What combines Robots, LEGO and Pancakes?  PancakeBot!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our Indie Go Go project.  Visit Pancakebot.com for the latest updates of PancakeBot.

Short Summary

Hi, my name is Miguel Valenzuela and I am the creator of PancakeBot, a table top machine made out of LEGO that makes pancakes.  PancakeBot was inspired by my two daughters, Lily and Maia.  I've had so much fun with my daughters and sharing this project with others that I really want to make it to the San Mateo Maker Faire in May of 2013.  So we're looking to raise money to cover our travel expenses all the way from Norway!  Yes, Norway!

We were lucky enough to receive partial sponsorship from the Devotek Bank 1 Lab to in Kongsberg to make it out to the NYC Maker Faire in 2012.  After a successful show and positive feedback, we believe that PancakeBot needs to go to San Mateo and make Pancakes for everyone!

So we are raising money to cover our travel expenses to get to the San Mateo Maker Faire and we're bringing the girls with us too as they want to help out and show it off!

But this isn't just about making pancakes, this is about creating a project that kids can learn and interact with and also make some fun edible stuff!  

By supporting this project you will be helping expose PancakeBot to many others and help share the dream!

Funding Details

Funding for this project will be used for the following items:

Roundtrip Airfaire from Oslo Norway to San Francisco CA.  4500-6000$ (Depending on what we can find)

Hotel Expenses in San Mateo ($600)

Materials for faire such as posters, cooking supplies, team shirts etc. ($400)

To offset the costs of our perks we've set our goal to be 8K.

Anything beyond our goal will be used for other Maker Faires and tools related to PancakeBot.

Awesome Perks!

We've been thinking a lot about our Perks and what people would want and so we've come up with these ideas.

$1  Thanks and you get a personal email from Miguel thanking you for your contribution.

$5 (plus $1.50 S&H)  Black Oval PancakeBot Sticker (6"X4") and personal email thanking you for Contribution.

$15 PancakeBot Instructions.  That's right the PDF instructions on how to build PancakeBot.  

$20.00  (plus $8.00 S&H) PancakeBot T-shirt.  White letters on black shirt. with PancakeBot Logo) Plus PancakeBot PDF Instructions.

Shirts available in Kids sizes too!

$25.00  (plus $8.00 S&H) PancakeBot T-shirt.  White letters on black shirt. with PancakeBot Logo on back and Pancakes Rock on front. Plus PancakeBot PDF Instructions.

$50.00 (plus $10.00 S&H) PancakeBot T-Shirt of your choice. and printed instructions. White letters on Black Shirt with Printed instructions of PancakeBot.  Instructions come as 5 seperate bound instruction booklets.  We handle the printing for you! And yes, the PDF instructions as well.

Why are you perking out PDF and Paper Instructions?

We want to give people a choice of what to buy and also give them the ability to hold instructions in their hands if they want.  The printed instructions come in 5 seperate booklets so that way a group can build different parts and then come together and build the final step.  If you want to go with the PDF, we'll send that to you too.  :)

How long are the instructions?

The instructions are 115 sheets, front and back for a total of 230 pages.

Do you have any screen shots of the instructions?

Here's a couple of screen shots of the instructions.

What if we don't reach our goal?

If we don't reach our goal then we will still use any money from the campaign to get at least one team member to San Mateo for the 2013 Maker Faire.

Where is the shwag being shipped from?

PancakeBot stuff will be shipped from Chicago, and international orders to be shipped from Norway.

Our Impact on the community

When we were at the Maker Faire in New York, a little girl came up to us and said, 'This is why we came to the Maker Faire, to see PancakeBot.' 

That really touched our hearts.  The idea that PancakeBot was getting kids of both genders excited about making and helping expose kids to engineering concepts and food.

As a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Bio Resource and Agricultural Engineering program, Miguel has always been excited about engineering and food.  The idea that you can make machines, robots, gadgets, whatever and produce something you can eat has always been exciting.  Now we have the opportunity through the maker community to share our simple project and with your help, we can also expand on the project and make it bigger so schools and other programs can get involved.

What is it about PancakeBot that is so exciting?  It combines robots, food and LEGO all together and you end up with a product your kids can eat.

We can't contribute but is there anything else we can do?

We understand that not everyone can contribute to this project, I mean, there are so many projects out there already to contribute to.  But, you can help get the word out and tell friends, family, schools or others you know about our project and how they can help us reach our goal.

Indiegogo has some cool tools to share this campaign with.  Please share it so others can check us out!

 *Disclaimer:  LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this PancakeBot.
We do not know nor have we asked if LEGO endorses making pancakes with LEGO but if they do, it would be a pleasure to hear from them.

Here are some PancakeBot FAQ's

How did you make the instructions?

The instructions were made with MLCAD, Bricksmith, LPUB and Photoshop.

Everything was bound together with Adobe Acrobat.

Tell me more about the robot

The LEGO version of PancakeBot uses the NXT 2.0 system but also works with the NXT 1.0 software.  As a matter of fact, it was originally made using the NXT 1.0 software.

Making basic round pancakes is pretty simple with PancakeBot.  Drawing different shapes and designs takes a lot more work and even some programming experience.

What about PancakeBot Support?

We unfortunately cannot provide live support for this project but we will be providing how to posts on our website and some how to videos on youtube.

What Type of Software and Hardware do I need for PancakeBot?

You will need the LEGO NXT 1.0 or 2.0 system and a bunch of extra bricks.  The Bill of Materials is available as part of the instructions.

To draw more complex shapes we currently use AutoCAD to create polylines and then extract the data from AutoCAD by running a simple list of the polyline and using a Python program to then convert it into a text file.

Part of the hope of getting PancakeBot out there is that others with more programming experience can help us take PancakeBot to the next level.

Can I hack PancakeBot?

We hope you do.  Anything you can do to improve and share with others is much appreciated.

How easy is it to make pancakes with PancakeBot?

Making basic pancakes is pretty simple once you get up and running.  Drawing different shapes and writing words can be a bit more challenging but still fun once you get it down.

Why aren't you perking out the actual LEGO

At this time we don't have the means to create a LEGO set or collect parts.  The best way to do this is to collect the parts from places like Bricklink or typically, most schools that have the LEGO Education sets will have the parts needed to build PancakeBot.  Of course remember that batter is not included.  :)