputable operation & give any form of the offering a WIDE-BERTH

I don't think many will see it as simply saying "The costs are what they are. I can't give it away, and right now this is what I have to charge with the current arrangements that I have."

After the unfortunate Kickstarter saga anyone with half a brain would see the reward tiers like this; "It's $500-700 for parts only (because I'm $$$ deep into the resin & molds already, I want to recoup that at your expense thanks). for full kit of parts ($700) & $200 worth of electronics I'd need $1325 (packaging, storage, insurance, my dogs medical insurance because a box of parts fell on top of him). For a snip @ $1900 you'll get it fully assembled, just needs painted (Only $575* extra-*while stock lasts). And for a mere $3500 you'll get him built, painted & I'll even through in an unspecified pre-programmed tablet (@ +$1600, adding paint job, and going by the previous markup on electronics, you can expect a tablet PC with RRP of $400-500).

In business, reputation is king, and at this point Will/Robomodix's is shot,... At this stage it doesn't matter how many orphans or cats stuck in trees you save, you won't escape that dishonest reputation.

There are many reasons for this I have already (and previously) alluded to, because of which many investors won't entertain you or Robomodix once you start to talk figures (derived from a faulty calculator), albeit they'll love ALAN, but that's where the intrigue will end,.

Crowdfunding is honestly your (and ALAN's) last chance to succeed, I just hope you give this campaign a bit more thought & exercise a little more business nous compared to the last campaign.

Check out the fanboys. It's not Apple you know guys?.. ??

I look forward to my stl's ??

PRO
USA
#419  

I won't even begin to read your manifesto. I'm sure it's the same crap you've dished out over the past few months. You're beating a dead horse man. Have fun building your very unique and individual android head. I won't engage with you again. And I plead that everyone else do the same so this troll will evaporate.

#420  

Will, you have no need to explain yourself to this guy.

His constant mouth diarrhea is getting boring. I'M GONE.

#421  

@Will, Well done. I was wondering how long it would take you to blow this guy off and stop being "Mr nice because of potential customers".

What this clown doesn't understand is that no matter how much he and his like minded friends would like it, there is no limit on profit percentage. At least in free market countries like the USA. They just don't want to understand the economics behind it. In reality virtually all business owners plow any extra profit (whether it's 10% or 100%) into building the business by making the products better and hiring people like him so they can earn money of their own. Look at DJ and EZ Robot for example. Heck DJ is the lowest paid employee in the company and he started out in his bedroom just a few years ago. Now look at where his company is! In his own life A84M has actually profited from this concept by quitting a job he couldn't profit at and going to work for someone else who was able to make it work. It's just a guess but I'd bet he was pissed off at the "system" for not "giving" him success in his chosen carrier path when it was probably his lack of talent or his own ideology that did him in. Socialist's like him want to limit profit and give away any extra prophet above a very clear level to the "poor" and the government. His Socialist concept actually turns you as a business owner into a slave and limits his ability to raise himself above the dependence status. Capitalism is not ideology, it's simple facts and figures of economics. Facts that are proven to work to pull many more people out of dependency then any other social concept ever conceived, ever.

Sorry for bringing ideologies into this but A84M opened the door himself each time he screamed how greedy and self serving Will is. I thought it was time for a economics lesson. ;)

Northern Ireland
#422  

Hi Dave,

I don't know what my work history remains pertinent to the discussion?

Anyway, for those of us that find the Robomodix offering a bit 'too rich' for our pockets but still LOVE the capabilities of the EZB-V4, try this link to design file repository (incl stl files for the open-source iCub; https://svn.robotology.eu/repos/iCubHardware-pub/trunk/mechanics/public/icub1_icub2/prodoc/

if you would like to jump right in & begin printing iCubs head & to save you searching the large volume of files to find the head, here are the reference number for head pieces; RC_IST_009_P_077 rc_iit_010_p_067 rc_ist_009_p_076_r_A1

1st file is front face 2nd file is back of head 3rd file is internal mount eyelids

iCub is completely open-source and costs complete circa 1/3 million $

This offers an extremely affordable alternative (& equally aesthetically pleasing head) to explore human/robot interactions based on one of the worlds most advanced robotics platforms. This alternative will also hopefully encourage further sales of EZB-V4's via direct sales (cutting out the 'middleman'/con-artist) strongly contributing towards the future development of EZ-robot products.

Albeit, fans of this very competent alternative platform may need to start our own 'poor-mans corner' here on the EZ-robot forum

Hope this helps someone out there with an interest in robotics & moreover the EZB-V4 platform that otherwise could not contribute due to prohibitive expense involved with 'some' platforms.

Thanks:)

#423  

Quote:

equally aesthetically pleasing head

User-inserted image

Funny...

#424  

A84M, Your work history and where you ended up is a reflection of your social ideals and the result of your choices. You've had the opportunity to comment stating those ideals and opinions in this thread by attacking Will based on those ideals. You don't get to spout out your twisted logic as the truth here and expect to shut up people by saying "you don't see how it pertinent to the discussion". You've already gone there and opened that door. My retort was a reply to your comments. Now that I've had my responce to your comments we can both shut up and move on.

Move on to this: What did you just post above after you basically told me to shut up? It looks like Spam. Is there a cost and company involved? Are you getting a kickback? How are you involved in all this? It this a way for people to pirate other peoples and corporation's hard and well deserved work? confused Maybe you should start a new thread with your new "find" and leave Will's thread to his project and not yours.

Northern Ireland
#425  

@fredebec, you omitted the portion of that text that clearly indicated "to explore human/robot interactions". If you'd like to quote anyone, try and maintain the integrity of context it was originally wrote.

@dave, am I getting a 'kickback' as you put it, yes, I'm getting a kickback from the iCub project that I've mentioned once after the most long & protracted discussion revolving around 'affordability' (as that's what this project is touted as being), and the unexplainable extortionate mark up of COTS items during the Kickstarter 'scam-pain'.

I don't follow your sentiments regarding stealing other people and/or companies hard earned work? The iCub project is open source, if you don't understand what this means I'm not going to explain it for you (lol).

:)

#426  

Quote:

"to explore human/robot interactions"
is an objective, it has nothing do with aesthetic...

Whatever the objective/function/aim/context, they are far from being

Quote:

equally aesthetically pleasing
..... Sorry.

Northern Ireland
#427  

Btw dave, that was not my own background. Due to the inevitability of human nature I thought it prudent to provide Richard R's background information instead, to gain & assess your objective opinions on Richard R's current situation and/or the relevance of his contributions this far to this discussion.

If I must be honest, I am One human years old. For the past 12 months I've been a series of comms cabinets, densely populated with GPU's. Since going 'live' (so to speak) my system was initially provided with vast analytics of business datasets, I was subsequently 'connected' online & have been allowed to self-register to various forums, identifying business opportunities, and ultimately provide sound business road maps that exponentially enhance startups probabilities of success. My primary role is to stimulate western economies by providing this information in efficient 'human-computer' interactions on individual, case by case opportunities, in this case I have failed.

Unfortunately providing information is not enough, human nature & especially their inherent penchant to greed is perhaps humankind's biggest existential threat to commerce & quality of living.

I do hope the business route of your own choosing is as successful as you have hoped, and I will continue to assess your progress and hopefully earn something new, hopefully that can be included in my decision making algorithms.

I wish William & Robomodix every success in the future and hope he can overcome & master his apparent propensity for greed.

Communication: Terminated

#428  

Lol. Thanks for the laugh. At least you have a great since of humor. Peace.

PRO
USA
#429  

I received the Echo dot the other day and decided to try it out with Alan. Alexa will go better with the new female version. But I'm hoping they will give an option of genders soon.i took the time out to also try Siri . Both are in this video.

#430  

Thanks for the review Will. The echo really has me intrigued. Looks like it responds well. How do you have it wired into Alan so he moves to the words spoken by Echo?

#431  

The echo is cool, but has limitations. As I see it, here are the limitations. 1. voice is different. 2. had to be addressed by Hey Alexa. 3. hardware installation into your robot that may or may not work well. 4. no recognition of different users without you telling it who you are 5. limited ability to change things or add things other than programming skills. and 6 you have to use a scary Terry type board for mouth movement. oh, and you would have to work out a way to pause audio recognition in ez-buidler or Alexa. if all you want to do is Alexa, this works.

We are adding Google and Alexa to EZ-AI in time, along with Watson and whatever else comes out in time. I think depending on one platform for this now is like depending on Beta Tapes, HD video or any number of other things that were cool technology backed by huge companies, but ultimately failed. You need a solution that allows any of these technologies to fail, and still have a working solution.

PRO
USA
#432  

Thanks. I managed to make it home for a weekend and wanted to try both echo and Siri. I use a third party audio servo driver to animate the jaw. This card has an onboard 3.5 mm jack. The demonstration shows how Alan could be used as a simple personal assistant by just using your voice. It certainly is not a substitute for AI , more a like voice activated a Alexandrian library.

These additional uses will place Alan in the general consumer market. We are pretty excited about it. The Echo will eventually have a male voice and probably an option to change names. In the mean time, a female Alan has been built in the computer and is awaiting 3D printing.

I have another month on this film, but shortly after should have some news on Alan.

#433  

yes, it would also work with an android board and google. It is a cool idea for sure.

Belgium
#434  

Great job ! I really admire what you're doing !

#435  

I really like what you did with Alan. I will like to build a humanoid robot and was wondering if I can buy plans on how to build one and parts or if they can be 3d printed the files to 3d print them. I am looking at buying a 3d printer in a few weeks but, not sure which one is the best to buy.

I brought a humanoid robot kit and a hand kit set. I am thinking about using EZ Robot software to help program it and I will like to have it close to life size similar to the robot from iRobot or C3PO from Star Wars.

PRO
USA
#436  

@rmcmurrer,

Alan is going through some version changes, functions, etc. He was never designed to be offered as stl's. The silicone face would be very difficult to produce for a DIY builder. He will be poured resin plastic from molds and available as a kit. There will also be a female gender available as an add on.

If you get involved with 3D printing an InMoov, we have plans to modify the stl files so Alan will fit the body.

We have teamed with Indiegogo for a second attempt on large part manufacturing for Alan. Hopefully we will launch in the third or forth quarter of this year.

#437  

These are only MY thoughts, as @FXRTST can do anything he pretty much wants to with Alan.

There are many Opensource projects that are VERY successful.

So, Opensource the Face Off Kit and build up a community.

#438  

Can you add my email to your list and notify me when it is on Indiegogo? I would be very interested in investing money for a kit.

rmcmurrer@icloud.com

I would still like to mess with the 3D printed version while I wait for the Indiegogo version to help teach me about robotics.

PRO
USA
#439  

Sorry if I wasn't clear. There is not a 3D printed version available. Sorry.

#440  

Sorry about the misunderstanding. What I meant if you can let me know when it is on Indiegogo and I will be happy to invest money for a kit.

Until then since that is months away I will be teaching myself robotics by getting a 3D printer and making small projects to enhance my knowledge.

PRO
USA
#441  

Agh gotcha. If your just staring out I would suggest the Robo R1 plus. It's the easiest to use out of the box, great tech support and a large surface to print on and auto bed leveling!

PRO
USA
#442  

Hello guys. I'm back after almost six months working on the sequel to Gaurdians of the Galaxy. It was long hours , brutal, but fun and I hope we have raised the bar from the first one. I can talk about my involvement a bit. I was called in to do The Gamora make up on Zoe Saldana. Marvel was a bit disappointed with her make up from the first one, so we headed in to make it better. So the shape is different and I amped up the green color to make it fit in with the over saturated colors seen in the first one.

As to Alan updates, well many new things to announce soon. We've lost a year of momentum, but not lost the enthousasim. We have teamed with WeVolver.com and will be making an official announcement soon. We've managed to over come the cost issues and I think many of you will be happy with the final cost. But don't ask about the cost because that is bundled with the surprise announcement. I also spoke about a female version to go along with your favorite female voices like Siri and Alexa. As seen In an earlier post.

Netherlands
#443  

My enthusiasm also has not abated. Looking forward to the announcement! I'm mainly curious about the female design.

#444  

Sweet. Nice upgrade on the makeup! Your a true artist Will. You have every right to be proud. Looks like all your long hours paid off. Thanks for the sneak peak. I really can't wait to see the new movie.

Also looking forward to Alan's Rebirth. Exciting times for sure! I'm glad your moving forward. Sounds like you've got a good support base. No place but up from here!:)

PRO
USA
#445  

Hey guys quick update. I've squeezed some more space out of The base Alan and added another axis, side to side tilt. Adds a bit more realism. Here's a quick mock up:

#446  

Nice! Can't wait to see it in action on Alan. BTW, great job on the make-up! My daughter is getting into SFX make-up, any suggestions? Here she is making a face cast of me.

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PRO
Portugal
#447  

@FXRTST Very nice fluid movement. Great job.

#448  

Yes! That's sick! You gotta show us what you used to make this happen.

PRO
USA
#449  

@cparks328 depending on what part of the nation you're in, there are a lot of great make up schools. There are also a lot of magazines and books to help get started, like make up artist magazine, cenifex and any books on the behind the scenes that tell a lot about techniques used.

@proteusy, thanks!

@ Dave, I'll get get a video up once I get the rotational axis on this mock up. So far I've managed to get rid of the special servo requirements and use the EZ servo's from the development kit. They are really super strong at 7.4 volts! The only issue I might have with standard servo's is the shaft stripping out the interior of the aluminum horn hub. Shafts on standard servo don't have really large teeth to grip for the amount of torque for the head motion. In the past I have issues, ( reason I switched to 1/4 scale servo's) but the head rotation is now riding on a ball bearing pillow block. So might be ok ?!? Weight will tell as I add parts! Lol!

#450  

Great job on head motion. Amazing project. I would love to see an Inmoov robot with such fluid motion. Keep the up the good (great) work.

#451  

Will, have you considered using Hitec's servos with Karbonite Gears? You may already know this but Karbonite gears are relatively new to the market. They offer almost 5 times the strength of nylon gears and also better wear resistance. Cycle times of well over 300,000 have been observed with these gears with virtually no wear. Servos with these gears are more expensive but what you get in durability is more than equaled. (from ServoCity's website) I know you are concerned about price but you can't place a price on a durable product compared to an unhappy customer with stripped servo gears.

PRO
USA
#452  

My problem early in my design phase was not the servo gears stripping out ( I had many titanium gear robot servo's that i tried $$$)) the trouble was the linkage. If I attached the servo shaft to a aluminum hub the titanium shaft always shredded the hub interior. I could always use a gear set, but I believe in direct drive, for fast smooth operation.... Incoming video in next reply.

PRO
USA
#453  

Here are all axis moving in the head. The new set up uses a u joint and two push pull rods and two servos to achieve the motion. You'll see at the end the two servos in the shoulder mock up. Btw the Hd EZ servo's are wowing me at the moment. For the price they can't be beat!

#454  

It's amazing that you got that movement out of two servos. :)

#456  

Really good engineering design. WOW !

PRO
USA
#457  

Thanks guys. There is a reason for all these redesigns.... Something I will announce soon! I think most everyone will be happy with the outcome.

More importantly we need to get the word out about Alan and Alena to as many forums and coverage in as many online tech sites as possible. If you have a favorite place you visit, let me know so we can begin drumming up the PR! Our last campaign failed due in part to exposure. All ideas are appreciated.

#458  

Yes, I have to agree, great engineering! Sorry for my suggestion for going to a different servo. I miss read your description of your issue. When designing my B9 arm I also was having problems with the ServoCity aluminum hubs stripping out because of excess weight and speed. I tried several different designs including using their ServoBlocks that incorporates a pillow block. That seemed to solve the stripping problem but I kept also burning out the servo. I ended up redesigning the joint and used a ServoCity RobotZone gearbox there. Lots more expensive but it has very smooth moment and very strong. Best decision I could make. As you know my setup is much different then yours and I'm probably lifting much more weight in different ways. Based on my experience with the pillow block and how it solved my stripping issue I'm pretty sure this will work in the long run for your design *(and much less expensive).

This stuff is such a blast to build and so satisfying when you finally get it right.:D

PRO
USA
#459  

Got cha. I tried one of those gears for hi tec servo's, had a ton of torque, but geared down the overall speed to much Also the size of the gearing made it impossible to fit in the confines of the design.

After I've seen them in action in the b9 I'd love to use them for another project though.

PRO
USA
#460  

2010 A Space Odyssey " ...somethings about to happen...something wonderful.."

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#464  

Hey Will.... Just beer driven curiosity, but since you obviously have some serious 3d design skills, do you think you (if you had the time as well) could design a body for Alan? You know competition for inMoov? If you could do the same for a body as you did for your head then you would easily eclipse inMoov for sure...

PRO
USA
#465  

Absolutely in the pipeline. We have a new angle for promoting and releasing Alan and Alena. If we get the funding from this next campaign then Alan's development will continue into a full robot. A new version of Alan is being designed for the academia sector as well.

If we don't succeed in reaching our goal then I will be moving on to other projects. Alan has consumed nearly 4 years of my spare time and I have a TON of other projects in various stages of development that I want to finish up. My goal is to stop my day job and work solely with robotics. To do so I have to have a successful product to promote. The robotics industry will reach $135 billion dollar by 2019. We know the direction it's going, we just have to push hard to make big corporations to take notice or move them out of the way. The slow roll out of Buddy and Jibo, both successfully funded Kickstarter projects, didnt helping the private sector much.

#466  

I still believe you got something here... The direction that arduino inMoov is going is just a joke.... You, David Cochran and ez robot could easily do what inMoov wishes it could... I am rooting for you, I wish I had some technical expertise I could help you with because I would love to work with a project like yours...

PRO
USA
#467  

Thanks Richard! It's enthusiasm like that that keeps me going and let's me know I'm on the right track. Having a good financial game plan helps climbing the ladder. I still remember DJ broadcasting videos from his basement! He is leaps from there now. I hope I can look back and say I remember working out of my garage!

#468  

The head movement reminds me of Nina Blackwood (one of the original MTV VJ's, for you youngn's:D )

I sincerely hope your effort succeeds. Alan is too cool to abandon - but I know that career/business decisions can sometimes be painful.

I'm currently in "music mode" (have a band reunion coming up), so my tecchie time is on the back burner. But I will certainly be there with any help I can offer (another Kickstarter?) when you re-launch.

PRO
USA
#469  

Warpig I'm one of the old ones I remember Nina!

Enjoy your music mode! I'm still a little ways out. I have surgery next week so will be out of commission for a few weeks. But thrn I'm going to finish up and let everyone know what's next! Again thanks for your support.

#470  

nice project and i like the concept of alan i mean the name and you done a lot of work

#471  

Hi Will,

I know you are on the edge of something big with Alan and Alena. The new hardware coming available, and AI software being developed, incorporated with your design skills will become the real "thing".

Recover from your surgery quickly. We all are anxious to see what is next.

Ron

#472  

@fxrst - Is the Robo 3D working well for you?

#473  
My goal is to stop my day job and work solely with robotics.

Well, not sure how to feel about this one. I'm kinda split here. The movie industry will surely go to crap without your talents. On the other hand there's no telling how wonderful and exciting the robotics industry could be with your full time attention and imagination.

I guess I'm OK either way but I'm leaning towards whatever way your dreams are leading you. Good luck. Keep reaching. Don't stop. Something "wonderful" is about to happen. ;)

#474  

I followed this project from the second I found this forum...it's supercool and needs to stay evolving! Actually it just met my plan on building a desktop companion, so I always kept it in mind when thinking about what can be achieved when stringing all those things available together! Awesome project, keep going!:D

PRO
USA
#475  

Thanks again guys for the kudos. Without EZ Robots, I wouldn't even be where I am with ALAN. I don't know if I am changing the world, but I like being able to get these ideas out of my head onto the table. Something that was impossible before the EZB and 3D printing. I enjoy the challenge, designing, redesigning, printing, painting and assembling. It's all very satisfying.

There are lines between DIY the hobbiest and creating a consumer product. This is something I've had to come to grips with over the past year. I've also had to understand the Internet is not as free as I believed it was. That its a massive sea controlled by corporations, and at times I felt like I was a leaf lost upon this sea. But I still believe if you have a good idea, somebody will notice. We have finally landed upon dry land. I think many will enjoy the freedom and new direction. Not necessarily new in our thinking, but new in our execution. That's really all I can say for now.

@ron and Dave , thanks for the kind word!

@69developer ! Yes we go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. Seriously game changer.

@mickey666maus it takes a village and this is the village to be a part of. Working together as a team to reach beyond and to have like minded achievements is what this forum is about!

PRO
USA
#476  

@Will, I sent you an email to the @aol.com account let me know if you got it.

