I've got one of those! Same color, too. The machining on the gripper pieces is exquisite. When the gripper closes, it automatically lifts whatever it picked up -- all with one servo. It's a work of art, but I can't imagine that it was economical to produce.
The Boe-Bot chassis is one of the many anodized versions we used to make, eight years or more ago. Once we started offerring colors the obvious happened - our inventory increased, nobody could get the color they wanted, and procurement became a bigger hassle.
The Gripper is a precision-CNC machined version, prior to the current cost-optimized one made from more stamped metal and molded parts. The function is the same, but it's certainly the case that the first version looks much nicer. It also included sensors for detecting when an object entered the Gripper. The unit cost per machined Gripper was about $100 each, but they had to sell somewhere near our costs since people won't pay $200 for such a product.
Loss leaders are always part of a business, but I think the first Gripper was more a valuable lesson in making our first attempt at a machined product.
That "close & lift" gripper is similar to the one on my Wastebot, not demonstrated in the video below. I used a Solarbotics gearbox, pulley & string, visible & risible here. I'll have to reconnect that & make a video. One more thing for my "to do" list.
Martin_H
Posts: 4,051
Comments
-Phil
The Gripper is a precision-CNC machined version, prior to the current cost-optimized one made from more stamped metal and molded parts. The function is the same, but it's certainly the case that the first version looks much nicer. It also included sensors for detecting when an object entered the Gripper. The unit cost per machined Gripper was about $100 each, but they had to sell somewhere near our costs since people won't pay $200 for such a product.
Loss leaders are always part of a business, but I think the first Gripper was more a valuable lesson in making our first attempt at a machined product.
Ken Gracey