BOXBOTICS

PCB Ordered

http://connected.arrow.com/indiegogo-arduino-challenge

I wonder?

Slowly making some progress here. 

We have secured some cardboard samples. We will be working on different designs and see what thicknesses will work best for our base unit. I think the thinner stuff with the white outside will look the best.

Mockup controller interface.. 

thoughts?

https://hackaday.com/2018/04/01/yellow-robot-wheels-rolling-out/

Wow, got mentioned in the hackaday main blog, Thanks!

New base concept

So the plan is to build around the ESP32. Why? for a few reasons

1. Large community of developers: 

This is the most import reason, as without a community of developers a processor intended to be used by hobbyists is useless without support. Sure if you are a commercial developer there is lots of support for many other chips, but unless you are spending the $, your support is limited to the community. 

2. Hackability

Being able to hack the toy is key. Sure it will come with code to make it easy to use and program and play with out the box. But the big kids want to pay too. Being able to replace the brains with something you built from the ground up is the end game. 

3. Connectivity 

What fun is being tethered to something. Ble is great for turning those old phones into bluetooth controllers. But Wi-Fi is even better for making an IoT connected smart toy. Why not build a robot dog that knows the weather and barks when you have e-mail?

Any comments or votes for something different. There is time to change now.  

Some early prototypes. Anyone have some feedback on the best robot base to start with?