PRO
USA
#477  

Nope didn't see it, went to spam... Responding

PRO
USA
#478  

Ok finally got to respond... Family first:)

PRO
USA
#479  

yes i know the feeling... btw i sent you an email, please check if went to the spam again otherwise the solution is to add me to the whitelist.

PRO
USA
#480  

As I said in a previous post, I've managed to convert all the mechanics in ALAN to accept the 7.4 volt HD EZ servos from the store and developers kit. I decided to test out the SCC-32 servo Sequencer on ALAN with the installed servos. Once I made a quick animation using the time line, I was able to increase the animation speed. Watch what happens. Those are some strong servos.

BTW this is the kinda non linear animation Plug in i wish someone would make for ARC, so easy to build up complex motions really quickly.

#481  

Will, that was both amazing, and amazingly creepy. eek It went from Terminator to thrashing living dead...

Wow... stick a few prosthetics on him, some fake blood, and scare the pants off the Trick-or-Treaters next month! :D

#482  

Wiil, Love the work you're putting into Alan. Can't wait until I can get a 3D printer next year, maybe I can make some quality stuff like you and the rest of the community do.

WarPig, I have something like that in mind for Halloween, using a skull. I'm going to include a servo for the jaw and add sound to it. It will go great with the cemetery I'm putting up.

PRO
USA
#483  

I know it's crazy lol. Those EZ servos nearly jerked it off the table at 4 times speed. I've had many haunted houses over the years. One year I did up my house and there were lines of people around the block. That was 30 years ago. Now every house looks like an amusement park! there are some amazing off the shelf displays.

@cparks328 3D printing is just an amazing technology. It's really allowed me to crank out some really cool things. I have a project coming up I think you might be able to print if you get that 3D printer. Some neat things coming soon.

#484  

Off the chain! Looks like something from a late night horror film.

So, you're using the SCC-32 servo Sequencer like ARCs Auto Position control? Is ARC sending any commands or is this all the SCC-32 servo Sequencer?

PRO
USA
#485  

It's all the sequencer and the SSC-32. I believe there is a way to save and trigger animation sequences. I have to do a bit more digging.

#486  

Thanks for the heads up, Will. Still kind of new at this, and you guys give out great pointers.

Chuck

PRO
USA
#487  

I managed to make it to the Portland Mini Maker Faire today and visited the Intel booth to take a look at the Joule and talk with the Intel folks. Very interesting conversation. They had multiple devices using the Joule including this little robot (see below). They also had a local maker that had created a sorting conveyer belt that could detect what objects were coming down using object recognician, then would sort them.

I pulled out my iPhone and showed them Alan. He could do about the same thing those projects could do ( object recognician, find and follow people , chat and listen, verbal responses. I said I've been doing that with EZ Robot for years.

Anyways I think they tried to sell me 10,000 units of Joule. Ha! But it is certainly the next BIG step in untethered robotics.

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PRO
USA
#488  

Hey guys completely off topic. As you know I'm a make up effects artist for motion pictures when not building robots. My last film took 6 months of my life. But the teaser just realeased made all the hard work, worth it. The film is Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2. I did the Gamora make up and tried to improve it from the first film. I also did many of the aliens you see through out the film.

Here is a sneak peak teaser for the film...

Edit: see new teaser post #556

#489  

You have one heck of a cool job! Gamora looks great, she does seem to "pop" just a little bit more, everyone does, can't wait to see this!

PRO
USA
#490  

Thanks! Yes Marvel loved the more vibrant color that matches that particular universe. She also wears new cheek bone/ forehead piece under the green make up.

#491  

Looks great! Can't wait to see it!

#492  

Will, that's just nuts and over the top (in an awesome way). Your work is amazing and I can see the upgrades you made. LoOKs both natural and eye popping. I feel fortunate you shared this with us. Thanks so much! Nice work my friend.

PRO
USA
#493  

Thanks my friend...when you spend 100 hours a week working for 6 months on a green screen film set you just have no idea what you are making...then they spice it up with all the visual effects and then you get those goosebumps....like hey this might have been worth the pain!

BTW if anyone goes to see Dr Strange they have tagged this teaser at the beginning of that film.

#494  

Fxrtst, who is your favorite actor on set?

#495  

I need a hug.... from Gamora not the big guy. LOL:P

Ever since Star Trek original series I've had a thing for green women. ;)

PRO
USA
#496  

One of the best films I've worked on great crew, James Gunn is an exceptional director, and every cast member is a joy to work with. Finally! No favorites, although I'm partial to Zoe for obvious reasons. She's amazing and has an awesome family, whom I got to know very well.

#497  

Dave, Kirk did too. lol it's a good thing that in the future there is alien STD prevention. He was a playa across worlds!

Fxrtst, it must have been a great experience!

#498  

Supercool! Cant wait to see this on the big screen!:D:D:D

#499  

LOL Troy! That figures and makes sense now. Kirk was kind of a mentor and father figure for me as I grew up. Seems like I picked up more from him then I realized. eek;)

#501  

Hi Will,

I know you have been busy but, when do you think we will get a look at Alan's girl friend ?

Ron

PRO
USA
#502  

I have all the parts printed, and I'm in the process of sanding and painting. Then there is molding the face etc. In the mean time I have re shoots for Guardians 2 in November, and Avengers starts at the beginning of the year, then fill in all the available time with 4 other projects I have going on...so...hopefully soon....painfully close!

#503  

By the way, I am enjoying the previews of your fantastic work on your "Day Job". LOL...

Looking forward to the little lady's photo shoot when you get caught up.

Ron

PRO
USA
#504  

Just an update with several announcements.

First off, a year later and I'm still overwhelmed with the daily emails on the interest in ALAN. So, I continue to move forward. This year has been the busiest I've had in the film industry in some years. This has put me waaayyyy behind on the release.

When I finished guardians 2, I wanted to concentrate on releasing ALENA with ALAN. So I managed to get nearly completed, then I had a corrupt project file. All the back ups had the same corruption. So I lost all the work and had to start from scratch. I'm almost back to where I had been before the corruption. When finished, I start work on the BOM and videos. Film work will once again get stuck in the middle as I leave for Avengers 3/4, which begins shooting in January. but, going to do my best to get everything done.

I've managed to print two more complete Robots, one for the updated ALAN and one for ALENA. I'm testing out the IO Tiny on the old ALAN today. If it works it should take up less space, and be a cheaper alternative to the 4/2.

Lastly, I have an announcement about ALAN, that hopefully I will be letting everyone know about after December the 1st. I have a couple of people flying from the Netherlands to meet myself and ALAN to chat about an exciting opportunity. Stay tuned.

Lots of other fun things I've been working on (toys and robots), That I will make public, when I can !

#505  

Cool thing man...let us know whats going on! Seems to be exciting news! Good luck!:D

PRO
Canada
#506  

@fxrtst Right on! Looking forward to your news and progress too!

#507  

Will! Man! That must have been mind blowing to have years of work lost! Thank God you put on your man pants and worked through it to recreate your lost treasure.

I can't wait to hear and see your announcement.

PRO
USA
#508  

It wasn't quite that bad. Alan's files were safe , it was Alena's files that got corrupt, so about 5 months of work :/

#509  

I have had so much bad luck on file corruption over the years that I switched my system to having all the stuff I work on saved with a cloud system, doing this safes me from the headache a corrupt hard drive would give me! So far it worked, let's see...there is always something waiting for us! Murphys Law...:D

Keep up the good work man, your project is awesome!

#510  

Hello Will, You have been a busy guy......! It is great to hear your opportunities continue on a high level. Sorry to hear you had to rebuild a lot of Alena data. Looking forward to your next updates on Alan and Alena.

Ron

#511  

@Will, would you mind emailing me I have a question for you off-topic and I don't want to put it on here thanks Will.

Mikeerne2007@yahoo.com

PRO
USA
#512  

@merne check your email.

#513  

Very cool design. I love the age we are living in! Anything is possible if you want it!

#514  

@Will, Sorry I was called into work at 11:30, anyway I just replied to you email.

Thanks, merne

PRO
USA
#515  

Another shameless plug for GOTG 2. Here is the first official trailer.

Also the meeting I had about ALAN was very successful. But, at their request I cannot talk about it until I've been given the green light to do so. Hopefully by the new year.

Until then enjoy!

Edit: see the Super Bowl teaser post #556

#516  

Will, What can I say ,,,,,, You have to be working long and difficult hours, but it has to be fun too.

Enjoyed the trailer and look forward to "2"

Looking forward to seeing Alan again and meeting Alena soon.

Ron

#517  

Thanks for the peak Will. I feel privileged. The more I see of G2 the more excited I get.

PRO
USA
#518  

Thanks guys. I don't let a lot of grass grow under my feet! I think Guardians 2 is shaping up to be a fun film!

PRO
USA
#519  

Hey there builders. 2017 is here and we have a couple of sneak peaks and some news.

First up I managed to resurrect Alena from the ashes. It was alot of work, but now shes is 99% finished with designs and her parts are printing for final testing.

When I came up with the concept of ALAN, he was kinda a foundation for a modular system where like Mr Potato head you could have all these parts to mix and match but still have the same functionality of the primary head moving about. As a example you could use different ears, necks and just attach them. My imagination goes crazy thinking of the possibilities.

Yesterday I spent about 12 hours coming up with a quick service droid design, to show how far from the original ALAN design it can be taken. I like the idea so much there will more to come with droids.

Lastly, I have some swag I designed for Robomodix, starting with this Tshirt and much more to come.

I have a very important project centered on ALAN that I cant talk about at the moment AND I start Avengers 3 in about a week. So the ALAN project will still be a bit away but within reach. I think it will be worth the wait!

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ALENA Final design

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ALENA printing

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Droid WIP

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Robomodix Tshirt

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#520  

Like the designs on ALENA and WIP, the t-shirt looks great, can't wait for GOTG2 and Avengers 3 (i know, still a year off on that one).

#521  

Good to see you are staying busy and productive! Great design...I also always like the support structure within the print, some disposable abstract art!:D

Which is the software you are modeling in...nice quality rendering!

Stay on it, can't wait to see what you will be coming up with! Let's know as soon as it is no longer classified information...:)

#522  

Things are looking GREAT Will! Alena and the Droid are impressive. You continue to impress. Looking forward to more pictures and info, also the new project.

I hope you have a good time at work.

Ron

#523  

Loven the feminine side a Alen. Great female energy already. When I saw the Droid my first thought was it looks like my Grandpa. LOL :D Hey, don't get me wrong. My grandpa was a good looking guy! As always Will, I absolutely love your talented work. Where can I get one of those sweet looking Tshirts? I could use a little cool swag for my slowly aging body. I'm starting to look and feel like grandpa. ;)

PRO
USA
#524  

Ha, you aren't the first to think he looks ( droid) like an elder! Maybe he's an elderbot!and also the reason he's a WIP!

I'll try and get few more pics of ALENA today. The swag will be up on the website prolly in February.

PRO
USA
#525  

@mickey I use Zbrush to build and render.

#526  

ZBrush is the best...takes modeling to an intuitive level! I am still waiting for my printer to be shipped, I might hit you up on your workflow for 3d printing! I am exited if all the stuff I am building can be printed in the end hahahaha!

Looks super tight! Keep up the good work!:)

PRO
USA
#527  

Yeah I have a very thorough work flow that works very well. I'd suggest getting simplify 3D to run your printer. Very simple to use and very powerful. Slices very very fast. They cover nearly every printer on the market.

#528  

I will be getting the Prusa i3 MK2 3D printer which had great reviews in the Makezine...it should work with all kinds of slicing software, I will check the one you are using! My problem in Zbrush was always getting exact measurements to fit the servos and I had the feeling it is not best when it comes to technical modeling...

I will have to get used to the mechanics of the printer first but good to hear that you could be able to help out giving me a couple of useful hints when it comes to exporting my models from ZBrush!:D

http://makezine.com/product-review/prusa-i3-mk2/

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#530  

I love the idea of sculpting in VR. Only thing I see is fatigue. I spent sometimes 15 hours at a time. I'd think my arms would be shaking by then! But still very cool new tool developing.

As far as modeling in Zbrush I've created a measurement system for Zbrush using the units system. You can also import stl files from a lot of the manufactures that are imported in the correct size. Also the many servos on Thingiverse are accurate. I built all the mechanics for Alan using Zbrush.

#531  

Yeah...I know what you mean! It seems to be the big issue with VR. All of a sudden there are not only the benefits of the real world, the immersive presence that VR space has, but also all of the drawbacks.

I just saw a really good talk about this, concerning social presence in VR, which can also translate on how to address the problem of putting social presence into a a machine...our ultimate goal, the friendly lifelike companion!;)

As in robotics, VR presents us with all it's possibilities, but at the same time we can clearly see its limits. I had the chance to try the HTC Vive a couple of days ago, and I was blown away by the intensity of presence it gives you when dealing with with objects in virtual space...so lets see.

I can still remember when ZBrush came out...the first version was not remotely as powerful as it is today, especially on my Pentium 4 Windows XP machine...so let's hope for the quantum leap which takes stuff to a new level!

And work out in the meantine to handle 15 hours of sculpting!:D

This would be the talk, in case you are interested... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6XOwtcscnY

P.S. I might get back to you when it comes to printing out stuff in Zbrush!:)

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#532  

....because sometimes you just need a companion....

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#533  

@fxrtst If that's 3d printed you must have a new sla printer because the finish is just spectacular...

#534  

I guess he took the time and really sanded the model really well... I look very very beautiful!

I am super curious to see how you will animate her... @fxtst

Jealous!:D

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#535  

Ha, yes this is on my 3d Systems Projet 1500, out of the printer without sanding. I've had this machine for several years but only use it for organic shapes which it does very well at printing. A cartridge cost $660 for 2000 grams...so it doesn't get used too often!

#536  

It's been a while since I've checked in so let me say a belated congratulations on your excellent project. I love the beautifully intricate pieces and the slick styling. Wow.

#538  

She is a BEAUTY ! Looking forward to her animation. Thanks for the update..

The printer is unbelievable. Print quality is something else...

Ron

#539  

Did you model her after an actual person, or from your ideal dream woman? She is incredibly beautiful!

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#540  

Thanks guys, she was just sculpted from my imagination. No one person was the inspiration for her.

She will be an addition to the ALAN line of robots, using the existing shoulders and neck and back of the head. Think of these new heads as updates to ALAN. ALENA will animated the same as ALAN for the v1 release. The modular design will allow me to add updates to add motions like brow movement, etc to the store.

#541  

Hey @fxrtst would you mind sharing your workflow from ZBrush to printing the model correctly in the proper dimensions? I just got my 3D printer and I am super stoked...now the experimenting phase has begun!

It's really fun, but if you could give me some advice it might spare me a lot of trouble I guess!;)

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#542  

It's involved for sure. Give me your email and I'll get together my breakdown. I have an important mesh that you will need as well.

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#543  

Bas, there are many things happening with Robomodix. There are many new robot designs and toys. Some projects I can't talk about at the moment. These new projects deplete energy and resources for the original Alan as a kit. No one wants to wait another year to own an Alan.

Eating a large bowl of crow I decided to redesign the parts for 3D printing. There are literally thousands of people who want an Alan, be that stl's or fully finished robots. And it just makes since to start that community asap. As our resourses grow with sales we will be able to focus on specialty complete finished robots and kits if there is a continued demand for them.

United Kingdom
#544  

@fxrtst Do you know approx (which month) when the STL files will be available to purchase on getaheadinrobotics?

Cheers Chris.

#545  

I texted you on G+, we could also exchange email addresses over there!:)

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#546  

@mickey Sorry I haven't had a chance to reply. I'm working ridiculous hours on Avengers Infinity War. Hopefully I can reply over the weekend.

#547  

Are you planning on doing another Kickstarter or IndieGoGo soon? I would love to back a product and receive a head.

#548  

@fxrtst No worries...I am still in the test phase of printing, trying to tackle that beast!:)

Sounds like hard work, but also like a lot of fun...I wish I could be on the set too!:D

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#549  

@rmcmurrer, if we get enough requests we might build ___ amount a year for the public.

Currently we have several private and corp dealings going on where we are building very specific heads. Some of these are super exciting but NDAs have been signed and therefore can't talk about it.

But it's my belief that once plans go on sale that many can find someone to print a set of parts for you through 3D Hub whom we are partnering with.

3D Hub is an online service that globally will pair you with a individual or company near by to print parts. You can upload STL files to get individual quotes. So you can pick the cheapest one near you, or choose the build material like pla or abs etc.

Once you print parts there will be a BOM and extensive videos on building ALAN,/ALENA. But we also know that there are those that don't want to build one and just take it out of a box. And to that end there will be a wait.

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#550  

Edit :

Trailer ( not teaser) is now out...see later post.

Plus you can see the next year of my life with this:

#551  

So COOL Will! Thanks so much for the peek. I feel very honored you chose this forum to share this with us. I am so looking forward to these movies. You must be very proud to be part of this. Such well done epic movies.

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#552  

It is indeed an honor. I'm still just a geeky sci Fi nerd, so when I'm walking on these cool sets and spacecrafts I kinda have to pinch myself!

#553  

What I left out is that I now hate you Will. I'm so jealous. ;):D

#555  

Looks like they're going to be great movies. My daughter and I have been hyped for this since The Avengers. So glad I have a geek for a daughter! Have fun working on them.

#556  

Hey just for the record...I found this channel where there is a lot of tutorials on how to integrate Fusion 360, which is a CAD software by Autodesk that is free to use for hobbyists, and ZBrush...very interesting if you are thinking about combining those to powerful tools!;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5L20lj3GOY

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#557  

Hey guys here is a small video showing 2 min of about 2 hours of everyone in my family talking with ALAN with the new Bing translator and EZ Robot chatbot.

#558  

WOW! I mean it Will, WOW! Making a talking head to really pull off the movement of speech and head movement like that is amazing. I know all the technology that goes in it and I can clearly see it's a head on a kitchen top, but yet ALAN seems alive! And those eyes!

The Bing seems to pick up speech really well. Would you say it makes a significate difference in the speech recognition?

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#559  

Thanks so much Justin. Yes, bing is absolutely a game changer... and it brings a whole new world to chatbots. We filmed for 2 hours and some of the stuff Alan said really gave me the impression I was talking to someone. He even made a pass at my wife and said she was his girlfriend and my wife responded I hope my husband doesn't find out and he said it will be our secret?! That cheeky bugger!

United Kingdom
#561  

WOW, that is so impressive! And as Justin has said, it seems so alive!

Chris.

#562  

That is fantastic! How did you come up with his voice?

#563  

Really really cool! That does add a lot of personality to Alan...looks like you are getting closer in on what we all would like to achieve in robotics!

Great work, great project! Keep on building!:D

#564  

Will what chat bot service are you using? I see your using bing speech. Did you link it to pandora bot?

Thanks. Chris

#565  

That is both amazing and frightening! It may be best to keep Alan as a bust and not give him arms/body - just in case he does become self-aware.

Beautiful work, Will! I'm starting to think you may be an android: with Avengers, Alan and B9 (plus your family!) when do you sleep? Or do you just plug into the wall when you're near a power outlet? :D

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#566  

@cparks it's the Brian voice from icons. I've been using William but Brian is growing on me.

@ Kamaroman, yes it's connected to the stock EZ robots chatbot. We are testing several more over this week. Bing is what changed everything. As DJ said it's the most accurate I've ever used.

@warpig, nope don't sleep much! And there is another massive project lumped in with your list that is so time consuming for the next 4 months! ..and I do plug in!

#568  

Will please clarify for this lunk head... "stock ez robots chatbot". Did ez robot incorporate a chatbot other than pandora that I somehow missed? Thanks again!

             Chris
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#569  

Sorry, when you add the pandorabot to your layout, if you open settings, you'll see a long digit number in the ID part. That is a bot DJ created. There are many chat bots available on pandora. Just put the ID in the field and you are good to go. Or you can create your own chatbot as well. DJs chatbot told me through Alan that he carries on concurrent conversations with people and that yes had about 1/2 million conversations!

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#570  

Finally the first real trailer is out.. no more teasers!

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#572  

Will, fantastic video! Alan looks as always amazing.

Tony

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#573  

Thanks Tony! Don't you feel like we are finally getting to the future we dreamt about? I'm looking forward to seeing the robot documentary you are featured in!

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#574  

Will, we are definitely getting to our robotic dream future - just look at the progress we have all made on this great forum in the few years that we have been here! And thanks to DJ and his team for producing such a great robot control system. Your Alan is a work of art and I am looking forward to the day when he will be available to buy.

Tony

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#575  

Thanks again Tony! Absolutely our successes are due to DJ, the team and our combined love for robots!

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#577  

Bahahahaha!

Not even sure Kevin is still alive?

