Did you survive all that super "professional" video production?

Do you like robots?
Do you like drinks?
Do you like cool gadgets?
Do you like CNC machined aluminium?
Do you like a perfect anodized finish?
Do you like open source projects?
Do you like Indiegogo campaigns?

Of course you do!

State of the project

The hardware, electronics, and code are 90% developed, the only work remaining are small tweaks and improvements to the design related to easier assembly and code cleanup.

Finances

I've developed the Alkobot in my own spare time and with my own funds over the course of the last nine months, so it's only a matter of ordering raw materials and components rather than financing a development team.

However, production and purchases have to be made in bulk in order to make the project financially viable, thus the need for the Indiegogo campaign.

Project time table

Since development is 90% done as mentioned above, raw materials and component ordering will commence as soon as the funds arrive which happens two weeks after the campaign ends.

Production will begin as soon as the materials arrive and I manufacture CNC work holding fixtures for series production which will be completed before the end of December. Units will then be produced at the pace of 3 days per unit.

The six early bird units will be produced as the first batch and shipped out as soon as they are done in order to speed up early bird delivery.

All other units will be produced as a second batch, and shipped in bulk at the end of the production run.

Open source

I imagined Alkobot as an open source project so all design files will be released. Alkobot is powered by the powerful 96MHz Teensy 3.1, and the code is written in Arduino IDE with the TeensyDuino plug-in making it 100% Arduino compatible for very easy learning/hacking/modding.

The code will be released as soon as the campaign ends, while the detailed hardware drawings will be released three months after the campaign ends.

The 100$ perk

For those of you who want to contribute with a bigger donation, but can't quite stretch their wallet for the  main perk, I've prepared a special little something.

A RaspberryPi/BeagleBone case!

No more sliding around the desk, scratching of the woodwork and shorting of the bottom pins on a random screw rolling around. The case is CNC milled out of aluminum, anodized black, and equipped with stainless steel bolts, plastic PCB stand-offs and anti-slip rubber feet, as well as bolt holes for hard mounting. RaspberryPi board not included!

Risks and challenges

As someone who has spent eight years in large scale industrial production, I can tell you there is absolutely no limit to the amount of things that can go wrong, and cause unexpected delays.

Therefore no project can be 100% problem/delay free. That being said, this project falls in the category of extremely safe! Most crowdfunding problems come from two things.

The first is massive delays due to the fact that development always takes at least two times more than expected, and if the development is outsourced, this can even lead to failure to deliver the product.

To combat this issue, I chose to develop the Alkobot in my own spare time and with my own money not knowing whether or not anyone will be interested in the product. I did this specifically to spare you, the backer, the worry of never ending development delays.

The second is massive delays in production which is usually caused by various third party manufacturers, and potential hidden costs that cause the project to fail.

All Alkobots will be produced by me personally on my own CNC mill and hand assembled by me as well in order to keep the cost down and minimize the potential for unexpected delays and hidden costs as well as provide me with the ability to personally inspect 100% of the parts.

This will result in a much slower pace of production, but less chance for any unexpected problems, significantly lower cost as well as consistent quality.

About me

My name is Tibor, I'm 30 years old. My background and experience is in the field of mechanical engineering in which I spent the last eight years working as a production technologist for various medium and large companies. I also deal with electronics as a hobby that complements mechanics.

My dream was always to start up my own little "forge of tech and awesomeness" and become self employed by offering interesting and super hi quality tech gadgets as well as contributing to the world of open source knowledge.

By supporting this project you are helping out "the little guy" and directly contributing to that dream. And in return; getting an awesome product.

So let us work together!