Hello Indiegogo People， 

It is awesome that AutoBot can be posted here. We really appreciate it. 

Autobot is an amazing product that can perfectly connect your car to your mobile phone.  You only need to plug it into the OBD port or cigarette lighter of your car, click the app, and you can instantly view the real time data of your car.  Autobot will sync the data to your phone via Bluetooth, record it, and save the data to cloud storage.  It will also function as a well-trusted “black box” for your car.

The Autobot project was initiated in 2013, and is being developed in Beijing, China.  Our team is comprised of industrial designers, automotive engineers, as well as experienced iOS and Android software developers.  We have tested multiple existing OBD products and found them to be lacking in several functions including mobile connectivity.  Therefore, Autobot was designed to facilitate the synchronization of a user’s mobile device and their automobile.   

Here are our team members:

  Edwin How, CEO, Chief iOS and Android Programmer 

  Liang Cai, Chief Designer 

  Fendi Cheng, Chief Operation 

 Ou Chao, Chief Server Programmer 

We found that OBD was not a suitable solution for the average consumer.  Not everyone knows how to use it.  There should be an easy way to connect your car with your mobile device.  So now, we introduce Autobot.  It is a good choice for any automobile, and is not just for technical auto fans, but for the everyday driver as well.  Both OBD ports and cigarette lighters are compatible with Autobot.  Autobot can display all of your car’s data on your mobile device, as well as accurately track your car via GPS. 

We have worked on Autobot’s hardware manufacturing and application development for one year.  It should be completed and released to the public in the middle of July 2014 as scheduled.  So we have come to Indiegogo to introduce Autobot to potential customers and get your support.  We believe that Autobot will change the way that you use your car, and bring you a completely new driving experience.  Thank you.

Now let's start to know more about AutoBot !

                       F.A.Q.

1. What are the primary functions of AutoBot?

Your AutoBot is able to collect detailed driving data through your vehicle's OBD-II port.  It keeps constant track of your fuel consumption and driving habits to let you know how much you've spent in fuel per drive, and suggest ways to change your driving habits in order to improve gas mileage.  The AutoBot is able to watch over your vehicle's major systems and inform you in case of malfunctions.  Using low-power Bluetooth 4.0, the AutoBot syncs vehicle data with your iPhone or Android handset and present all your vehicle's info in our beautifully designed AutoBot App.

Furthermore, the AutoBot can record your vehicle's travel route, including stoppage time, location, speed and acceleration data to form a personalized history of your trip.  By combining the geo-tag and time stamp on your photos, AutoBot can create beautifully detailed trip memories that you can play back and share with friends and families.

We have been able to improve signal processing and reduce interference through advanced materials and design.  As a result, the AutoBot is able to maintain the consistent GPS signal reception throughout your travel.

2. Does it support OBD-II interface module?

We've received lots of questions regarding AutoBot and OBD-II.  We have decided to combine the questions and answer them in this section.

OBD-II, short for On-board diagnostics, refers to the vehicle's self-diagnostic and reporting capability.  It can provide a range of information from fuel consumption, water temperature, engine speed, to a series of diagnostic trouble codes.  OBD-II is equipped on vehicles manufactured since 2007.

In short, the AutoBot fully supports OBD-II interface module.  However, AutoBot isn't limited to only newer vehicles.  For those without OBD-II interface module, the AutoBot will use its internal GPS, gyroscope and processing unit to calculate your driving habit and fuel consumption.  For those with OBD-II, it will read the fuel consumption, water temperature, engine speed and other vehicle data through the interface.

The AutoBot comes with two connectors.  If your vehicle is 2007 or newer and supports OBD-II, then you can connect the AutoBot to said interface.  If your vehicle does not support OBD-II, you can still obtain basic driving data by connecting the AutoBot to your vehicle's 12-V receptacle (commonly known as the cigarette lighter)

3. Questions related to power connector

3.1 Why don't you just make AutoBot connect directly to the cigarette lighter or OBD-II interface plug?  Wouldn't that avoid having to wire the AutoBot to the vehicle's power source separately?