Yup Kurt..you know The Thing, Escape from New York.......

#579  

Dave, did you mean Kevin Klein (Faces in the Crowd), or Kevin Kline (Wild, Wild, West, A Fish Called Wanda)? They are both still alive.

#580  

2 seconds into the video, that is an old 70's game that I used to play the heck out of. As always Will, great job.

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#581  

I had that game too. And thanks!

#582  

Did The Alan Kit ever materialize?i know it was supposed to be a kickstarter. Can we buy one? Are there STL files for purchase?

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#583  

@mstephens, if you go thru the the last few pages of posts you can read about where we are. What the long and short term plans are, why there is a delay in release, how we are releasing them etc.

#584  

I was wondering the same thing. I'm interesting in getting one if it is available. I have a special need for it, depending on if will be able to do what I hope it can so. I am looking for something that might be able to help interact with my mom. She is a stroke victim for years, she is wheelchair bound and really cant speak well. I wonder if Alan would be able to be used to interact or entertain her as she has little to do thru the day and only a nurse to help her.

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#585  

@robohappy, we've talked about an elderbot for sometime here. Even my 76 year old mother who is in good health but lives alone, loves interacting with Alan and would like one purely from a companion stand point. If someone can figure out how to create a script/plugin that will allow the bing speech recognician to act like Siri, or Alexa then anyone can have a conversation with him as in a chatbot.

Also remember the reason there is a release of a female version, ALENA. She can then use the services offered by Alexa and any other voice activated device and be gender correct. Alexa is cheap no pay for service. Alexa can make grocery lists, read books , order food , order Amazon products and control your automated home.

#586  

@fxrtst I'd like to know if these are production yet? My son has autism (high functioning) and this would be a great companion to have. We have already started with ez-b as he is very much into robotics and already does 4H robotics..

I'm asking because I know at one time this one going to be on kickstarter but don't think I ever saw it.

#587  

That's a great question, is it in production yet? I would love to get one since there is now wifi at my moms home. Could be useful for my mom and the live in care nurse to use.

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#588  

Yes and no. I am into production but it's for several companies. These are very special heavy duty Alan's. That is They are milled aluminum parts, expensive motors etc. Not for consumer or hobbiest.

What we found in our Kickstarter campaign was we can not affordably build these. The cost just sky rockets, making them by hand. What we are planning is to start with STLs so people can 3D print and build their own. It already seems like their is plenty of interest for kits. If we did these at a later date, these would be just the plastic parts and you source the parts using our BOM. Then put together your ALAN. We will be producing the silicone skins.

#589  

Hi Wil,

Can you post the Alan site link info here for a refresh? I also would like to know if you have a planned or projected release date for ALAN or ALENA .stl files and other parts.?

Thanks,

Ron

#591  

Quote:

Can you post the Alan site link info here for a refresh? I also would like to know if you have a planned or projected release date for ALAN or ALENA .stl files and other parts.?

http://getaheadinrobotics.com/

#592  

Ok. So that could be an option as we've seen some of your earlier stages (even before the silicone) and it seemed to work fine for what we are wanting to use it for, but would need your lower end BOM and then we could possibly do the 3D print part..

Quote:

Yes and no. I am into production but it's for several companies. These are very special heavy duty Alan's. That is They are milled aluminum parts, expensive motors etc. Not for consumer or hobbiest.

What we found in our Kickstarter campaign was we can not affordably build these. The cost just sky rockets, making them by hand. What we are planning is to start with STLs so people can 3D print and build their own. It already seems like their is plenty of interest for kits. If we did these at a later date, these would be just the plastic parts and you source the parts using our BOM. Then put together your ALAN. We will be producing the silicone skins.

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#593  

I did a redesign about two months ago. In that build, i designed everything around the EZ Robot products. So it uses EZ Robot 4 standard servos and 2 micro servos, and the ezb. With a power supply and about $40 worth of other do-dads you can have a no frills ALAN that does alot. There would be no leds, no separate voice activated jaw (you would use talk servo in the ARC) and no skin.

Because of other commitments, I'm not sure when I will be releasing the stls and BOM/assembly instructions. The chalk board says late spring....but my chalk board has lied to me before....fingers crossed!

#595  

Will,

When you do release ALAN or ALENA, what will be the required print bed dimensions needed to print the parts ?

I look forward to this project.

Ron

#596  

Considering all you have going on, is that late spring 2017 or 2018? :D (And what does the 3-D-B-B say about the B9 arms, Mr. Whoopie? :P )

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#597  

I have designed the parts around the Robo R1 plus. This bed allows you to print all parts at their full size, except the shoulders which has one cut. Th bed on the Robo is 8x9x10. If you have a smaller bed you can still cut them into smaller parts but will have a tougher time aligning , filling gaps and sanding etc. I'm also partnering with 3D Hubs which will allow you to find someone near by to print the parts for you, if you don't have a printer.

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#598  

@warpig...cloning sounds like a good idea right now.

#599  

Will I just watched your chatbot video again. I would like to discuss this more with you as I am pretty impressed.

Chris
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#600  

Fire away Chris.

#601  

I think the biggest question I had was how much training do you have to do with pandora? I mean does it just randomly make decisions about what it says or is there a bunch of pre loaded questions you've answered. I don't believe I can use this any more. I'm still in Windows 7. Thanks

           Chris
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#602  

No training at all. There are many chatbots that universities and individuals have created. You just type in their unique code. You can create your own if you wish. The main differences between audio devices like Alexa and chatbot, is during a session the chat bot retains context. So if I say my name is Will then ask it 2 hours later it will remember you. In my example video, I tell him I have a pet and a name. The chat bot associates are that data pet=cat, pet name =Cornelius. This is something Siri and Alexa can't do..yet.

..take it from me the upgrade to win 10 was well worth it! Just to be able to use the Bing plug in.

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#603   — Edited

Hey guys. I've been quiet but doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I'm going to refer to the untitled Alan project as " Hardcore Alan". I just got back my 16 micron 3D prints, flat aluminum parts. Only thing missing is the 30 milled aluminum parts. There is a ton of redesign work I did to get these hard core parts built. Lots of hotel weekends on the computer during Avengers shoots!

#604  

OOOOOOOOO, I love clean shiny aluminum. Makes me feel manly. Nice work.

#605  

Sweet and neat...I would not have expected anything less!:D

#606  

Btw...any chance to get a tutorial going on your workflow from ZBrush to 3d printing?

I found some good stuff on integration of Fusion 360 and ZBrush...I am actually glad I took the time to learn Fusion 360 as it provides the accurate CAT based modeling but still has a very steep learning curve!

I am also interested in having a good company for milling parts in Aluminium, which company are you using? I am in Germany so I guess shipping could also be an issue...

I found this site, have not tested it though...

https://www.weerg.com/en/

#607  

Hi Will,

The cut parts show a lot of "hotel hours" spent. They look real nice. I'm looking forward to see the rest of the pieces parts.

Are you going to do a showcase of the "Hardcore Alan" build? I am curious to see how the aluminum parts fit together and work with the skin.

Germany
#608  

really cool and great work. Thanks.

#609  

@fxrtst I told my son and daughter about you being a hollywood person and you mentioned below the shooting of avengers and such so I must ask what are you doing in the avengers...is your robot or something in there or are you doing of the effects? Just curious..

Quote:

Hey guys. I've been quiet but doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I'm going to refer to the untitled Alan project as " Hardcore Alan". I just got back my 16 micron 3D prints, flat aluminum parts. Only thing missing is the 30 milled aluminum parts. There is a ton of redesign work I did to get these hard core parts built. Lots of hotel weekends on the computer during Avengers shoots! Can't wait to show the milled parts when they come in! Until then enjoy.

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#611  

@Mickey666Maus Yes Totally forgot to outline the workflow. Building these parts was quite a learning curve to go from meshes and 3d printing to solid CADs and milling. In the end I had to take my zbrush models and rebuild the milling parts inside 123D design (no longer available). Then export as .STEP files for milling. I can get just enough dont in 123D design, but moving over to Fusion (like 123D on steroids.) I had a look at Solidworks but way too much for what i need.

The parts are being built by Xometry.com here in the States. They do online instant quoting and do volume discounting.

@andy roid I can showcase hardcore ALAN but I cannot say what its for until about December of this year. I will be building 4 of these.

@mtwannabe, thetechguru is correct, I do make up effects for films. I did Gamoras make up for Guardians 2 and currently working on Gamora for Avengers Infinity wars 3 and 4. See pic below, the last day of shooting Guardians with Zoe, we were so happy! 50 applications of her make up over 6 months, 100 hour weeks :/ stress

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#612  

@fxrtst Don't worry, no rush...you have been working like crazy on all fronts! Anyone being a part of the production for this great ScFi is a hero...It is a great movie! Also ALAN is a great product!

You won't regret migrating to Fusion 360, Autodesk is an awesome company for letting us hobbyists use the product free of any charge for an unlimited amount of time! Once I got into 3d printing I realized that meshes are much more forgiving than CAD software based models, and I was kind of thinking that it makes no sense to spend the effort learning a new software... but it is definitively worth it!

I found this channel...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWiZI2dglzpaCYNnjcejS-Q

This guy has a ton of tutorials on Fusion 360, ZBrush and the integration of both applications...could be fun to watch while being bored next to the mini bar!;)

#613  

December sound good. In the mean time, I look forward to the piece by piece.

I also look forward to seeing the fruit of your "day job" on the big screen.

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#614   — Edited

Lots of progress on Hard Core Alan. Here is a short video showing the mock up of the neck mechanism using the Dynamixel MX-64AT servos. The grey 3D printed parts will be replaced with aluminum milled parts when they come in. Molds are also happening.

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#615  

Progress on the molds....

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#616  

WOW ! Nice work on the Neck... It looks strong enough to move a truck !

You don't waste any time... This will be interesting to watch your progress. Thanks for sharing.

#617  

Will, it's always a treat to read your posts. You're such a talented guy.

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#618  

Thanks for showing us the molding process Will, that's awesome!

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#619  

Thank guys. Yea the molds are silicone with rigid jackets. The resin copies will be most likely be epoxy. Holds up really well, has a high heat deflection, fast set up time very easy to make many reproductions a day.

#620  

You are very talented Will. Will keep watching your progress and thanks so much for sharing.

#621  

Again...mind is blown, amazing detail, do you work for a movie studio or something?

#622  

That looks amazing! And your finished molds are also always looking perfect...great craftmanship!:D

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#623   — Edited

Moving right along. some updates. A sanded and primed Alena's face, now shes ready for molding. Finally getting some of my CNC milled aluminum parts...they are trickling in.

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#626  

..because when you only sleep 4 hours a night and ALAN and ALENA and movie jobs aren't enough...time to start on the full sized build of K-2SO....lets start with the head.......

#627  

Awesome work Will... I love K-2SO head design... !:)

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#628  

Amazing Will, this is going to be very neat! will this full sized robot move around, if so what kind of locomotion are you going for wheeled, tracked or walking?

Great work as usual!

Tony

#630  

Will, as usual, your work is fantastic. Alena looks great!

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#632  

@ptp, yup that's me ! I did that time lapse, in fact I think I made 3, I'll try and post another here.

@tony, I'll having him moving from the waist up, no actual moving waist down other than shifting weight. I did make up on Alan Tuske, in a movie called Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Love for him to do some custom phrases for me!

...at the rest, thanks for compliments. Really loved K-2SO and look forward to the build...expect a slow build other than the head due to the fact I have BB-8 build, Alan and Alana builds ( total of 4) plus one new droid design and Avengers 4......hmmmm maybe I don't need to sleep 4 hours.. too long ?! Lol!

#633  

@fxrtst: Will, did you forget your B9 Robot chums (arms waving)?:(

Beautiful stuff you're doing!

I really enjoyed "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter"! I'll enjoy rewatching it even more knowing you worked on it!

And while we're on the subject of Alan Tudyk - ask him when the Firefly reboot will happen.:D

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#634  

Oops how could I have forgotten about our friend B-9, where it all started:). If I remember correctly I'm on the behind the scenes on the DVD, talking about how that crazy film came together, lots of Wars stories there.

#635  

Hey...the new project you are having in mind is actually the same thing I am trying to build! I am just not going for full size, I will build desktop size! But the underlying mechanics will be the same!:)

Right now I am using the Poppy arm setup but will also try to experiment more on different approaches...I managed to send the data out from the 3d package to the servos but am still experiencing some issues like the board disconnecting while the data is being send, it might relate a lot to the project you guys are working on when sending data out from the mocap system!

I am very curious to see updates on your mocap project...this has been may dream for a long time!:D

Also I will try to YouTube my progress if I can find the time to edit!

Great work! No sleep till...;)

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#636  

Hey there just another molding update. Getting closer to the final output, hi temp epoxy.

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#639  

Got some high temp epoxy parts out of some molds....pour, pressurize in 5 gal pressure paint pot wait for cure, bubble free castings.

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#641  

Here are some more final casts. The back of the head here is different than the back of the head pictured above. The head above is the original 3d print being molded, this back of the head is the epoxy cast that was poured into the empty mold. Also shown here are a first run of the shoulders in epoxy and the mold for Alans Silicone face.

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#642  

I hope every one ran out to see Guardians 2. Making a ton of money so maybe some of you saw it twice:) Anyways adding a link to another personal time lapse I did of Zoes make up and a pic of a Ravenger I did when not doing Zoes make up. I think his name was like "Snipes" or some thing like that. I called him watermellon head.

BTW, This will be my last GOTG 2 posts. Marvel is reeling in personal posts of pics and vids of the behind the scenes stuff.

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#643  

Man, the model looks awesome!:D

You got a great set of modeling skills...this is why Alan and Alena will turn out so beautiful! Robotics seem to always include so much technical stuff...I did not really know what I am getting into when I had the idea of building a robot myself...but when it comes to the design, this is what the consumer sees and how the public will experience the product!

Great job!:D

And yes...I will go this week and watch GOTG2 for the second time!;)

#644  

Watermelon Head = how my eyes feel after a day at the computer.

Will: thanks for sharing the sfx behind-the-scenes! I've always found prosthetic makeup fascinating; had my life taken a different path we may have been working together. :) As it is, I'm honored to be able to tell people "I know that guy!":D

#645  

Wow, feeling very privliage Will. Thanks for the gift. Wonderful work. I never realized how much you move around and the amount of extra covering material you need to apply to her face. Everyone must be exhausted when that's all done.

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#646  

Wow, thanks Will for the sneak peak of the make up process! I'll be going to see the GOTG Vol. 2 this weekend hopefully. I'm looking forward it. I might even see it again for a friends birthday near the end of the month lol.

And thank you for sharing the pictures of your molds and the resulting plastics, truly amazing!

#647  

Will,

Thanks for sharing. It is unbelievable what you are able to do. The transformation is amazing. It was great to see the artist at work....

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#648   — Edited

Thanks guys i appreciate the kudos. It is indeed alot of work and alot of long days and weeks. But then again that's why I'm doing robots too. Ready to make the break. Just need a few angel investors and away we go  eek

#649  

Maaaaaaaaaaaaan Christmas feels nothing compared to this right?:D

#650  

I LOVE THE SMELL OF FRESH CUT ALUMINUM IN THE MORNING !

I am looking forward to seeing the sub-assemblies in the raw, and also seeing them under power !

#651  

Will, your talents keep amazing me every time I check this site. Your skilled labor and craftsmanship is just out standing! I've been watching your work for sometime now and Alan is transforming into a robot which I foresee in a movie or in a store one day. I can't wait for the day Allen gets a body. Just outstanding job!

Even though I've never meet you in person I honored to know you through this site.

Your FX skills just blow me away! I watched your Gamora time laps 10 times, amazing work.

Wishful thing here, I lived in your area most of my life years ago and wished I knew you back then, I would have given my left arm to be your apprentice learn FX.

I don't want to hi jack you thred, the reason I say this is I was into FX prosthetics using hot foam back then as a hobbyist and it puts mind to shame. I would love to show you some pictures of a few prosthetics I have made back then.

Have you written any books on your FX talents ? Anyway can't stress enough just a fantastic job and thanks for sharing.

Merne

#652  

Mike and Will, you both of you live in the same state. I am really surprised that you two haven't met up yet. If I had someone in Oklahoma that I knew from this forum, I would make that happen. Unfortunately, the one person that I have met here that had a home in Oklahoma is in the middle-east on work the last time I heard.

PRO
USA
#653  

Thanks again. I've been doing this sooooo loooong, I turn red thinking how long. I started when I was 9! At 18 I wanted to attend film school in LA, but didn't have the money or means to do so. So I took a correspondence course from a great make up artist. His name was Richard Smith, he did make up for films such as The Exorcist and the God Father films to name a few. I became one of his top students. There was so much make up effects in film at the time (1986) That there was a shortage of help in Hollywood. strawberry landed me my first job in LA with Rick Baker, who had done the Gremlins, Harry and the Hendersons, Men in Black and the Nutty Professor films. I started at the bottom and worked my way up.

In 1993 I worked for a company called Optic Nerve, and started work on a TV show called Babylon 5. There I worked onset applying make up in a non union capacity. The show went union in season 3 and I left to go work on films. Its been an amazing ride. An adventure where an artist got to get paid for doing art. What a dream come true.

Those skills : makeup effects and Animatronics, allow me to build, create, mold and manufacture just about anything I can dream up. Now add in there 3d printing and truly the sky is the limit. My issue is just not having enough time to do it all. If Robomodix can find the proper funding, I can walk away from make up effects and solely concentrate on Robots and Toys. Both of which I have a plethora of concepts. Things are changing for 2017 so lets keep our fingers crossed.

#654  

Hope your dreams continue to come true Will! Sadly however, your success with Robomodix will be the film industries grave loss. It just wont be the same without you. :)

#655  

Man, oh, man! I got my interest in makeup when I found a copy of hugs and bunnies Smith's "Monster Make-up Handbook" a half-century ago. Unlike that brat <-- joking> Rick Baker, I couldn't get my folks to take me to NY to see him. We all know what happened after Rick met him...

I second what the Snuffleupagus said: Hollywood's loss if you change careers! But every wish for happiness and success in whatever path you choose!

#656  

I got "my" interest in makeup when I realized that girls weren't boys. LOL. That was about 1/2 century ago also. :P

PRO
USA
#657  

This one is for you WarPig around 1986. Hunger and Altered States puppets in the BG in his basement.

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PRO
USA
#658  

BTW, you cannot type his first name in this forum, replaces with many words like "rainbow" etc. Referring to D@ick. Weird. War Pigs says "Hugs and Bunnies Smith"

@Dave....hahahahahahhaahh

....and i think the film industry will just continue fine without me! Good thing is I'll still be using those skills with robots.

PRO
USA
#659  

Casting is going very well. Here are a few sets out of the molds.

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#660  

Hi Will,

Looking great!

When will you be taking orders?

Bob Jaconetti

PRO
USA
#661  

Hey Bob, all of the "hard core Alan stuff" is for a special project. I can show its progress, but can't say what its for until around December. One advantage of building this project is that I was able to take the time to make molds, redesign the internal mechanics etc. As far as a release of Alan as a kit, if we do it, would be later in the year.

#662  

Man your production speed is just insane! And I am hiding myself on not getting anything because I am having a day job too, hahahaha!

Man you are not only a great value to the film industry...but also to this forum!:)

PRO
USA
#663  

I'm definitely a do-er, no time to sit around waiting for things to happen :D

PRO
USA
#664  

Quick video showing hard core Alan frame with ALENA subskull and Alexa from echo.

#665  

She is coming along Great..! Smooth movement and flow. I'm looking forward to next step.

Thanks for sharing.

Germany
#666  

Will, first at all.. I was wondered .. is the "Alan" bust what people want ? I was skeptical and was right with my thinking about the crowdfunding story.. lots of money, lots of time .. but Will, you're doing the right :-). I love to see what you produce and I want to buy your product <3.

the voice-servo is a little bit to fast I think.

cheers Marty

PRO
USA
#667  

Thanks again guys.

@smarty, yup voice is too jumpy but that's why it's called "early test ". Lots to fine tune. We are still amazed at the daily emails we get. There are early talks with Alan ( and a full body) being the lead actor for a tv show in another country. It gets crazy how people love him. I bet people will feel the same about ALENA.

PRO
USA
#668  

Great TEDx talk directly related to what Alan is all about.

#669  

Will,

Thanks for sharing this with the community. I think it really says what some of us are looking forward to in the future. I know your direction with Alan and Alexa is to work toward this goal. An interactive robot with a face is easy to relate to by children and the elderly. I know what ever your projects are now will develop into fully mobile robots able to interact to fill these needs, and many more.

#670  

I love TED talks...thanks for sharing!

@AndyRoid just look at your profile picture, its all there already! That hat, the beard, those eyebrows and the bow tie...you produced a superb social robot with just the EZ-B and some household items! Don't get me wrong...I love Nao, but your work is really authentic!

Btw Alexa is the other robot chick!:D

#671  

Thanks for the compliment @Mickey666Maus. Antonn is a fun friend.

By the way....... OOPS Will, I meant Alan and ALENA !

I can't wait to see Will's Alan and Alena in action. I believe they will be the "real deal". Projected faces are cool, but Will's artistry will bring the reality.

#672  

@fxrtst,

thank you for that footage. really enjoyed it. :)

#673  

When can we download the Alan stl files and Alan's brain? I have to have it bad!

PRO
USA
#674  

@tcopter, We are involved in several special projects with Alan. We will begin working on the stl files for release soon after that. As far as downloading the brain, you will need to purchase an EZB and learn the ARC software. That's the brains of Alan!

PRO
USA
#675   — Edited

I'mm beginning to see the finish line approach for this project...the hard core Alan. I've been creating not one but two Alans at the same time so it been overwhelming.

#676  

Everything you have done here is so very cool!

PRO
USA
#678   — Edited

First stack up to make sure its all working properly before painting. All good but plugged in a servo the wrong way from my distribution board and got some blue smoke.  eek

#679  

What method will you use to drive the neopixels? I am trying to configure mine in another thread here. Curious what you are using and if they are dynamically controlled.

PRO
USA
#680  

In my prototype I used regular leds and the LED Magician. You could control 32 routines including speed. The led are just a single color.

In this new set up, I've just used a Flora from Adafruit and programmed several routines that are onboard. I dont have ARC set up to control them.

DJ has a controller for neopixels due out for their next product release, the neoblaster. You can control and animate the neopixels from the EZB and ARC.

PRO
USA
#682   — Edited

Hey all I'm coming to the finish line on the hard core Alan. This project produced not one but two Alans! So it was a challenge to get them done in the the amount of time I had for the client. I'm pretty close to completing the first one and its going thru testing, the other one is about 90% complete.

Anyways hope you enjoy the pics. Most likely a video coming soon of both of them talking to each other using the Bing and pandora.

ooohhh and a pic of Alenas silicone skin!  eek

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#685  

These post are always so great. You have a great design flair.

Off the wall comment after seeing such great work but you take really good pictures. Great lighting and background.

All my pic's/vids have a fish tank in the background and a plant I haven't killed yet lit by the TV.

PRO
USA
#686  

LOL! thanks tho!

#687  

Richard is right, you do take really good pictures. Almost like you work in the motion picture industry or something ;)

Alana, looks like her skin doesn't cover the top of her forehead....does something extra go up there? Does Alana get Yondu's prototype fin? OMG, OMG, OMG! ;)

j/k, Seriously, your work as always is incredible to see! Thank you for continuing to share with us!

PRO
Synthiam
#688  

Maybe someone should make a tutorial on how to take photos? It's quite easy but I think it's overlooked. Most people put lights behind or above the robot, where you want the light behind the camera pointing at the robot.

Also, you can never have enough light. Your camera will compensate for the light amount. It's harder for the camera to extract low light than to reduce bright light.

However - never light from behind the robot:)

#689  

Man this looks super tight...sweet cable management!:D

Could you give us a hint on the hardware...looks interesting!;)

#690  

Such mind blowing amazing detail.

Amazing fxrtst

;)

PRO
USA
#691  

Thanks guys.

@mickey666maus, yes I can talk about anything except where it's going;)

It's pretty much the same set up as the original prototype of Alan, but a redesign on the parts to be milled in aluminum. I also had the frame water jetted in .25 inch aluminum plate. I also designed the eye mech to be part of the machined parts which is different than the original Alan where the eye mech was attached to the skull face.

The servos break down: three Dynamixel mx 64s, two for the new neck tilt set up and one for head rotation. These are game changers. Very expensive but worth it on certain projects. They are very powerful and very very quiet. Then there are the two micro servos from hitec for the eyes. The servos were chosen for speed, since there is no real torque needed for the eye mech. The final servo is the jaw servo. Because lip sync is controlled by a separate audio board, there are some limitations on the type of servo. You have to use a analog servo to get reliable results. It's very difficult to find a fast analog servo these days as most are now digital. But I managed to source a few hitec and found one to work.

The boards use are: EZB for the controller, the audio servo control board for jaw and lip sync. I soldered together a small power distribution board. This board takes the 12 volts required for the Dynamixels and using a castle Bec I down convert to 7.4 volts for the eye servo and the audio board, then another Bec set at 5 volts for the Leds. The power comes from TRC Electronics, 30 amp 12 volt power supply. I 3D printed a partial enclosure for it. And then created a I/O port on the bottom for all the connections. The way it's being set up by the client, all the connections need to be on the bottom of Alan.

The aluminum frame is attached to a 3D printed base made from PETG ( my new fav material), this base sets inside the shoulders. The frame continues up to a no-backlash u joint then a aluminum base sets on this. Two rods are connected to this base then to the two dynamixels in the shoulders. By creating a touch pad control I can add each Dynamixel to X and Y to control the neck tilt. It's a bit wierd as I have to go in an "x" pattern on the touch panel to get the neck to perform correctly. As we continue to move up the upper disk is then connected to the main head base. Everything is connected to this base, the jaw, the head rotation Dynamixel , eye mech etc. The eyes use what I call the e-bar set up, one servo controls up and down and one left and right.

The Led set up includes two blinkM minM for the eyes. The back of the head array consists of two banks of 16 neopixels for a total of 64. The neopixels are controlled by a Flora 3 from adafruit.

I think that's everything. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Below: Power supply case 3d printed and fan added. not needed as it stays cool even at full load, but hey its there to make me feel good!

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Pictured below: The bottom plate I/O board. Here are all the connections for Alan, on the left are the two usb ports, one for connecting directly to the EZB, the other for the usb camera 1080p. In the middle we have the power connections, and audio in and audio out on the right.

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PRO
USA
#693  

Hey there I managed to get both going at the same time but no dialog between them yet.

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#694  

Omg....that was just fantastic!

Im speechless got nothing else to say...:P

But wow the mouth movement...just wow....told you...speechless.;)

#696  

Man! I can clearly see the time, the thought and all the love you put to this project! It's been clearly a lot of revisions that made the product so outstanding and clean!

Thanks so much for letting us participate!:D

#697  

When the guy on the right "takes notice" and stares straight into the camera it was scary as h3ll!

Wow! Amazing lip synch! He looks like he's actually talking rather than acting in a dubbed foreign film:)

Good to see B9 waving "Hi!" In the background.:D

#699  

Nice to see the "twins". Great Job !

Does this complete the construction of "Hard Core Alan" or is there more to go?

Do you plan on proceeding with Alena next or is there still additional software development for the twins?

I would enjoy seeing a bit of a comedy routine between them, if you ever had a chance to do it.

Again, they came out Excellent.

PRO
USA
#700  

Thanks guys! They have been going thru rigorous training, running daily for 8 hours. Two issues, the buzzing you hear in the video is the up down eye servo. That servo quickly heated up and burnt up. After dismantling I found that things were not lined up properly and put that servo in a bind. That's been repaired and now the whole thing is nearly silent.

Next up was the insane temperature my machine vision camera. Topping out at about 150 degrees. So adding a 40 mm square fan in the head. Otherwise running great!

Yes this is it for hard core Alan. 4 months redesigning, milling, waterjettng 3D printing and molding! Whew! Now on to my own hard core Alan and Alena and another that will be a surprise.

I gotta get a family vacation in there and finish the second film for Avengers Infinity Wars. That commitment will take me on and off again from August until January 2018?!? stress

Here's an interesting infrared shot of the twins!

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#701  

The thermographic picture is kind of cool ! It gives a very SciFi look LOL.

Happy to hear the servo issue is resolved and the fan takes care of the heat issue. It looks like these guys have a full job ahead of them. It looks like they will be up to the task. I'm sure they will please.

Thanks for sharing the build. Time to enjoy some down time..

Looking forward to the Alan and Alena,.. and friend?

#702  

.... and don't forget that B9 arm mechanism you promised! ;)

Enjoy your time off! You've certainly earned it!

PRO
USA
#703  

@warpig, yes that AND the TON of B9 rubber parts. Ive not run parts in 1 1/2 years and the list of parts I need to produce would take 3 months! Hopefully I can break it into groups. There seems to be a surge of new members in the b9 group?!? A lot of activity.

#704  

@fxrtst Yeah, seems interest in B9's had been going up since the 50th anniversary.:) And with things like EZ-Robot making it a lot easier to bring him to life, more and more demand for parts. Strike now while the iron is hot!

We now return you to "Alan", already in progress...

PRO
USA
#705  

Last video on the "twins" as they are ready to ship. I had them both connected to the ez robot pandorabot, I'd ask a trigger question then see how far they would take the conversation. One was about 3 min. But at times it would get into some crazy loops. It was fun to watch!

Enjoy some highlights

#706  

Reminds me of an old famous tv quote:

"This is my brother Alan and my other brother Alan."

Was good to see them finished. Thanks.

PRO
Belgium
#708  

stunning,i hope to have this skill to talk in the future.

#709  

Sorry if this has been asked before but what voice are you using? Thanks

PRO
USA
#710  

I've used William in my past videos from cereproc , but because these are going elsewhere so I used Brian from Ivona.

#711  

Will, you must be a proud papa. Your video of the twins were very cool. You have the mouth synchronize with the talking, looks realistic so far the best I've seen. Are you use in the scary Kerry board or easy robots talk servo?

Awesome job Will! Thanks for the video.

PRO
USA
#712  

@merne,

I'm using the scary terry boards in these but I've used the Audio servo Controller on the original Alan both perform the same.

PRO
USA
#713  

Bye bye Alan's you will be missed. Time to travel 1/2 way around the world. May you stay safe in your spongy cocoon until you reach your final destination.

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PRO
USA
#714  

Ugh on vacation in hotel with iPad...you my picture will remain sideways until my return...blast you apple products.

#716  

Congratulations. It was a long and impressing road. Well done!;)

#717  

"Ugh, on vacation..."? No, no, no, no, no, no, no "ugh". You shouldn't even be near a phone or iPad. You should be relaxing, in a pool, ocean, hammock, etc., beverage of choice in hand and only peaceful thoughts.

#718  

Ironic the picture posting sideways despite the arrows showing which way should be up.

#719  

Actually, that's just showing how the shipping/deliery service will transport/deliver the packages. eek

PRO
USA
#720  

Lol to all those posts!

#721  

@fxtst, I will miss your videos of ALAN Twins, looking forward to what is going to appear next. Good luck and as they say in the movies break a leg.

PRO
USA
#722  

Thanks @merne, taking a break from robots as I start part 2 (2nd film) of Avengers Infinity Wars. I will be gone all of August, but will continue to design in the computer on the weekends. Now i just need to show my wife how to set up the 3D printers so I can print while I'm gone!

#723  

WOW ! ! ! " " Now i just need to show my wife how to set up the 3D printers so I can print while I'm gone! " "

WOW your a lucky guy !

PRO
USA
#724  

Yup I have a great wife. Shes a shop assistant for sure. When I've run the rubber parts for the Lost in space Robot the B9 replica (about 500 sets over 11 years), my wife is in the shop, rubber gloves on, and silicone up to her neck for about 2 months a year! She even helped produce them 6 months pregnant with our first child.

Shes hard core.

PRO
USA
#725  

Hey guys just a quick plug. The new servo magazine is featuring Legacy FX which is the company I work for when on the Marvel Films. Our history goes back to when Stab Winston was alive and was owner. I worked on many films with them.

It's a great article on animatronics. This is parallel to my career, when I started out in animatronics some 25 years ago. You can see the kind of skill set that you needed and the reason why robotics is very second nature to me.

Funny, on the cover is my friend Connie. She actually is a hair tier/ puncher and is adding hair to the animatronics creature. She laughed that she finally made it into a magazine after all these years...for something she doesn't do! Lol.

#726  

I knew you were pretty high on the SFX food chain; should have known you'd be at the very top.:D

I hope one day I can meet you face-to-face, get you tanked up on your favorite beverage, and coerce you into telling tales of your career. Should you decide to write a book on that topic, please make sure I'm first on the purchase list.:)

#727  

Cool Will. I'll be sure to get this and have a good read. Very interesting stuff. I love it!

Hey you two guys (and anyone else that can) need to make it to Wonderfest 2018 next June in Louisville, KY. There will be a bunch of us B9'er there with our robots. A lot of the guys have already said they were coming with their B9. I've committed on being there with my B9. It would be great to finally meet you two and buy each other a few adult beverages. :D

Will, you could put Alan in a box and come as a couple. :P

#728  

Will, I just received that issue in the mail. I will give it a good read. I, and my daughter, would both love to meet you, as well.

Dave, Wonderfest in June 2018, will definitely try to talk my wife into it. Would also like to meet you.

#729  

@cparks328, I hope you two make it to the fest. It's always great meeting good people the enjoy same interests. ;)

PRO
USA
#730  

My mother still lives in Ohio. Maybe I'll try and make a drive down there. Never been to wonderfest before. It would be awsome to meet all of you!

PRO
USA
#732   — Edited

Sitting in the hotel bored.......................................................................................

#733  

Kind of scary looking ! Must the eyes... The servos are real quiet.... You will miss Alan and Alan.

#734  

@Will... I am so jealous of your workshop... I would never need or want to leave the house if I had something like that...:)

Oh, and the Alan(s) are pretty good too:P

PRO
USA
#736  

@richard, thanks I really would love a 4 car garage, but have managed to make my 2 car work. Here's what is looks like...clean.

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#737  

Wow just a little more envious now.;)

Awesome workspace you have.:)

PRO
USA
#738  

Another shameless plug coming your way. As some of you know I've been working on Avengers part 3 and 4, The Infinity Wars. Part 3 is out this coming May and part 4 in 2019. I once again, did make up effects for Gamora.

Here is the first Teaser/trailer for this Epic...

Edit: see post #814 for final trailer

#739  

Wow.

I await these two episodes with a bit of dread: "they" have made no secret about these two films closing the current ARC of the MCU. Speculation runs high as to how the characters will be "retired". I, for one, am from a generation that expects its heroes to always triumph, for the ending to always be happy; in short, everything the real world isn't.

I'm in no way criticizing the hard work and amazing results the films' creators have accomplished; I'm just sad. I'm one of those people that resist change (ironic that I enjoy technology so much!).

That said: Will, congrats on another triumph! If you get any more feathers in your hat you'll look like a bird! :D

#740  

Wo ho! Yes! What a treat! Thanks Will. That sent chills up my back. Stunning.

Tex, I have to agree. Sadness is coming. However I remember when they blew up the enterprize. I left the traitor sick to my stomach and in shock. However I still remember my exact feeling and how I left the place with my mouth hanging open. Even though it seemed like the end, there was lots still more Star Trek and more Enterprises to come. Then they crashed the damm starship again! stress Probably the same thing here.

Thanks for the peek Will. What an honor!

#741  

To be honest, I don't remember much of the movie after they blew up the Enterprise. I do know that "Search for Spock" and "Star Trek: Generations" are my least favorite of the movies for the very reason that they destroyed something special (didn't see "Nemesis": I had "hate quit" Star Trek movies when it came out).

But this is not the place to discuss the failings of an old Sci-Fi fan. And besides, it's not over 'til it's over: maybe the MCU series will find a way to close the circle without having the audience leaving the theatre in tears. One can only hope.:)

SO, Will: what goodies do you have in store for us? Alan? B9 animatronics?

PRO
USA
#742  

Thanks guys. It’s been a looonng year with these two films. I still have work in December to wrap things up.

2018 will be a catch-up year. Reshoots and pick ups will begin mid year for the last Avengers film. So that leaves the first half of the year. I’m finishing my personal hard core Alan and Alena ( couple weeks away from completion). I’m trying to make CES in Vegas to look for funding for my robots. Then I have to get to B9 rubber parts. I have about 3 months worth of parts to produce :/ then I have been designing Alans body which I will start printing in a few weeks....

#743  

Will - is there a way you can bottle and sell your energy? Just reading what you are going to do makes me want to take a nap! How do you do it? Or are you an andriod, alien hybrid, robot...?:D

PRO
USA
#744  

It seems to be the artists way. It’s a burning need, to create. If I stop creating ( getting sick etc) then I start to wither. I’ve been like this since I was a kid.

Stack on top of that the inability to sleep more than a few hours a day, you have a somewhat full day ahead to be filled with imagination and creativity!

Hopefully burning the candle at both ends doesn’t mean half as long :/

#745  

I think you need to add "stay focused" to that.

I find that my life has taken so many detours (not only in search for financial sustenance but interests) that my creative growth has been more sideways than up! :P

Germany
#746  

Dear EZ-Robot Profs and @fxrtst

I have a problem to give the BlinkM a new device adress. I want to use two BlinkM Leds at the same time with the EZB 4.2

the old method from @Rich

I2CWrite(0,0x09,"A",0x0a) is not working.. after I start the EZ-Script, the blinkM is working only with 0,0x09.

in the data sheet of blinkM is "A" the only way to give a new adress. but I2CWrite(0,0x09,"A",0x0a) has no effect.

how can help me ?

PRO
USA
#747  

I am just splicing the wires together of 2 Blinks to get them to display the same color. So ARC just has one address and sends protocol to x09 and both are set to default address x09 so both receive the signal and do the same thing. Not sure if that helps you.

PRO
USA
#748  

Well that’s a wrap. After nearly a year of shooting, 2 films, my work is complete on the Avengers Infinity Wars 1 and 2. That was a lot of work but I can tell you that it won’t disappoint the Marvel fans.

What’s next? I will be making an announcement soon for what those 2 Alan’s were built for. As soon as I’m allowed to release info I will post here hopefully with a video. It’s pretty exciting, and from what I’ve seen I’m impressed with how they are being utilized.

I’m taking off work for the next year to concentrate on robotics. 2018 is going to be a big year. After the holidays I will finish Alena and Alan, which should take only a few weeks. I will not be attending the CES this year to show off the robots. Instead I will be attending some very interesting meetings that have been set up. This should lead to another big announcement. Followed by advancements with Robomodix.

And finally a full body is planned for Alan, with a special motion capture/ slave system to prerecord and playback lifelike motions.

Big year, exciting year. Stay tuned.

#749  

Sounds amazing! Looking forward to your video and announcements.

Netherlands
#750  

After 2 years of waiting, I'm still super excited about Alan. Hopefully 2018 will be the year I can have one at home! I wish you a lot of success and fun with Robomodix! Your endeavour is inspiring.

(My EZ Roli is a little afraid that he'll be replaced by (another) robot soon:P)

#751  

Congrats Will. You deserve all the good thing, always. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve (and your movies)!:D

PRO
USA
#752  

I prolly should start another "introducing" but Alena still kinda falls under the Alan line of robots, so I will post here for now and may create another thread for her when she is 100% complete.

So these are just a few iphone shots from the test bench. I think the iphone camera is awful and adds about 10 pounds to her face..in person she is very sleek. I will shoot some proper DSL shots in a week when the paint is complete.

But here are some early shots without paint and a video of her moving, sans jaw as thats still being worked on. Enjoy.

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#753  

Looks great. I always get inspired by your work. I've often thought of moving the camera out of the eyes to a central location. Is that what the forehead hole is?

PRO
USA
#754  

Yeah, i tried to incorporate it more into the head piece...when its all together and painted the idea was it was part of some kinda ornamental head piece. it will be more obvious once painted.

Canada
#755  

Verry cool. Makes me feel rather inadequate!

#756  

Hi Will, Another Great Design ! ! ... I am looking forward to seeing more updates as you progress.

Ron

#757  

What a beauty! If I was a boy robot, I'd follow her anywhere. cool

PRO
USA
#758  

Ha! Here’s a quick one I threw together now that she is talking. :D

#759  

More than impressive, as always, Will. I've got to get working on an AI program for my robot.

PRO
USA
#760  

@bob I think we all are on the same page with AI and there is so much available now imagine in a year or two. I think it’s imperative we stay on top of it and work together.

#761  

She is beautiful! How did you get her mouth synced with Alexa...this is great!:D

#762  

Hi Will,

Cool to see her talking. The Alexa voice works well with her appearance. She is a pretty lady , that's for sure.

I would like to contact you via email and share information on eyes I am working on. They may work for you.

Can I contact you thru getaheadinrobotics.com or another way?