We have considered doing so.  However, the location and placement of the 12-V receptacle and the OBD-II interface plug varies between manufacturers and vehicle models.  This uncertainty means on some applications the GPS signal reception may be weakened.  In order to ensure the best user experience and stability in signal reception, we have designed the AutoBot to perform at its best located on the center console.  The carefully crafted unit will complement all types of vehicle cabins beautifully.  The AutoBot is able to achieve its look and function by using both an internal battery and dedicated power wiring.

3.2 Why did you choose to use both a battery and power wire?

The AutoBot is equipped with an internal battery to ensure that you can still sync its data via Bluetooth within 1-2 hours after you've turned your vehicle off.

We have decided not to use a larger battery in place of the power wire, once again to ensure we have a consistent, complete and accurate record of the driving history.  If we use only the battery to power the AutoBot, our users will run the risk of losing the precious data when the battery runs out.

We also feel that in order for the AutoBot to truly make a difference in our daily driving habits and keep track of vehicle functionalities, using it must be intuitive.  If we have to constantly remember to recharge the unit on a regular basis, chances are the data collected won't be complete, and we would have to deal with the eventual degradation of battery capacity.  If we are able to power the unit constantly, whether it's through the 12-V receptacle or the OBD-II connector, then we can guarantee that as long as the vehicle is travelling, the data will be recorded.

4. How do you transfer data from the AutoBot, and will it affect my handset battery?

The AutoBot is equipped with internal memory that can store 60 days worth of vehicle and driving data.  Syncing is as simple as turning on your handset's Bluetooth and has the AutoBot app running.  Once paired, the syncing is automatic.  The AutoBot uses its own internal GPS hardware, and will not engage your handset's GPS chipset, so it will not adversely affect your handset battery life.

5. Can you incorporate dash-cam into AutoBot?

We have received numerous emails requesting that we combine dash-cam functions into AutoBot.  At this early stage, we have decided to focus our limited resource on the core functionality.  We will take a look at incorporating dash-cam into AutoBot once we are satisfied with its core performance.

6. Can AutoBot support multiple vehicles?

Yes it can.  AutoBot syncs with your handset, and once it is synchronized, your data will be stored in the cloud.  You can create different accounts to keep track of different vehicle data.

7. How is AutoBot different from other OBD-II productions on the market?

Currently, most OBD-II products capture GPS data through the handset's GPS chipset, so the bulk of the processing is done by your handset.  This means your phone has to be connected to a power source constantly and the recording app has to be turned on at all times.  As a result, the users tend to stop using such product after forgetting to turn it on a couple of times. 

Our goal is to give you the most simple way of capturing your travel log, complete with driving history, habits, and vehicle diagnostic information, therefore we chose to combine all the data collection and processing into the AutoBot unit itself, so you won't have to think about turning anything else on apart from your ignition, and the AutoBot will collect, process and store automatically.  All your data is just sync away.

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Why Indiegogo?

We have developed several product based on china market. We developed an application-pathbook, which was also available on the other countries app store and became very popular. We got many kindly users all over the world. Since then, we start to think about the international market, we should make our product known by more people, not only in China. AutoBot is a good product without any geographic restrictions; Indiegogo is a friendly and open platform. So we just COME!

You can jump to our website to get more information. we will launch the English version of our website very soon.

Our goal is set of $ 10000, which will allow us to begin serial manufacturing and make AutoBot widely available as soon as July 2014.  

Status updating 

We will update our production status here at least once two-weeks. Now we are working on the application development and also the AutoBot scepter. 

Use of fund

Every dollar we raised here will go directly to application development and manufacturing of AutoBot. 

Media or Business contact:

We are happy to talk about AutoBot.Please contact: Fendicheng@vgoapp.com for further conversation. 

Other Ways You Can Help

Not only contribution can help us, if you love AutoBot, Please share this link via twitter, Facebook or other social tools to make loud noise for AutoBot. 

And welcome to the Chinese social media Weibo & Weixin (Wechat) 

Sina Weibo: @AutoBot

Or add AutoBot to your Wechat:  2406037717