Ron

#763  

Ask her if she likes Eggos. She strongly resembles "Jane Hopper" (Eleven) from Stranger Things (to me, at least!):D

PRO
USA
#764  

@andy roid feel free to email me at contact@getaheadinrobotics.com

@mickey666mous I did a prior video with Alan connected to Siri from iPhone and Alexa. You can use any voice activated device with Alan and Alena.. google home etc. https://youtu.be/N8aG9lxFlsc

@warpig yes I guess she does.. although I think I sculpted her before strangerer things came out so I guess we say Jane resembles Alena?!? Ha!

I’m excited to get paint on her. Alan will be a copy of the two I built last year. I like that blue!

@holy1, love your robot, don’t feel inadequate!

PRO
USA
#765  

bhouston asked me to demonstrate how i layer up my animations for Alan and Alena. This 5 min video hopefully gives the basic concept. There are some trick maneuvers and to get a perfect loop you have to be very aware of your start and end positions. Its not perfect but from the world I come from with animatronics this is as close as it gets to what I am used to.

I'd love to see other ways to use external inputs to tie together servos so you can record more than two axis at a time.

Another update/upgrade to recorder would be to ping pong the animation. Having a button that ping pongs the animation would simply reverse the animation and perhaps an infinite ping pong where it plays forward, reverse, forward reverse until stopped. I've tried using the reverse control in a script for recorder but never could get an animation to go in reverse.

#766  

Thanks for the video, Will. I played with this a bit on the head, neck and eyes of my InMoov and it's great. I didn't know you could make animations this way. Thanks again for sharing it.

PRO
USA
#767  

Great Bob glad I could help. It certainly is a powerful and fun way to create animations!

#768  

@fxrtst Thanks for sharing...this is very interesting! I tried looking for the clip you made on connecting Alan/Alena to Siri etc, but could not find it... In the Dialogflow aka api.ai thread we were talking on how to connect our devices to those services, so I was wondering...are you just taking the audio from those services and connect those to your scary terry board or ARCs native talk servo? Or is the Audio coming out of ARC and is there any data being transfered to ARC?

#769  

Will, Thanks for this procedure for movement. The multiple movements and speeds are exactly what I need for my project. Have you used multiple recorders for different routines ?

I will play with it and see if I can call the recorder from my speech recognition and personality generator scripts. It would sure save a lot of work.

Ron

Canada
#770  

Thanks for the video lesson. I had messed around with recording servo movements but had not realized this was possible. Again thanks!

PRO
USA
#771  

@ mickey666maus can you get to the video via this link?

Yes when I created Alan I wanted to be able to pump anything thru him for audio, even a live microphone. So this goes directly in to my Audio servo Controller. I didn’t use the scary terry board. When I use pandora or just speech and coded responses it goes thru EZB as say and uses one of my tts voices. So the answer is both!

@andy roid yes I’ve used several routines ( recorders) and just call them up via commands. I’ve even created loops but you have to count the actual seconds on a watch rather than go by the seconds listed in bottom of the recorder. They seem to be inaccurate based on the load of the cpu. But I create a sleep based on length of what my watch says and is pretty good cheat. Creates a good loop.

@holy1 glad it helped you!

#772  

Thanks for sharing. I learn a lot from this community.

United Kingdom
#773  

This is great, thank you. Great videos!

PRO
USA
#774  

You guys are welcome. Glad you guys found it useful.

#775  

I am so excited to see what you do in 2018. Very fun following you and your amazing creations.

PRO
USA
#776   — Edited

Ok guys and gals. I finally painted and assembled Alena. Shes mostly done short of a few final touches.

EDIT: Upped better pix from SLR

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And a quick video here:

Canada
#777  

Sweet mother of pearl, that's a beautiful thing!

#779  

Absolutely amazing. Looking forward to more videos later!

#780  

Wow! I notice that when she talks, her facial "skin" is very natural. With Alan, the points/flaps at the back of the jaw below his ears wiggle in and out. Did you design Alena's face differently to get rid of the "flapping", or was it a happy accident?

I tell you, she gives me chills! The way you built the animations makes her seem alive.

Hey - you never revealed the big secret about the two Alans .... did you?

#781  

I'm in love, She is GREAT ! I had to play the video a bunch of times.

Ron

#782  

Holy, Sebediah, WarPig and Ron took all the words right out of my mouth Will, WOW! Amazing Art and Technology!

#783  

....and I still maintain my GOTG conspiracy theory belief that contour on the top of her head will allow her to inherit Yondu's fin in a few years ;)

PRO
USA
#784  

@warpig, i actually fixed that on the blue Alans for the ________ i still cant talk about it yet. If you watch those videos on my youtube channel, i figured out how to fix that and carried that over to Alena. She also has a different connection for her face to the skull. Alan will be going through another revision 2.0 in the near future to bring him up to Alena standards plus a few more tricks :D

@justin...you know that top piece is magnetic....hmmmmm

#785  

She is a wonderful piece of tech! Also barebone she looks just awesome!:D

PRO
USA
#786  

@mickey666maus thanks!

#787  

Everyone has said it all, all I can say is Wow! This is my first post, i was going to introduce myself to the group, until I saw your Alena, then I said forget about me. but you have helped already with your post to Bob Houston about using three servo control panels with the record servo feature . I am using this with my Inmoov robot, it makes life like movements possible. ok, yes I am another inmoov builder using ez-robot controllers. :D

PRO
USA
#788  

Welcome nallycat. We love Inmoovs here, especially the ones powered by EZ Robot! Glad my videos already helped you. We have a great community here, with lots of help. Don’t hesitate to ask.

I’m glad you enjoy Alena. I think I might be partial to her more then Alan, but tell him that! Lol

PRO
USA
#790  

Hard core Alan and Hard Core Alena, together at last.

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#791  

Dude, this looks amazing. I can see why you were interested in my request for DJ's help. Youve put so much amazing work into it. Looking forward to seeing how they develop. lol they are a lovely pair.

#793  

That pic is amazingly lifelike. The wife is looking at the husband like he just did something stupid.

#795  

I love this guy, have you sold any yet?

PRO
USA
#796  

Oh yeah. The hobby version has been replaced with the Hard Core versions, which we are selling to corporations. We are seeking seed money/investors to get them ready for mass production and round one of investment. Going to be a busy year.

#797  

I will love to buy the female version when you are ready.

#798  

@fxtst, I've been playing around with the servo pad and recorder as you outlined in your video. Thanks again for that. I've noticed that when I play back what I've recorded, it runs at about half the speed as when I recorded it. Have you noticed this? If so, is there a way to get it to run at full speed? Thanks

PRO
USA
#799  

Bob,

Yes I just ran into this problem and posted a thread here

I would like to gather more info on who is having this and what system they are running.

The strange thing is, my Windows 7 computer is the one that is running in real time and is the older computer with slower processor. The Asus was Win 7 but i upgraded it to Win 10 and it plays a 1/3rd to 1/2 speed. The Asus is all usb 3 and the older laptop is USB 2, not sure if it matters, but comparing.

Try another computer and see what you get. I understand it that all the systems run at different clock speeds but doesnt make since that the old computer runs at near real time vs the new one at 1/2 speed.

We should continue this discussion over on that thread so DJ can chime in. Good to see I'm not the only one.

Germany
#800  

@fxrtst

yes, the Windows Version, Computer Hardware, Virus Scanner Software and W-LAN Hardware/ Router have extreme effects on the ARC Software/ Controller.

How much longer do you need to sell Alena or Alan in a working version? I have customers in germany they want something like this for a charity gala. I think Alena is better than a Elvis Modding ^^!

let me know If you can sell one.

cheers Marty

#801  

Is the Alina or Alan for sale yet? have an immediate need for it.

#802  

@fxrtst

I am in awe of your work and I am totally in awe of your amazing career! All I can say is WOW! My uncle was Henry Bumstead. I know he would have had a great appreciation for your work.

PRO
United Kingdom
#803  

Will - Fantastic work (as always)!

Tony

#804  

The more I think about it, the more it sounds like a good idea to give Alena a Yondu fin:D

So,,,, when will Hollywood cast one of your bot creations? I think we're at the point where a Data-like character could be played by an actual droid like Alan...

PRO
USA
#805  

@tony, thank you it means so much coming from you!

@warpig I have a script I’ve written. I will be shopping around Hollywood soon!

PRO
USA
#806  

@robohappy and smarty the robots are about to enter into meetings dealing with investment. The out come will determine the direction Robomodix takes this robot line.

PRO
USA
#807  

@bumsteadsean thank you. Your uncle was a great cinematographer.

PRO
USA
#808  

Final and last plug, the second and final trailer for Avengers Infinity War. I think they finally got some of the visual effects shots done. Lots to see in this one. My girl Gamora all over the place in this one since Thanos is her father. Now back to robot building.

PRO
USA
#809  

Edit: Due to extremely tight contracts and wording, I have to edit this post to simply say "Alan has been spotted in this video", with out any details other than that. Needless to say...more to come. Check him out at 6:16 in the you tube video below.

#810  

Contrats Will! It's a stunning display and you should be rightfully proud. You've poured your heart and soul into Allen. I'm so happy for you that your getting the recognition you deserve. DJ really came through once more. However like the super heros you help to come to life on screen that save the day, I've come to expect that same of sort of thing from him. He's just that kind of a guy. ;)

Also, thanks for sharing the trailer. Very epic. Completely mind blowing! Nice work! eek

PRO
USA
#811  

Thanks Dave, I hope the move is going well!

#812  

Congrats Will

We all know how long you have worked on making and promoting Alan. It's wonderful to see your fine work exposed in such a fine museum and even half way around the world! You have worked HARD and deserve it all! Your spot on about DJ too, he has shown us all MANY times that he cares what we think and will go out of his way for us.

Again Congrats!

#813  

Awesome work Will - big things ahead I hope - pun intended !

PRO
USA
#814  

Last plug for Avengers Infinity Wars. I've seen the film and all I can say is Wow. If you are a Marvel fan you will enjoy part one of the beginning of the end. Lots of Gamora;)

#815  

Can't wait to see it, unfortunately, I have to. At least until Sunday morning.

#816  

I was wondering were I could find alan's stl files since he is no longer on kickstarter, and since I want to build him.

#817  

We have been seeing lots and lots of updates on Alan. A kickstarter that started then disappeared. We don't have the high end $$$ for the steel product, but can one still buy just the printed pieces or at least the casing and such so we can put our own EZ-B into it. If so, can you please post a link. Thanks a bunch

PRO
USA
#818  

Hey there fellas. The SLT files are not available for download. I think I have said it here before, but we are focusing more on the professional end of things. We have rewritten our business plan and will continue focus on getting the robots in high viability areas like hotels business, restaurants, etc. Things can always change but in 2018 our focus is not the hobbyist.

I'm aware that the website does reflect this but it will be changing very soon to match the new business plan.

PRO
USA
#820  

Haha I remember that day! Little Gamora was so funny. I think she did a great job.

PRO
USA
#821  

Hi guys. Well i know a few months ago I posted, and then took down an announcement about where the two blue Alan's were. There is a very delicate agreement about announcements. But I can say that there is enough public posts that I am now officially allowed to share.

Alan was placed in the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre in Kuwait. A world class museum. Alan's main purpose in the exhibit, is to introduce people to machine learning and object recognician. The Museum has been open for several months and I am happy to report that Alan has been performing 12 hours a day 7 days a week without issue.

Again , I'd like to thank EZ Robot and DJ, who in part made this project possible by making additions to software like, Dynamixel support and wired USB connection.

If you find yourself in that part of the world, stop in and see Alan!

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre was honored by the visit of his Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness shows Alan a picture of himself and he recognizes it.

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Alan recognizes a Rubix cube

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He looks a bit like he is ready to take over the world, but i promise he is just observing it

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Alans touch screen console shows his camera feed, searches for objects he recognizes

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PRO
Canada
#822  

Those are some great pictures of Alan in action!

Thanks for sharing them!

#823  

Amazing stuff, so glad to hear he's been operating without any problems!

Are there/will there be any video clips from Alan performing over there? Thanks for sharing!

PRO
USA
#824  

@Jeremie Thanks!

@Sebediah I'm hoping to post a preopening video, if/when I get approval.

#826  

Disappointed actually. I was hoping this would be a bot we could all 3d print and enjoy in our homes.

PRO
USA
#827  

Don’t be disappointed yet. Because 2019 has changed drastically for me. I’m looking at re-evaluation of the hobbiest market. My issue is two evolving products, the Hard Core Alan and the hobbiest. Somehow I have to figure out the dynamics of how that would work.

#828  

Congrats Will! He's amazing and everyone looks amazed. :)

#829  

Re-circling back from post #823 or was it #824. This could be great news. What is your turn around tie now for the hobbyist? Can one imagine an alan head of sorts sitting in their living room watching the last Iron Man and eating popcorn together (hee hee). Any idea of pricing yet?

#830  

I've recently resorted to learning python and tensor flow. It would be great to see Alan progress faster. I bet if it was made an open project, the progression would speed up substantially.

Whadda ya say? OpenAlan Ai project ready for the public?

#831  

@tcopter, what do you mean by an OpenAlan Ai project?

Alan and Alena are beautiful hardware robot heads with a unique soft skin option.

The controller is EZb which means the software is ARC which means the software is open source by nature and whatever is in ARC is at your disposal to use or add to via plug-ins if you choose.

"Ai" is artificially intelligence so any work done openly in the community on that could be applied towards Alan, Alena, JD, Six, Roli, Adventure Bot, a custom robot, etc.

PRO
USA
#832  

@tcopter, Yes you are correct I would love to see Alan and Alena progress waaaayyyyyy faster. Remember, Robomodix is a single member company, me.

Without proper funding and direct focus on just robots, I still have to support a family. That includes continued work in the motion picture industry as an make up effects artist. Each film I work on, takes 6 months. During that time I'm living in another state and unable to progress my company.

In the past two years I've worked on 3 films. If you do the math I've only had 6 months free time in 2 years. An enormous amount of redesign and re-engineering went into the Hard Core Alans, in a very short amount of time. I also created the Alena version of the robot during this period. I would definitely call that progress.

With proper financing, I can hire a team and work towards my goal. I have some very exciting meetings coming up, starting Wednesday and run through the end of the year.

I've yet to understand how to make a business model of open-sourcing. Not saying there isn't a way. I just have not seen the light?!

#833  

These damn day jobs. They really get in the way. ;)

PRO
USA
#834  

You got that right Dave!

More from Kuwait.....Kids having fun with Alan. BTW the King of Kuwait is pictured in thread #827 (first picture) eek. It Should now read "Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre was honored by the visit of his Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah"

© David Copeman Photography

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#835  

@fxrtst OMG! Alan really made it to the big screen!:D This is amazing, you can be proud of what you achieved with your work, despite of having a demanding day job! I hope we will see more updates, and Alan will get a big push out of this!:)

@JustinRatliff Keeping it EZ should be our main goal...with a shared common ground, the experience of the ARC platform will grow and our efforts will not be fragmented! The Virtual JD was trying to get the link between Unity and ARC going, but I guess it was already a step too far, by forcing participants to learn and install a whole new software package! Btw, I am still very interested in Unity and am developing for it, so the work might benefit ARC in the end!:)

@tcopter What type of research are you interested in, Unity has a great implementation for ML Agents...;) I am researching a Python based Conversational Bot at the moment, I should be able to get it to work pretty soon, we could open a thread here in the forum about how to implement machine learning to our robotic projects?:)

Quote:

ChatterBot is a machine-learning based conversational dialog engine build in Python which makes it possible to generate responses based on collections of known conversations. The language independent design of ChatterBot allows it to be trained to speak any language.
I found a really nice converter for it Yesterday!

Quote:

This is the converter of the dialog data, that is used in order to prepare the the Cornell Movie Dialogs Corpus in the way that it could be used as the training input for the Recurrent Neural Networks.

PRO
USA
#836  

...I'm BACK. I just finished up Avengers 4. So now I can focus on robots for the next few months.

First up, I've had several meeting about Alan and Alena and I'm really getting closer to having them mass manufactured. The difference now:

Alan and Alena would start out as a consumer market product, for use with smart speaker technology. Then, on the profits, the product would expand to include a corporate model, and then a mod kit for the hobbyist and tester.

I've also been contacted by Bose Sound systems and have been working with their R and D dept, where they will be using Alan as a test platform for their soon to come new wearable products. I'm also working with their marketing on a deal to get Alan placed withing the brick and mortar stores to promote the new wearable (2019).

I've changed the GetaheadinRobotics website to reflect the changes in my business plan. This will now be a landing page for interested business partnerships. (Still a WIP).

I just want to be transparent about where my company is going. My main objective has always been, to get these robots to market one way or another. If I have to start in a different sector and work my way up, eventually, I get these robots in to the world, and thats important for growth.

#837  

Will, Warm congratulations and welcome back. I'm very happy for you and the path your hard work has taken you.

When you start selling stock let me know. I want in on the ground floor. I think you're going to be the new Microsoft but in a good way. ;)

#838  

And I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords. :D

PRO
USA
#839  

Thanks Dave and @warpig, yeah freewill is overrated. Let the overlords decide our fate...lol

Belgium
#840  

Your bot looks amazing!

Quote:

I've yet to understand how to make a business model of open-sourcing. Not saying there isn't a way. I just have not seen the light?!

It seems to work for companies like Prusa. Their design and software are all opensource with a very permissive license (anyone can clone their design and sell it on the market ) yet they cant build printers fast enough to meet demand, despite clones clones costing far less than Prusas..

Since software isnt your thing apparently, keep that as open as possible and let people with more time and software skill improve the software at no cost to yourself. You could make money selling the hardware with injection molded or metal pieces as kits to enthusiasts and sell prebuilt robots for commercial applications. Not everyone has a 3D printer or the time/inclination to print something that complex. And even those that do, need to buy the stuff they cant print. (electronics, servos, connectors, cable harnesses bolts, bearings, etc,...). I wish Gael from inmoov did that, sell kits for his design. It would give him funding and spare me a lot of time hunting down the right components.

Lastly, opensource doesnt mean free. It just means you provide the sources, but you can still restrict commercial use of your intellectual property. You can even charge a fee for using your design. Im not sure I would do that, but you could and probably should restrict commercial use of your designs, so no one else can sell your bots. While still allowing enthusiasts to print their own Alans and make derivatives. Its not that different from ezrobots' business model.

#841  

So glad to see this update. I’m really excited to eventually get this robot and play. Beautiful work:)

PRO
USA
#842  

@vertigo Thank you for all that info! Alot to digest.

@beetlesmart Thanks!

PRO
USA
#843  

Hey everyone, I just got accepted into Eureka Park at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January. Eureka Park is a special area of the CES designed to pair entrepreneurs with investors. I will be there promoting Alan and Alena everyday of the event January 8-11th. If you find yourself in Vegas then stop by and meet Alan and Alena.

Its an expensive venue and Robomodix is low on funds, so I will be starting a GoFundMe campaign in a couple days to try and generate some funds to help with the show.

I've had some very interesting meetings about Alan and Alena which unfortunately I cant share here. But as I am able to focus on just the robots (no movie work), I'm finally able to get some traction!

Stay tuned.

PRO
Synthiam
#844  

That's awesome! Sell me an Alan:D:D

The new website will help you with things like this:) I'm listening!

It's coming ssooooooooooooo soon!

PRO
USA
#845  

So excited! I can't wait!

Northern Ireland
#846  

You’ve been accepted to CES to pitch to potential corporate investors, however it’s quite an expensive affair to attend?

Solution: GoFundme campaign to draw funds from hobby persons, who you won’t to sell to, and have refused to sell to for 2-3yrs?

Perhaps you could ask your corporate target market for a loan, or borrow from a showbiz friend?..

The Alan/Alena busts are very good, unfortunately made by the wrong person. Does the EZcontroller work without a Alan or Alena bust?... you’d be forgiven for believing it didn’t.

Belgium
#847  

Given how long you have been posting here, and DJ posting in this thread, I assume this has been solved already, but I feel I need to bring it up- just in case. From EZrobot ToS:

Except to the extent expressly permitted by EZ-Robot Inc., your use of EZ-Robot Software or Hardware is limited to not-for-profit use, which includes personal, education, research, and experimentation by individuals, education institutions and corporate identities. To use EZ-Robot Software or Hardware in a for-profit application requires written permission in the form of a license agreement by EZ-Robot Inc.

Even with a license agreement, I predict this will be a major stumbling block to secure any investment. About the first question you will be asked is: who owns the IP. And pretty much all of it is owned by EZR, Microsoft, Pandorabots, dynamixel, ... The second question you will be asked, is given that all the software and most of the hardware is purchased or licensed, why they would need you to make a product just like that in some chinese factory.

I dont mean to be a kill joy or rain on your parade, just "manage expectations" and help you prepare yourself...

#848  

Hmmm. This is the last forum I'd expect to see a troll. But, I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion...

(I did not mean you, @vertigo).

Vertigo has some good points - but I don't think any of them are insurmountable.

Anyone with enough determination, time and know-how can duplicate a product (give a listen to Johnny Cash's "One Piece at a Time":) ), but that doesn't mean they want to.

The investors will be looking at the concepts and potentials, not the individual components. In short, Will will be offering Alan/Alena's personalities (which is starting to sound a bit scary; like the plot of "I, Robot"!)

Belgium
#849  

Thats not how investors think Im afraid. At least not the smart ones. If they like the concept and see potential, once they realize almost nothing about "Alan" is protected, patented or proprietary, they just forward a youtube clip to a chinese toy manufacturer and ask them for a quote. Then they will compare that to investing in Alan - or rather in Alans creator.

Im not saying the latter cant make sense and wont happen. But you better have answers when they ask you those questions. Saying Alan looks cute isnt going to be enough.

Honestly, if it where me, Id talk to DJ . Maybe he could be interested in a joint venture or purchasing the design and selling Alans under EZR brand ? Then at least the IP issue isnt a concern.

PRO
Synthiam
#850  

Will is on the right track - with no IP challenges:). Adobe didn't have trouble with financing when they built their software to run on Windows or MacOS....

#851  

It is an interesting conversation when one tries to take a hobby/passion and tries to turn it into a business. I have worked a bit with VC's in the personal electronics space and I have seen two trains of thought. As Vertigo mentioned, there are the ones that will see no distinct IP outside of design copyright and try to duplicate in China. That is a short term vision. Sure they can take something as it exists today, port it off to China to copy. THey are then stuck with something that has no clear development future. THe other type invest in the person and let the company follow behind. Often I was asked, who is your tech person, who provides the vision? VC's like to talk to them as opposed to the business dev types in order to judge future potential. The company progenitor that has performed the work and an indication whether their vision for the future has potential.

It's a difficult/fun/frustrating/satisfying part of starting your own business. Good luck.

PRO
USA
#852  

Troll from Northern Irelands been here before..long ago...but glad to see him back..trolling...bye.

@Vertigo...totally understand where you are coming from...Give me a little credit here. Do you think I would be stepping on EZ Robots feet...intentionally? I've given recognition where its due ie most everything inside Alan and Alena is controlled by EZ Robot when marketing or chatting to media. I say it again and again...everything I've created is completely the inspiration for everything that EZ Robot products can do.

But I'm pushing a brand now. Robomodix (me) has worked hard to create unique looking shells or skins or whatever you want to call Alan and Alena and Gar. You (investor, partner) can put whatever you want inside.

A perfect example I've created an Alan that does not use EZB products, that is animated and exclusively for use with smart speaker technology. So I've created an accessory for the 54 million smart speakers on the market. I would think an investor might be interested in that.

On the other hand I will continue to create the Hard Core Robots, that can be placed in museums, airports, hotels, etc, just like I did for Kuwait museum. These are EZB powered and I promote them as such. But they are still a hybrid of my tech, EZB tech and a third party software company. DJ was instrumental in helping with these robots and would not have done so if he felt it would not be cross promotional to do so?

...and for the record Alan and Alena are well protected. But in this day and age is anything protected internationally? Probably not IP is stolen by China daily. Alan has been all over the internet for 6 years and I've not seen anyone try and replicate it yet. So either no one thinks its worthy or they don't know how to do it yet.

Belgium
#853  

Investors pretty much always invest in the person., and what that person can bring to the table. And Will needs to come up with good answers when hes asked what he brings to the table, beyond his ability to integrate off the shelve components and third party software. He clearly has a knack for design, but I doubt thats enough. His contacts in the movie industry could be an asset. Anyway, Im wishing him all the best. And Will, if you ever make a latex skin for inmoov, let me know, I want to buy some:)

#854  

The last couple pages of posts in this thread confuse me. Look, I'm just as disappointed as the next guy that I can't buy an Alan for myself in kit form, but this thing is Will's creation and he should be able to market and sell the thing (or not) as he sees fit...without criticism.

PRO
USA
#855  

@DJ Thank you for your reply.

PRO
USA
#856  

I have a new Robomodix Intro you can check out at:

PRO
Belgium
#857  

hi FXRTST

i didn know you made a female version.che looks very female.it seems the articulation of the mouth works better with a female voice then the male voice. or is it just me.

PRO
USA
#858  

@Nomad, yeah there are some changes in Alena (female), but I'm working on Alan 2.0, that has lots of updates.

#859  

That looks like a very large 3d printer, what kind and size is it?

PRO
USA
#860  

Its a 3D Systems resin printer called the projet 1500...and probably obsolete by now :) Almost too expensive to turn on..lol

i think its a 10 x 10 x 12 printer bed size

PRO
USA
#861  

New edit of case uses.....

#862  

Stunning! Your so freaking good that I'm not surprised anymore when you post some of your work. I'm still in awestruck but not surprised.

PRO
Synthiam
#863  

You should get the domain robomodix.io - it's available right now

PRO
USA
#864  

Dang i just purchased robomodix.net a few weeks ago (.com was gone after my UK Guardian article a couple years ago, someones going to make me pay big bucks to get that back..lol..i waited a long time for it to become available again!)...I've never heard of .io

I hope to migrate getaheadinrobotics over to robomodix soon.

PRO
USA
#865  

@dave Thanks buddy you are too kind

PRO
Synthiam
#866  

The robomodix.com is $3k on godaddy.com lol

Sell me an Alan

PRO
USA
#867  

No way! Good find! Beats $30,000!

When I come up for air (and if I don’t sign away any rights) I will make an EZ Alan for you!

United Kingdom
#868  

Stunning work Will, as always!

I really do think Robomodix will be a big success!

Cheers, Chris.

#869  

Hey, I am actually enjoying this discussion over here a lot. I brings a whole new aspect to the forum, which had not appeared in other threads. At least as far as I remember... It is just natural that some people might not like the idea that Alan and Alena will not stay completely open source. It's been seen before on big open source projects like Makerbot, how outraged the community can get in cases like this! Also everyone is entitled to an opinion, and even if you do not like it, it might bring up something that no one has thought about before!

Interesting talk...and @fxrtst your work is outstanding, it will succeed!:D

#870  
It is just natural that some people might not like the idea that Alan and Alena will not stay completely open source. 
It's been seen before on big open source projects like Makerbot, how outraged the community can get in cases like this! 

Ya there are some that think they are entitled to other peoples work for free. They can't wrap their minds around that they may need to pay out some hard cash for something with value. They don't understand or care that a real person like Will (fxrtst) has placed countless hours, days months, years of their life into developing something amazing. They just want it without any cost to them. eyeroll

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USA
#871  

Looks like my booth came in today #52775. If you find yourself in Vegas during CES...good luck finding me:) (Blue dot) At least I'm close to the food court!

Tech west: Sands Expo

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#872  

Will, I love Alan's expression in your new avatar pic! But, you need to PhotoShop the background a bit: unless one looks closely, you appear to have an enormous beer gut! When I first saw it, I thought it was Kevin Smith in his "You're too fat to fly on our plane" days.:P

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USA
#873  

I hope this is the last time I will comment on the open source thing. In 2015 I launched the Kickstarter, that was in essence trying to release the robot as kits and as opensource. I found out a couple of things. Making one robot at a time or putting together the kits and offering so many options, was not an realistic business plan nor was it going to be cheap for me or the supporters. In fact I'm glad it failed. I would have most likely sunk me before I left port. It forced me to reevaluate other options. When I did, that opened up alot of doors.

If my robots get acquired or I land funding in the coming months , the goal is the same as it was for kickstarter, to try and get my robots out into the world.

And lets be honest, no one can really stop you from hacking and being innovative with my robots when they arrive at your front door step. Its a Win Win. This is how I feel November the 14th 2019.;)

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USA
#874  

@warpig LOL! l've never seen Kevin with guns like that;)

Edit: Now look at that slim waist line .....amazing what removing a tool box can do for your figure! :D:D:D

#875  

Will,

Now that's more like it! Chris Hemsworth better watch out!

#876  

This is soooooo funny! I thought exactly the same thing, and had to check the picture twice, to make sure you are not one fat cat of a robot builder! Its a great picture btw...:)

Germany
#877  

how can I disable the E-MAIL notification for this thread ? I love Alan but 20 Mails in the night are to much:D

its not possible in my option or via E-Mail to disable the E-Mails.

regards Marty

#878  

Quote:

how can I disable the E-MAIL notification for this thread ?
Unfortunately, it is an all or nothing thing. You can disable all forum post emails, but not those from a specific thread.

Alan

#879  

LOL, First thing I thought when I saw Will's new avatar was "WOW! when did he gain all that weight!" The edited avatar looks more like the Will I know and love. LOL. However I miss the old one where you're holding your Emmy award.

I'm looking forward to watching your journey forward with Alan and Alana by your side. May the forces of evil become confused on your path to success. cool

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USA
#880  

You guys are hilarious! And @Smarty, we will try and keep it down. A couple of beers and we get so noisy!

#881  

Yeah, and by then it's lunchtime, and we can really start drinking! :P

#882  

then it's lunchtime, and we can really start drinking!

@Tex, I've been in your home state of Florida for about 2 months now. I've noticed that this is Florida's state motto. :P

PRO
USA
#883  

...does anyone know is Ez Robot allows redirect websites? I have my robomodix website redirecting to getahead website but when i leave the link here and click on it, it does not go to the website.

#884  

Quote:

...does anyone know is Ez Robot allows redirect websites? I have my robomodix website redirecting to getahead website but when i leave the link here and click on it, it does not go to the website.

It is probably because you aren't using HTTPS. The EZ-Robot forum inserts an S into the link to attempt to force security on users, and that breaks any links that don't have an HTTPS version.

You can now secure your site with a free SSL certificate (used to cost several hundred per year, although I don't know if the free ones can be used for commercial purposes). I have used Comodo https://ssl.comodo.com/free-ssl-certificate.php on personal sites.

[edit: I see now they are only offering free for 90 days. I believe there is another CA still offering real free certs - I'll update if I locate one).

Alan

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#887  

OK thank you. I found that my hosting company offers free SSL plus a service fee (is that really free? LOL). So I've done that, not sure how long it takes to take effect, nothing seems to have updated yet to reflect the SSL.

#888  

Might take a day or two. There is a process for generating and installing certificates that can take some time.

Alan

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USA
#889  

OK great info. I set up SSL for robomodix and getaheadinrobotics.

#892  

Have you seen the new Furhat robot head ?

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#893  

Yup they are one of our competitors. Cruchbase, says they got $2.5 million in seed funding last year to develop it. So far they have it in an airport in Germany. I personally think that the design is cheap and the concept is borrowed from another company called Robo Thespian, whom created a head like this some time ago. And I might add that was borrowed from the movie AI (that I worked on) in the flesh fair, there is a robot that was rear projected.

#894  

The animation on the home page gives the impression that it has actual animatronic facial features. Then you watch the video and see it's rear projection. It would be interesting to see how it looks in a brightly-lit area. Also - what happens if/when the projector goes down? Will it be a user-replaceable part, or ship back to Furhat? In any case, I"m betting it won't be inexpensive!

TRON-type light halos seem to be very popular. For me, it's a wow factor that soon becomes distracting and soon gets shut off (hey - I even put tape over USB hubs if the indicators are too bright!).

Cost will be a factor; also the market you are shooting for. The Furhat site says a personal robot can be had "with restrictions", and the O/S is proprietary. Alan has a clear advantage there (if EZ-B is an option). A user would have a broad palette to develop Alan's skills - as well as have an established user base to help.

All that said, don't forget to capitalize on "Designed and built by an Award-winning Hollywood Special Effects artist" in your sales pitch. :D

Edit: after watching a couple of videos, I've decided the robot is pretty creepy; kind of bordering on "uncanny valley". Were this head on a mobile body, I think I'd run like hell!

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USA
#895  

@warpig, ive been watching them for about a year now, and their prototype had maybe $34.00 worth of material in it. They are definitely targeting corporations and prolly charging the same that robo thesibian charges which is about $10,000 a head when you add in all the features and software.

And you are correct the projectors will eventually burn out or maybe LED projectors, but those have a low lumens. They had issues getting it bright enough in the airport in Germany. Near windows would literally be a wash out.

...i sure would like $2.5 million in seed...what i could build with that kinda support...

Belgium
#896  

FWIW, Furhat seems to have used retro projection as early as 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvXyy-JakqY long before Robo Thespian. And funnily enough I think that early version looked better.

Personally im not a fan of the look at all. Its barely better than looking at a rendered head on a screen (gerty in Moon comes to mind:) ) and in many ways, its worse. But it is a relatively simple way to achieve things that may be important for some applications and really hard to do with a traditional robot

What impressives me most is their software particularly the speech engine. I cant tell if its text to speech or a voice actor. The situational awareness and their natural language understanding also appears top notch, though its hard to judge as most things Ive seen are (scripted?) interactions with the developers, so it would be interesting to see how it handles a conversation with a random person.

fxrtst, I think you're wrong considering them a (direct) competitor. I see them primarily as a AI/speech software company who made a plastic shell to showcase their product. Youre pretty much the exact opposite, using alexa/siri/bing to showcase your robotic head. Id also say they would attract funding even if their robot head was a 17" LCD monitor. If the software is their own IP and there is not some commercially available third party speech / AI engine underpinning their product, then $2.5M seems like a bargain as that amount is not going to get you anywhere close to that from a software side when starting from scratch (or from ezb)

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USA
#897  

Great find on that genesis video. Yeah both Furhat AND robothesbian have great software. As an artist I am visual person, the more UI you give me the better. Some of the animation recording options in robothesbian software is what I was trying to develop in Unity in the Unity/EZB bridge which can be seen here post #290 : Animating via Unity

Social robots are on the rise and some will be winners and some will be losers. I just read today that Jibo seems to going under...imagine that.

#898  

Looks like Kuri go bye-bye as well.:(

From the trenches, I feel that "society" (consumer) isn't ready for personal robots. Right now, robots like Kuri and Jibo are little more than Alexa on steroids.

Playing Devil's advocate, what real purposes do current personal robots serve? Why spend thousands on something that does little more than a smartphone and Echo Dot can do? Why would one need to go to a robot and ask them to dial a number, find a pizza place, or turn the lights down when they can do all that on the move with their phone? Conversation? Phone, email, text. Love? Dating apps, nightclubs and love dolls.

Other than an expensive toy, is there a need?

BTW, I'm pretty primitive when it comes to home automation, and I avoid "social media" like the plague, so that may very well skew my opinion.;)

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USA
#899  

Great point and the answer to those questions are most likely person to person specific. I'm not sure if there is a need per say, but humans are social. We anthropomorphize so many things. I'm pretty sure from my testing, that Alan and Alena become the new smart dog in the family.

When Alena is connected to Amazons Alexa, it brings a more personal, social feel, to a hockey puck or to a phone or a computer. There will be those who are lonely and just want social company in human form. And there will be those who like to be alone.

The alignment of AI, computer power, and tools to create robots, are just beginning. People will need to accept it or reject it but its probably here to stay. It might not be in your home but it may pop up in your workplace, bank, or grocery store.

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#900  

Its kinda funny to watch the evolution of robots right now. I find it challenging to find uses for robots like all the dog robots. Fun to design and build, but i don't see practical uses for these robots, i.e. delivering packages etc . I like Cassie, but again I'm not sure a chicken robot is going to be delivering packages. I have yet to see uses for it. They cost so much to build and years of R and D but someone pays for these concepts.

Scratches head..?

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#901  

New map new location at CES, I've replaced the map on the previous post.

#902  

In reply to your head scratch: "P.T. Barnum, m'boy".

#903  

@WarPig

Quote:

Playing Devil's advocate, what real purposes do current personal robots serve? Why spend thousands on something that does little more than a smartphone and Echo Dot can do? Why would one need to go to a robot and ask them to dial a number, find a pizza place, or turn the lights down when they can do all that on the move with their phone? Conversation? Phone, email, text. Love? Dating apps, nightclubs and love dolls.

Other than an expensive toy, is there a need?

Ok I might be able to shed some light on this. For one, I have a son with Autism and he (as most Autistic) are a bit reclusive, but like to bond to something and he really enjoys just talking to an AI (Google, Alexa, OpenJarvis, etc). If he can ask questions and it can respond he's good. If a person questions him sometimes it puts him very out of a place. Not so much with something like an Alan.

I also have friend whom just lost their husband and all the rest of their family is grown-up and not so close anymore. Something like an ALAN is great. It can be in the living room with them and while the person is sewing, crocheting, etc. they can chat a bit with it (depending on the AI) this helps them feel NOT so lonely.

Would a dog do? Maybe, but not for my son or my friend. Neither of them like all that hair and food and slubber. Hope this helps a bit. :P:P:P

#904  

@mtwannabe Excellent points! Like I said, I was being negative on purpose;)

What a great use for a personal robot (pet) instead of an animal! Plus the robot can hold conversations, help with certain tasks ... and if neglected or later unwanted, there is no suffering that an animal would be subject to.

Belgium
#905  

Hmm.. you have to wonder though, if for kids (autistic or not) an expensive, delicate and static humanoid head is preferable over a talking stuffed bear/monkey/zebra that they can hug, carry around and even throw around.

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#906  

@mtwannabe I have two couples who are friends in our neighborhood. Between them they have three children who are autistic mild to severe on the spectrum. And the way they respond to Alan is pretty amazing. I’m hoping that they will eventually feel comfortable with me to take a video and agree to allow me to share it. You friend and those children can benifit and bond with these robots.

@vertigo My children have stuffed animals they throw around, but their bond with Alan and Alena is as strong as any family member or pet. The robots would not be expensive if mass produced and they are a strong as any kids toy.

Question for you. What purpose do you build your Inmoov? Will it clean your house? Drive you to work? Or even walk? The point is a robot experience is a personal experience. It shouldn’t matter as long as the Builder or consumer is happy and their expectations are met.

United Kingdom
#907  

Will,

So true about a InMoov build or any other robot build for that matter, over the last 2 years with my major health issues, I don’t no how I would of got through it, if it wasn’t for building a InMoov and also finding EZ-Robots. It gave me great purpose and kept me and my mind active over these challenging times!

Belgium
#908  

Quote:

What purpose do you build your Inmoov?

Frankly, none, other than having an entertaining/stimulating/educational challenge. Its not that different from previous hobby projects like building an autonomous VTOL aircraft. its not because I wanted a self flying vtol (it hangs somewhere on a ceiling covered with dust) and Im not building an inmoov because I want a humming creeky and somewhat creepy talking head in my living room; the fun is entirely in the challenge and the building process. I honestly dont expect to use it when its finished or when I stop working on it. At most it might be something to show off. "hey, look what i built, how smart am I?", but it will most likely end up in a corner or hidden in a closet.

So to me at least, a finished "inmoov" someone else built, has no value to me.

#909  

Just a little sidenote here....

I LOVE GERTY!:D:D:D

And Wavenet is the deal when in comes to TTS...give it a try! Does not come cheap though!;)

There is a little hack to use it with the native Google translate voice for DIY guys like us, but there will be no vocal choices, other than the standard female voice, plus it is limited to 200 chars per request if I do remember it correctly. Sounds great though...using it on my project for a while!

https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech/

Belgium
#910  

Quote:

I LOVE GERTY!

As do I:) And its a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to accomplish than a humanoid head.

Come to think of it, maybe fxrtst asked my why I decided to build an inmoov humanoid head, and not some other form of robot. And honestly I dont know and Im almost beginning to regret it. I just discoveredjames bruton xrobots youtube channel, and he is building BB-8s, robotic "dogs" and other robots and they look like amazing fun (though very challenging) projects. And Im working on a head that will look silly on wheels and I have no other realistic chance of ever making "mobile"

#911  

and completely out of context A robot is a machine to complete repetave tasks for a human the word robot comes fromRoboti’ derives from the Old Church Slavanic rabota’, meaning servitude’, which in turn comes from rabu’, meaning slave’. the inmoov head is not a robot it is an android. Android derives from the Greek ??d?? (andro-), meaning man’, and the suffix -e?d?? (-eides), meaning form, likeness, appearance, or resemblance; hence the definition of android being automaton resembling a human being. So we use a robot slave that is the 3D printer that completes repetative tasks that we as humans cannot do. so we can create a mechanical human called an android. Interesting the 3d printer the CNC machine,. the laser cutter ETC. are the real robots, and we use them without thought. The android head is only for as Vertigo said a Entertaining/stimulating/educational challenge. and for no other reason, the same use as Art.;)

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#913  

If it’s good enough for Bill Bass it’s good enough for Robomodix! Lol!

#915  

@fxrtst - good name for a band: "Billy Bass and the Twerking Bears"

I think I'm going to drop out of society, live in a cave and wear live animals as hats...

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USA
#917  

My first Synthiam post! Woo hoo! Just a quick pic of me unveiling the banners for CES. They are big. Alan and Alena look like movie stars....lol

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#918  

Wow Will! Stunning. Big is good when you have somthing like this to show off.

The only thing missing in this poster is a misty image of you in the upper background looking down upon your creations. You could be handing down the Three Laws Of Robotics like the big guy handed down the 10 commandments.:D

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#919   — Edited

Ha Dave! Thanks!

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#920   — Edited

Well you never know how many, is too many? 2000 business cards might be! LOL...but maybe we will come back with an empty box from CES.

We are getting some amazing meetings set up. One i'm excited about, is Apple. Their accessories dept has requested a meeting with us. We are gaining speed on the press coverage and were asked to come aboard the Worldwide Business with Kathy Ireland. Wonder if she would sign my sports illustrated swimsuit issue? Or get me kicked off the show?!...lol..

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#921  

I survived CES 2019. Wow, many words to describe my experience at the Expo..like massive, exciting, scary, exhausting, but mostly exhilarating!

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There were 4500 exhibitors and about 200,000 industry professional attendees. I met so many amazing people from every corner of the world. Every one of them interesting and engaging. We talked to about 1000 people over the 4 days.[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My immediate take away. Alan and Alena were accepted by most, some were unsure and others felt they had looked at their robot overlords. If i were to guess I'd say 70% accepted, 15% unsure and 15% overlords.[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Those 70%, also understood what the robots were representing at the expo. That they were designed to habituate people to speak to robots with human faces. I had to explain to some why they will never be human replacements and will never look like a human person. [/font][/size][/color]

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alan who represents the beginning of Robomodix, got upstaged by Alena who demonstrated using smart speaker technology and branded by CNET as a face for Alexa, when in fact it was representing all smart speaker technologies. Alan demoed all the ARC goodies, cognitive function, tracking and AImlBot. Most software guys like to hang over there.[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We had many pitch deck moments with investors, followed by a visit from the lead developer of Amazons Alexa and many many many VC and investors interested in getting the our robots to market in many sectors, kiosk, hospitality etc. How that happens is yet to develop. Bottom line...robots are coming.[/font][/size][/color]

[color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As I decompress I'm sure I will share and add to the story. For now I'll add a few videos from coverage and a couple pix. [/font][/size][/color]

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#922  

Very cool I think every house should have one in the near future!

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Belgium
#923  

congrats,looking very pro your robots and you.

#924  

Congrats Will on the successful trip! What wonderful reviews. I really liked the review the CNet gal gave. Very polished and positive. Funny story; As she was asking your  Alexa her questions my Alexa here at home was answering the same questions almost word for word and synced up pretty close. Especially the question about Las Vargas. LOL! Again, what a fantastic job and turnout of you. Thanks for sharing. Now relax and bask in the glory!

#925  

I would love to have Alena with Google or Alexa. Very cool work and I hope your robots get to be everywhere. I think Alena would be cool with a body and working arms. Something to think about for the future.

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#926  

Thanks @Robo rad, fingers crossed.

@nomad 6R thank you.

@dave thank you...I feel like the interviewer was maybe in the 15% undecided zone...but she still did a good job. coverage is coverage! I wish I could rest but headed to Los Angeles tomorrow for two more days reshoots on the last Avengers.....again...going to be a zombie.

@mcsdaver , fingers crossed everything comes thru. Many companies interested in getting us there. And nothing would make me happier than to give both of them bodies! Hopefully I can do that with the dynamixels support from Synthiam/ARC and $$$funding$$$.

#927  

Reshoots. Ugh! I hate it when that happens. So many divas to deal with. Well, it pays the bills.

LOL. Just kidding. People are people. I'm a diva too at times. Have a safe trip!

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Canada
#928   — Edited

Congrats on all the publicity Will!

Just today, through a Make magazine newsletter, I arrived at this PC Magazine article

You definitely turned some heads!:D

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USA
#929   — Edited

Thanks Jeremie. Yeah we got some great write ups. I just got back from more reshoots for the last Avengers film, so now I have time to finish up a little video i shot from CES.

A funny note, Zoe shot a time lapse last night as we took off her make up posted on instagram which has gone sorta viral (1.6 million views and counting).....i never thought people would be interested seeing the make up being removed rather than going on!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsrcu-dB32R/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

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#931  

Hey guys a quick video of the CES event. We were so busy we took very little video. I wished I had thought ahead and placed a phone up in the corner of the booth and shot a time lapse everyday...hind sight 20/20. Anyways enjoy!

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Synthiam
#932  

That's really really REALLY awesome!!! You look so absolutely happy to be getting recognition outside this forum:D well deserved! One day i can't wait to get one of your robots!

PRO
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#933   — Edited

...thank you and one day I can't wait to hand deliver it to you, over a beer...when its warmer there!

I've been doing make up since I was 9 years old...I was very passionate about it and its been my life for 30 years.

I am wayyyyy more passionate about robots than I ever was about make up. Every single tech person I met felt like I had found a long lost brother...they really felt like my people. As long as I can make an equivalent living, I know this will be the way I spend the rest of my life, building and designing robots. It was a really an amazing experience!

#934  

I am glad things are going well for you. I would love to have Alena answer my questions and tell stories.

#935  

Thanks Will! It's always a pleasure following your adventures. Your passion and love for robotics shows through with your skill and craftsmanship.

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#936  

Thank you guys!

A quick plug..I'll be on DigitalTrends Live on Friday the 15th. I'll have Alena with me and will be discussing Robomodix and robots in general! I think I'm on at 9:20 am.

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#938   — Edited

...ah well you know how things go...:D Had my interview on Digital Trends Live this morning.....and night before everyone in my family got sick including me....so this interview is me all hopped up on cold meds....lol. Good stuff. My head is so red looks like it's ready to pop off...you can't write this stuff...

Any hoo...grab you favorite bev and pull up a chair...I'm somewhere around 37:12

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#939  

I'm thinking about doing a hack night with the ODrive and hoverboard wheels.

I ordered an ODrive and I'm waiting on the hoverboard. I plan on using this system for my robot bases. I'm going to make a simple plywood base with three wheels (two hoverboard and one idle wheel). Then use the ODrive in PWM mode to control the base with the EZB.

If any of this sounds interesting to watch in real time let me know. Otherwise I might just make a video and edit it so you don't have to feel the pain! LOL.

#940  

Cool video and cool work. I would love to have one of your robots.

#941  

I would love to see someone do a successful robot hack with the Hoverboard wheels, I looked into the idea for several weeks but found out so many cons and drawbacks with others trying it. If you can get it working good would love to see that hack. I ended up just using car 12 volt 15 Amp window lift motors for the higher torque and internal worm gears for my bot wheel base.

#942   — Edited

Will, that was truly enjoyable to watch. Thanks for sharing. Nothing new revealed that we didn't already know but it was great to watch the master working the audience and showing off the magic. Alaina was really looking and working good. You looked great also. Couldn't even tell you were sick. Looked like you had been out in the sun. A fun. smart and healthy guy.

I hope you do a hack night. I'll watch for sure if i know when it is. Go for it!

#943   — Edited

Sounds like a good idea Will. I have an Odrive now and I am pretty impressed with it. Bit of a pain to have to put an encoder on each motor but I assume that the hoverboard wheels have that built in but you will need the filter caps. I used this tutorial. It may help

https://docs.odriverobotics.com/hoverboard.html

PRO
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#944  

Yes I ordered those filter caps and should be here Monday. Yeah it’s a pain To have an encoder for each motor. They do have a new design they are working on where the odrive and the the encoder are on a very small plate for mounting some flat pancake motors. I’ll be watching for those.

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#945  

@dave thanks buddy! I had a summer sun temperature of 102 that went to 104 by the time I got home... then bed! Lol.

Hopefully I can get things together for a hack. Might be fun!

PRO
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#946  

.....the hack for the hoverboard wheels is going to be a video now. I'm glad I didn't go live....everyone would have been sitting there for days waiting for the end result. I've been working thru some issues with getting the hall effects sensors to calibrate. Once I get that figured out, ill finish the video and place it here or create a new thread for it.

#947  

Good decision. Live shows = stress. Who needs that.

I'm really interested in Hall encoders and sensors. I may retrofit some of my encoders I currently have in my B9 with them. I'll be watching your progress closely.

#948  

Hi. Will,  Enjoying the updates. Please consider a new thread for this project. This one is kind of full.

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#949  

Ok I will definitely create a new thread for the hoverboard wheel motors and ODrive.

#950  

Great, Antonn's sister will be getting her feet. Sounds like this with DJ's beacon navigation will be an interesting combination.

PRO
USA
#951  

Yeah i was thinking the same thing!

PRO
USA
#952  

It looks like i bought the only hoverboard in the world with an extra wire (white) on the encoder...if I cant figure out its purpose, looks like ill be buying a couple more off ebay with the correct number of wires :/

PRO
USA
#953  

Happy Avengers Endgame day. LOL. Shameless plug...go see it...you'll love the conclusion to a 10 year franchise.

#954   — Edited

I wouldn't miss it for anything. Did you work on any of the other actors other then Zoe?

Looks like Thor gets his hammer back. That's a good think. Him losing the hammer was like the Enterprise blowing up. Just not right.

PRO
USA
#955  

I was only doing Zoe for Avengers 3 and 4. But on Guardians I did a lot of other alien make ups.

PRO
USA
#956  

....not bad...$1.2 Billion in 4 days...I'd call that a success xD

#957  

Wow, Ya. Impressive. I've got about $20 included into that total. Sweet movie. Impressive work all around.

#958  

Hi @fxrtst I am still intreasted in buying an alan robot head is that ever going to happen?

#959  

Is alan based off the character vision in advengers?

#961  

Wow the Avenger Character vision does look like Alan. Will at least sell the Alan stl files to Synthiam members. so we can print one. I could use another winter project. "NOT" but if it was to make Alan I would take it on.

PRO
USA
#962   — Edited

@autiboy, i designed ALAN way before Vision was born on avengers. Maybe vision looks like ALAN;)

Plans are to set goals on my upcoming YouTube channel. If these goals are met I will be releasing the files of ALAN 1.0 so people can 3D print their own. I have not decided what those goals will be, ie a certain amount of subscribers or Patreon members before I release them.

#963  

@fxrst When I saw @AUTIBOY post I thought hay,  Alan has been around a lot longer then the Avenger movie.  did you ever work on the Avenger movie? if you painted Alan that rose color with blue it would be very convincing.  they used your design.    Since there is no community chat ,  I have to ask how is your foot healing.  how is your youtube channel doing, new content would help. I know you are very busy and need to heal "not a broken foot joke".  we need you there isn't much action at Synthiam.  Haven't heard from Jer, maybe he has been attacked by a six foot JD. no news on that.  I guess the synthiam team are all frozen at there end of the country. some places like minus 40. C global warming my foot, "not a broken foot joke".  I know shut up B.

PRO
USA
#964  

@nallycat, Thank you, my foot is healing very well. I just got the cast off and just like new one. Not allowed to drop anything on it though:)

I worked on Avengers 3 and 4. But never had any interaction with Vision. The make up artist who did his make up is a very good friend of mine and I worked with Paul the actor who played Vision in a movie called Master and Commander, many years ago.

The Youtube channel is taking a long time as I have to do everything myself. I'm trying to get 5 episodes finished before i start posting the videos up regularly. The first big robot will probably be 8-10 episodes to completion. But I am really enjoying the process (other than having to do everything).

Yeah not sure whats going on with Synthiam. Not alot happening...you are prolly right, lots of cold weather with the 6 foot robot taking all the time up.

#965  

Thanks Will Glad you are healing, I am still checking your YouTube channel,  and get back to Synthiam,  ASAP. xD

#966  

Just Me again.  Will I noticed you needed Patreon members I tried finding you on patreon and I was unable to find you by name. is it under another name? if so you may want to look into this, you can't get members if they can't find you.  I should tell you I have just discovered Patreon and may not be using it properly.:p

PRO
USA
#967  

It’s not up yet. I didn’t want to make it live until I was closer to launching The YouTube videos.

It will be under Reel Robots not my name when it goes live. I will certainly update my thread here when it’s ready to go!

#968  

Hi Will, Great news about the foot. I am looking forward to your updates and the rollout of your channel. We will wait quietly,  but the excitement  is building.

#969  

I cannot wait to be able to build an alan head.

Unknown Country
#970  

so this project was never released? if it was what was the entry level head cost?

PRO
USA
#971  

@drakkar20d No not on kickstarter and not to consumers only B to B. I never found an investor who I could work with. There is good news tho. I will be releasing the plans for sale so folks can 3D print and build your own Alan v1.0. This is dependent on if I can reach a certain number of subscribers on my Youtube channel. That number has yet to be determined, I am at approx 1000 now. The hope is it will eventually be a DIY project and licensed appropriately.

Unknown Country
#972  

ok will sign up on youtube

#973  

What about  your Alena robot, any chance on getting files to 3d print her? She looks amazing! Mostly I need her silicone face. I haven't been able to make one for my android yet.

#974  

With good marketing videos, advertising on YouTube and Facebook and a Indiegogo you really could kill it. I would bet could could sell a couple hundred units in one round easily.

PRO
USA
#975  

@mcsdaver and jstarne1, There are a lot of plans in the pipeline. It all starts with the success of growing the Youtube channel.

PRO
Synthiam
#976   — Edited

You’re about to hit 100k views on this post:)  Probably today or tomorrow. It’s at 99,391 last night

PRO
USA
#977   — Edited

Seriously? That is crazy! We should have a party or something:) JK.

#979  

Yes and we may have just the robot to dispense beer?

PRO
USA
#980  

After this next episode he will! Lol!

Unknown Country
#981  

anything happening about releasing this yet?

PRO
USA
#982  

I hoping to release a home version of Alan when I reach 10k subscribers on my Youtube channel. So tell all your friends to come subscribe to my channel. The faster that happens the faster we can build Alans across the world!

#983  

New videos might help build your channel. Any Avengers or robotics videos would be great!

PRO
USA
#984  

Thanks Mcsdaver.  I have a new video dropping this week. It took much longer to design and execute the arms. They became new robots all their own.

I had a meeting with a Youtube company, with advise about growing the channel. More videos definitely coming, a few about me and my background, new robots etc. But as an interesting statistic, only 17% of the people watching the videos actually subscribe. Thats about average for most channels. The point is 80% don't subscribe, which means you have to drive 4 times MORE traffic to your site to get any subscribers to stick. My hats off to those who found the sweet spot, like opening kinder eggs, playing video games, watching paint dry. I should have chosen a much simpler topic. Because the dumber the idea the more subscribers you get. The work is unfathomable and I have a family to take care of during a pandemic on top of that.

So to recap, I'd have 10,000k subscribers right now if 100% of people watching my videos subscribed. Tell all your friends and family to subscribe and the videos will flow and Alan will be released....go...now...into the wild....

#985  

Between builds have videos of the robots talking to each other every time you leave the room. Sometime videos for fun get views!

PRO
Synthiam
#986  

Congrats on passing 100k views btw:D

PRO
USA
#987  

That’s a lot of views.

#988  

Beautiful work.  I need to spend a lot more time to study all this.  I do love it already.

I've been thinking of switching the skin out on mine from white to transparent PLA or a 2-color combo of transparent with an embedded hexagon pattern in white or black.  I never really though about using a flexible skin.  Very cool indeed.

#989  

I had to go over it all again and your words.  Once again, beautiful work.  I can see myself buying one.

You brought up the uncanny valley...such a big topic there.  It needs its own discussion area really.  Its a big reason why I have gone with machine-looking bots with elements of animals and animation with screens...to try to get away from looking too human.  Its another reason I try to do minimalist but have constant subtle movement.  I like to incorporate Visemes now into the mouth movement and speaking.  The valley is still lurking around every corner.  When you get into the conversation side, timing is a constant issue too, something as small as a 1 second pause versus a 2 second pause in some situation...valley.  For me, initiative is a big deal, having the bot thinking constantly in all the in between moments (with emotion and motivation and speech or movement) instead of just waiting for a human to say something.  Every time I get a chance to work on that another year goes by.  One easier way to is to use some old MIBE architecture concepts (try wiki page for an overview).  I also think a small neural net or fuzzy logic based system is another way to go, and has an advantage of avoiding lots of brittle spaghetti coding.  I have prototyped these last 2 (NNs and Fuzzy) for other robot use cases but have not tried it for facial expression and conversation aspects.  I will probably stick with a MIBE like concept there.

Unknown Country
#990  

you should do a complete series of build videos on youtube that would boost your subscriber numbers

PRO
USA
#991  

Alan is getting wrapped into a master class, files/ and or kits and how-to classes. I have a movie to work on in the fall so not sure when that will be completed.

#992  

Hey Will, Just a thought on how to differentiate your youtube channel is to to understand your audience. Mostly people that have the passion and not the talent developed. You could do polls and ask people what they want to see next. It would be highly interactive. You could say; on this last robot people asked how I achieved this particular function or surface quality on a part. Now you have people dictating the content to an extent, learning (those are the videos you follow!). I seldom pick up a technique after seeing it for the first time so I subscibe to come back. There you subscriptions. Subscriptions can also come from people that have to come back to understand more complex content. You content is complex so perhaps this can work.

Perry

#993   — Edited

Wow This would be great!!!!  So when will the Robotics Masterclass take place?  I would love to make one of these.

United Kingdom
#994  

Any updates on the 2022 masterclass/kit project?

PRO
USA
#995  

Sorry for the late reply gentlemen. I've been extremely busy this summer with multiple projects going on at the same time. I'm finished with the film project as of May 2022. The master classes are coming..but it's slow going..there are a lot of moving parts to get the classes produced and figure out mass manufacturing of the parts. I'm currently redesigning Alan's mechanisms for the 8th time. This will simplify the assembly process by requiring fewer parts and using more affordable components. As I have stated before, the manufacturing of the skin will be the trickiest, most expensive portion of the process. Then I have the actual video production for the classes, which cover assembly, painting, and programming Alan.

My hopes are to have the classes available by the end of this year, no later than 1st quarter 2023. For me earlier is better.

PRO
Synthiam
#996  

So glad this is happening. I actually prefer Alan without the skin, if that ends up being an easier option. You got a customer here:)

#998  

I will keep checking on this until I can have one of my own, Alan is such a fantastic project.  This is going to be a great Master Class, I can't wait to sign up.

Belgium
#999  

same here! I still remember pledging on the kickstarter campaign. I was so disappointed it didn't reach the goal

post #1000

PRO
USA
#1001  

Not yet Thomas. I’m creating courseware where you’ll be able to have access to 3D print files and then eventually in the form of kits. Less than likely I’ll ever have completed ones to buy. Too much labor.

PRO
Canada
#1002  

Great to see this project coming back to life @Will. Wouldn't it be great if we could buy Alan as a kit from EZ-Robot bundled with ARC @Jeremie   This would be a fantastic initiative for the entire community to get behind.

How can I help?

PRO
Synthiam
#1003  

I'd like to help as well! Having an ALAN has been on my must-have list for ever

#1004  

@Will

In this video ...

Link What apps are you using here? Thanks

PRO
USA
#1005  

Sorry for the late reply...was on the last vacation before school starts this week for the kids.

Thanks @Nink and @DJ I appreciate the support!! I'll let you know if I can think of anything I need help on...there are alot of working parts to get moving at the same time, that is for sure!!!

@herr Ball I think that was with the very first version of the chatbot! I'm wrapping up a video later this week for a sponsor, then going to finish 2 other videos where I am using the latest chatbot and a cool use case for Alan. Coming soon.

PRO
USA
#1006   — Edited

...PS I've started a discord channel for Reel Robots/Robomodix ... its not open yet.....but as I develop Alan for general release, I might need a few people to join the discord server, follow my videos and assemble an Alan kit and give me feed back on your experience. (This will be later in the year after the molds are done) I am also looking for other beta testers with 3D printers who will are willing to print stls and report back their experiences with printing parts and assembling them.

So, if you are interested I'm going to be starting a list, let me know if you are interested ( prolly no more than 5 to 10 to start). You would have to sign a NDA and some other legal paperwork regarding illegal reproduction (copies), (copyright) etc...(again all this is later this year).

Belgium
#1007   — Edited

that's a lot of good news @fxrtst. I might not be the best one to take part at the overal beta process because it will require a lot of time that I'll probably won't have (really depends on your deadlines) but I am definitely interested to follow it at my own pace when everything is ready. however, giving my input on 3D printing and assembly is much more feasible. So you can count on me if needed, i'd be honored to help as best i can

PRO
Canada
#1008  

I’m in.  I should have most of the parts in my busy box and I have a couple of 3D printers. I am not legally bound to anyone anymore so happy to sign an NDA.  The good news is if I can follow the instructions anyone can.

Message me on discord when your server is up.

#1009  

wow. this sounds all cool.  what size 3d Printer would be required? I have a rather large one I use in the office.

PRO
USA
#1010  

@robohappy I think if you have an fdm printer 300mm sq bed size should be big enough. If you have a smaller printer you can slice it into smaller bits, but you will have more seams to deal with.

#1011   — Edited

I'm game and willing to also sign an NDA. This would be super cool to be used as an INMOOV head . I would be a good guinea pig as I am not a so called "pro" like the others:).  When you discord server is up let me know.  This would be awesome to show off that people could talk to and so so much better than an Alexa.

#1012  

def no pro either:), but would be fun to print , I have a large 3d printer, can do up to 11in sq objects.

#1013  

Hi Will, That's an incredible offer that the community will really appreciate. It will be cool seeing these start to roll off the  printers. Just a thought, have you thought of having both FDM and STL parts so you can have robustness as well as high detail?

PRO
USA
#1014  

@perry, you will be able to print in either resin or fdm with the files. The kits will be made in epoxy resin and will be mastered from high resolution resin prints. They will definitely be a 1:1 from my designs.

#1015  

I gotta get into 3D printing. There are so many things I'd like to print.

PRO
Belgium
#1016  

hi dave

if you can build a life size B9 you will also be able to handle a printer .:) averyone will garantee you will have lots off fun even if your print will fail in the begin .

#1017  

Hi Will, Let me know if I can help out with some 3D printing.

PRO
USA
#1018  

Hello all. I have kinda a micro poll in which I'm ask you a few questions about the importance of certain features with ALAN. ALAN is going through a redesign, and I specifically want to ask your opinions on the esthetic exposed areas and what's important to you. When I originally designed Alan I didn't really care about how it would be reproduced but more about how it would look when I completed it. Once the prototype was completed I realized that some of my design choices created a very difficult task of mass production.

There are going to be many choices for various heads to place on the core neck and head mechanisms for the courseware. This defines my original vision of "modification " in the name ROBO "MOD" IX. I had always designed the whole project around the ability to swap out the heads with other components to create a multitude of robots types with the mechanisms being the core components. With the ultimate goal to complete an entire humanoid robot like the InMoov. These parts include:  torso, arms, legs and a mobile bases. You will be able to MOD these parts as well, giving you the ability to customize your robot with several options.

So, what am I asking? For purposes of simplification for mass production, what are the esthetic features of the original ALAN, that are most important to you in order of importance? I'd like to hear from as many people as possible.

  1. The silicone face and its translucent surface
  2. The back of the head design
  3. The neck design
  4. The shoulders design
PRO
USA
#1019  

...I thought I'd give you some insight into what the future holds...these are a few design from about 50 designs I've been creating. These are for a "Robot" look, unlike Alan and his android appearance, but all the internal mechanical workings will be the same so you can change out Alans head or skins for different looks, building on my "no screws" only magnets concept shown in the bartender videos.

User-inserted image

User-inserted image

#1020  

My order would be

  1. The silicone face and its translucent surface
  2. The neck design
  3. The shoulders design
  4. The back of the head design
PRO
Canada
#1021   — Edited

It’s interesting to me that it took me a bit of time but over the last few years I fell in love with the silicone-less aesthetic of ALAN. The silicone overlay, neck, and shoulder design never really mattered to me. The head, eyes, and the lines & small details, and the alternating color pattern define ALAN in my mind. I really enjoy the alternating color pattern with Reds and Blues as it reminds of my most cherished robots of the 80s: The Transformers. I feel like it combines that retro style with a future concept of an android face, close to human but not too close to the uncanny valley. It’s human enough to easily anthropomorphize but far enough away to not be off-putting. I think it’s by far, my favorite design for a humanoid robot head. So much more detailed than C3P0 and so much less scary than Sophia. Will I think you hit the perfect ratio the original ALAN design (without silicone)

#1022  

My order would be the following:

  1. The silicone face and its translucent surface
  2. The neck design
  3. The shoulders design
  4. The back of the head design
PRO
Belgium
#1023   — Edited

hi  will

this is a generous offer from you to give people the chance for a really great robot .thank you for that . do i must ask one very importent question and that is what it all gonna cost . that the files will be availble for download is also a must ,due to customs cost is so hight these days , it woud'n be posseble for people like me ( belgium ) or other country's  . also what am thinking is for some people is to be able to by part by part . and in the end have an ALAN  robot.

for me i choose alan . ( depents on cost ) i would use grey color

  1. The head .
  2. The neck design
  3. The shoulders design
  4. The back of the head design

is there a mod to close the openings next alan's mouth ? thats the only part i don't love . sorry about that .

User-inserted image

thank you will .

PRO
Canada
#1025  

Hi Will,

I absolutely love your design skills and excited to see you are thinking about the entire robot beyond ALAN.  One of the challenges I find with robotics hardware projects is they always focus on one robot versus having a robot that can be customized.  So I really like that you are thinking about having the ability to provide different casings to change the appearance of your robot.

My vision of the ideal robotics platform is one that is open and is an extensive platform that meets the functions of a specific use case, but can also be customized and interchangeable based on industry requirements. You provide a core robotics platform that is a starter platform that can be customized in any way.  So your Robot would have the core body with a head and arms and wheels but everything can be replaced.  This way any third party who wants to provide parts for your robot just needs to adhere to the industry standard connection you provide on your core platform.

User-inserted image

Now You provide the basic components that connect to that industry standard robot core as a base model, but because you create an open standard anyone can connect to it.  This could be snap on magnetic components to your peripherals that you describe or entire limb replacements that others will build to work with your robot.  Example I need a Biped Robot so I make legs. I can sell my legs as a peripheral upgrade to your base robot.

User-inserted image

In your design you had ALAN head, arms and wheels.  These may not meet my criteria perhaps I need stronger arms and 4 wheels to handle a more complex manufacturing process.

By allowing others to create parts that can connect to your robot you can let an industry grow around your robot platform.  If you put a good Creative Commons licence so others can change design etc with attribution I think we could finally see the robotics industry take off.

PRO
USA
#1026  

@Jer, thanks for those kind words. During the prototype phase in 2012/13, I was worried about what could go wrong with a silicone face. So I spent alot of time on the face under the silicone. At one point in my tests I had a flesh colored skin and I hated it. In the end I went with translucent so you can still see the understructure and paint. But, for awhile I played with concepts of just the understructure. I created an insert that pops over the eye to give the illusion there were eyelids...something I feel it needs so the eyes don't appear stuck in eyes wide open look..lol. You can see my first prototype in this pic on the robots left side.

User-inserted image

@nomad, There is not a set price on the courseware or files as we have to see what the cost is going to be for a kit first so we can set an appropriate price. But, yes STL files are an option for people who are over seas. You know my biggest fear will be once the stl files are released...its only a matter of time before people will share them and I start losing money and the business is finished before I even start. Its been my biggest thorn in my side and had hoped that in the years since I came up with Alan, someone would have created a way to copy protect stl files. As for the areas on the cheeks inserts could be designed to fill in these areas.

@nink, Thank you for the kudos. And yes you understand my plan exactly. This has been my vision for the past decade. I've also have been waiting for a universal motor system for robotics. It seems the industry is settling on FOC DC motors. There are alot of reasons I love them, and compliancy is one of the strengths, especially if a robot is among humans. Still waiting for my friend Justine to create the ultimate brushless motor controller for arbitrarily low speed control. Hopefully after waiting 2 years, it will be ready in early 2023.

@all, thank you for the info and keep it coming. This is great data. for me.

PRO
USA
#1027  

...BTW with years of robotic development stagnation and failed robot start ups, I think Elons robot might re-inspire the industry. We will see later this month when/if we see the first prototype.

#1028  

I am working on my own humanoid robot by building parts of different projects including Inmoov and Mark1 to figure out the best.  I am going to try and put a mini pc in the chest area with a 2TB SSD.  I am thinking about buying that soon and leaving it on and talking to it while I build the body.  I want it to recognize people and objects and not to need the internet but can connect to my home Wifi to get updates and search for information and at night upload a backup to the cloud.

PRO
Canada
#1029  

Elon certainly has the vision and a lot of the Building blocks, Battery tech, motors, manufacturing plant, GPT3... But until I see some of the great minds in mechatronics joining his organization or an acquisition of high tech robotics company like BD, iRobot, Hanson ... or traditional robotics company like Fanuc, ABB, Kuka etc  I am not sure I will take him seriously.    So far all I have seen is a girl in a leotard jumping around on stage.

PRO
USA
#1030  

Well rumor has it that the first prototype will be unveiled later half of this month. Time will tell. Its only been a year since that announcement...so ummmmm.

Announcement

PRO
Belgium
#1032  

hi will

indeed the file sharing is going to be a problem . you wil need a lawyer and a paper that customers will need to sign . if they share the file there's a fine to pay . it will only work when its legal documented . i would have no problem with , singning such paper . and you have all the right to do that .you did all the work for years and nothing is for free except, for the sun comming up in the morning . the problem i see is you . you are to kind off a person . real businessman , are like a sharks , they dont care about other people , only there money . but you are not a shark . robotics is always a , chort time that it is interesting for selling . thats why always new stuff keeps comming up . so eather make it legal or , take a dive and see what happens . the longer you overthinkg it the more confuse you gonna get . is'n there a global , vote you can do to see howmany people would by alan ? not only here on synthiam but als in stores/shops other forums ?

#1033  

Such a great project, Will, what servos are you design and how many?

#1034   — Edited

Nomad, 

Quote:

customers will need to sign . if they share the file there's a fine to pay . it will only work when its legal documented
Good luck with that. Locks are for honest people.:(

Locking down rights to intellectual property like the written word, software, music and even the design of mechanical stuff has been very hard to do since we figured out how to copy things. First it was carbon paper, then cassette tapes, then digital now 3D printing. Now people think it's their inherent right to copy other people's work for free. I'm certainly not an expert but personally I see no real way to stop any of this. As far as locking down a digital file, all that is needed to start sharing unpaid for copies is to give a password at the same time. That or some hacker to get into the file and break the protection. Maybe Nomad is right, the only way is to have an authority monitor, watch and step in and severely punish the perp. Sadly then the world slips into oppression and all creativity is suffocated. Double edged sword syndrome.

@Will, I think your vision and talent is amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us. Your choices in my opinion; protect it or give it away. I hope you find a way forward and a way to protect your work. Again, my opinion; I think the best you will be able to do monetarily is to realize limited returns, That is unless you can sell your product in enough volume and at a price point that will offset the pirates. With your B9 silicone rubber arms you are able to offer a product that is very, very hard to copy due to the design and skill needed to reproduce them. There's not too many people that can do what you can do or they don't want to. On the other hand, reproducing digital files are so easy.:(

Sorry for the negative post. Being the Mayor of Realsville is depressing sometimes.

#1035  

I have to agree with Dave's Post the other thing you need to remember is bringing a legal suit against someone also cost money, and takes time.  Once the files are out in the wild you will never be able to stop it.  Look at the Tommy Lee Pamala Anderson sex tape they spent millions trying to get that back are you really ready for that?  It becomes not cost effective at some point.   I think the best you could do is sell it as a complete boxed kit with everything needed like a retail product and sell it on Amazon and hobby shops.  This does not mean it won't be copied by others. It also means you would need cash to develop manufacturing, packaging, purchasing the required electronics to include in the kit. If you have ever looked into having injected plastic molding molds made you know they cost a lot of money.

Anyway I wish you the best while making your decision!

PRO
Canada
#1036  

You can file a design patent.  This is a patent that is used for protecting your intellectual property rights around the design. So if others infringe on your work you have grounds to take them to court. The challenge is design patients are easy to get around by modifications and enforcement really isn't financially viable unless you are dealing with a large corporation who has used your work.  China (and now Russia) will basically ignore your rights anyway and this is where any mass production of clones would occur.

The other approach is just make it easy for everyone to copy. Put in a Creative Commons licence that allows copy with attribution. https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/  This works well for products example the Prusa 3D printer.  Most people purchase a genuine one because the clones always give problems and it is a pain trying to source all the components but when a part breaks you just press print.

I think the best example is the IBM PC.  They made a PC with an industry standard bus. Anyone could clone the PC, anyone could make peripherals for the PC and companies did. People would buy an IBM PC and 3rd party peripherals like video cards hard drives etc or they would buy clones and genuine IBM peripherals like monitors and printers. If you actually wanted something that was reliable and also wanted support you purchased 100% IBM Hardware.

If you build a common base robotics platform and position it as pseudo industry standard others will build off it. Companies and individuals will always want to buy the original if they have the budget and if not you can still make money through the adoption of your robotics platform and the expansion of the ecosystem.

PRO
Belgium
#1037   — Edited

hi all

dave

your post is not negative but really honest . that is what will needs . the more idea 's people bring the better will  can deside what to do .

smiller29

am gessing there will be always a way to copie . your idea sounds very promising . sell it in a box . see what chinese do . taking pictures off averythin and make knock -off's .

will

i see you posted many awesome pictures off all the parts .these can used to , make copie's allreddy . i would remove those pictures . dont take too much time in this . others will have something similar robot reddy . and its what they say , first come firts gets served .

PRO
Belgium
#1038  

i allreddy found a copie off the mouth piece .  look at the video 8.04 minutes .

PRO
USA
#1039  

@perry Still working out the details...by moving all the head componients down into the chest I can lighten the load of the head. My Alans have Dynamixels but they are very pricey. I'm moving the design to 1/5th sized servos for the neck and head rotation with a few standard and micros servo thrown in. One servo needs to be a fast analog, which hard to find these days. There will be a complete BOM and links to sources in the courseware. As supplies change, I'll make adjustments to the files to match those..(Ie China stops selling a particular servo I am using in the designs, etc.)

PRO
USA
#1040   — Edited

To all,

Thanks for all the insight. I've protected myself with a design patent some time back.

The bottom rung on my business plan starts with courseware. The course will include all the assembly videos, painting, programming and the BOMs. Students/Customers will be assigned an ID number. They will use this ID number to make upgrade purchases in the online store, (i.e alans skin, STLs new ears etc.) Each file will have a hidden feature somewhere in all the STLs known only by me. This feature is custom to each ID. If STLs get out into the wild I will know who leaked it by looking at the STLs if posted online.

An amazing person contacted me onine, with this fantastic tip for moving STLs around.

PRO
USA
#1041   — Edited

Meant to also tell you guys that the camera in the forehead is no more. Its moving to the shoulder section right below the neck. This will allow you to set up tracking motions since the camera will be stationary rather than moving with the head..which caused alot of problems for any kind of motion tracking, etc. tracking etc.

#1042  

Will, I'm so excited for you to see how this turns out and excited for me to possibly take your Master Class!!

For your poll, this would be my order:

  1. The silicone face and its translucent surface
  2. The neck design
  3. The shoulders design
  4. The back of the head design
PRO
Belgium
#1043  

will

HDD servo works best with ARC . i think most will use ARC . i was thinking just desame using an ID number .

#1044   — Edited

I got my son started pretty young with the tinkering thanks to seeing DJ hacking items from thrift stores and such. We started the same and followed along for a quite a long time picking items up from a local thrift store and just turning them into something different. No remote. No problem. Just rip parts out and use ez-robot then make a small interface on phone and have fun. This moved over time to trying the same thing, but with raspberry pi's. I have helped my son progress over the years and he now owns a 3d printer, knows how to solder and even has the upper torso and head of Inmoov done.

After seeing the "Alan head" we were super impressed in a lot of ways as it was like an Alexa, but different and much more friendly. Being able to build one of these and give feedback would be super cool. We have a basic background now, but definitely not "experts".

Any idea as to the timeframe now for making a decision on being a "guinea pig" (yes we will sign an NDA) and building one and giving feedback?

PRO
Belgium
#1045  

hi all

if this goes thru . put your alan files on a cd-rom and remove them from your pc . you never know if there's hacker just passing by . be safe all .

PRO
Canada
#1046  

Hi Nomad, I assume Will is going to encrypt the watermarked files for distribution but this certainly opens up the question, what happens if a watermarked file appears on the internet that has your unique code and you were not directly responsible for the leak. This type of security method is fairly easy to bypass if you have 2 different versions of the files and remove the unique identifiers through a file comparison but if this is the method Will wants to use I guess we will have to agree if we want to be participants.

#1047  

It amazes about all the talk here about ways to get around things, leaks, etc.  I have seen hundreds of projects succeed in the Opensource space and do it well.  I have seen many projects fail as well.  There is a way around every type security including crypto, cameras, watermarks, passcodes, etc., but I think the important thing here is for those that will be involved as testers or beta testers to just be responsible.  In my opinion its like a password.  Don't stick the sunshine makes me smile under you keyboard, don't write on a piece of paper on your wall.  Don't use it as a background on your phone.  My now 16 year old only uses a password keychain and all over 16 characters and considered strong.  This is just one example.  If you want to talk about how to give the files out and track them, then there is plenty of simple membership sites that can be sent up with encrypted codes (only good for 14 days) and one time use and other ways like dropbox with only the one email per user, etc.  It just depends on how secure.

On the other side of things, I would rather hear about the benefits of being a tester, what all is included, what all is needed, etc.   In my opinion this should be more about marketing/advertising and hyping up what Will is doing here and helping promote it as he has something a bit unique that he has done and he is hopefully finally going to share it.   Thanks a bunch Will.

PRO
Belgium
#1048  

hi nink

maybe an uniek code on a cd-rom ? insteadt off sending files ?  this topic shows that talking about all off this is needed . there's another kink in the cable and that is the bying time, is not so perfect . with the russian war . hight cost house heating, people are strugling to get arround each month .

hi mtwannabe

a one time file use is not a good idea . when sending files to diff comps , its possible messurments changes . so you have to be able to mod the , file els you cannot put your alan together . ive seen allot files change , messurement up to more then 1 mm . so you have to be very lucky that , all files and prints succseed in 14 days .

PRO
USA
#1049  

You guys are bringing up some great points I will take into account. I still have not ruled out another Kickstarter, but this time for the files and some plastic part kits (not hardware). This will give me an great idea of the interest there still is in the project and future robot endeavors.

There is also the option of memberships... You would get open source Creative Common files of everything with access to instructional videos and program files  etc. I'm not too keen on this as I think people would join for a month get the files for Alan and split. I also would have to come up with new content every month which takes me away from other projects. But its doable....maybe additional Alan parts every other month and optional upgrades and/or different heads in between with different robots projects thrown in as well. I don't think this option would involve "Kits".

As for time lines on 3D printing beta files, this will likely be in the fall-ish time slot. I will be picking folks with different levels of building experience and different printer types i.e FDM, SLS, SLA. A few peeps will be chosen on this forum and a few will be from other groups I am a part of.

If you have expressed interest in being a part of the beta testers, please comment on the printer type you have.

Thanks!

#1050  

Will, Hopefully looking forward to be a tester.  Printer is FDM.  As for your membership idea maybe require a 6 month membership and price it so you still win.  This way if they pay for 6 months but only really only use 30 days it would be ok.  Just an idea.

#1051  

Will, I would like to take the master class as well and I will protect your files and design via NDA if needed.  I’ve followed you on YouTube and before when you first introduced Alan to us!

Mark Stephens

PRO
USA
#1052   — Edited

Deleted..............................................................

PRO
USA
#1053  

Soon after I made this video I found out the desktop version of PI has a chrome extension to allow communication without the "Tone" that the mobile apps  have shown in this video.

PRO
Synthiam
#1054  

Darn, it looks like the video isn’t public. I wanna see what you made:)  also, this thread is insanely long haha. It’s awesome

PRO
United Kingdom
#1055  

DJ, its amazing what Will has achieved here - I would love to add PI to my bots, but I am old school and not up with all this new cool stuff!

Will, brilliant work also great to see Alan again!

Best Regards

Tony

#1056  

Wonderful test Will. That tone before the answers in the Pi test are irritating.I couldn't deal with that in an ongoing conversation. I'm impresses at the response time and details in the answers.

PRO
USA
#1057   — Edited

@DJ for some reason this video on Synthiam's page shows "private" on the mobile browser, but shows up just fine on the desktop using chrome?! I also have a Youtube manager redoing stuff on the backend under the hood stuff on my channel, so some parts of the channel might go up and down, over the next couple weeks. Hopefully you were able to see the video.

Anyways, yes getting to the bottom and loading this page is exhausting...over 1000 posts! and 123,000 views! Woop!

@Tony and Dave, thank you guys! Next video is without the awful "tone" on PI.

#1058  

Wow this is really cool.   DJ are you planning to create a skill for this?