Like Robots? Awesome robotics kit at Kickstarter: Multiplo

[WILL]

I just backed this amazing robotics project and will be receiving my own Monster Robotics Kit.



If you like robots, build your own robots or just think that they are cool, you should at least check it out at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...your-own-robot

[WILL]

I talked the people running the campaign into posting their pitch video on YouTube.

Here it is...



The campaign is already successful reaching their goal of $15,000 in a matter of days. They have gotten over $92,258 so far with over 530 backers so far. They are close to their first stretch goal of $100,000 which is very exciting as it makes some of the parts of a stronger material (light weight aluminum) than just ABS plastic.

$100k Stretch Goal: UpgradedRewards

• In all kits we will upgrade critical parts to a Durable and Lightweight Aluminum! This is now possible thanks that we can scale production. They will still be 100% compatible.
• In the kits that already contain gears, we will include an extra set of Multiplo Gears. So you can interchange them and experiment physics with your robots.

$150k Stretch Goal: Improved Functionality
We already have prototyped several robots and expansion sets that are still under the hood. So we will hurry up to unveil these secret experiments. This way backers will get the most out of their rewards:

• Communication Expansion, with PDF and Video Tutorials [wireless, microphone and other cool stuff]
• Extra Assembly Guides, that otherwise would take us up to three months to release.

$200k Stretch Goal: Mobile Multiplo
We will develop an Android app to command the robots remotely. We already have a functional prototype and we are exploring a meaningful interaction between mobiles and robots. We need to bring an external developer to put it in good shape. As each single bit of our project, this will be Open Source and released in our public repository for the community to use.

I personally am very excited about this as it's a great project to make robotics more accessible and more accessible to those that want to get into it. Everything they are doing, specs and software, will be either free software or open source in some way to give back to the robotics community.

Estimated December or January delivery from the rewards.

[pstudio]

Ah man, why did you have to post this WILL?
I've been wanting to get started on robots for so long, and this really looks great. Unfortunately I've probably spent to many money on Kickstarter projects already, and this project isn't exactly the cheapest to support if you want the good stuff. Guess I'll have to wait to next month to see if I can justify spending some money on this.

[WILL]

Yeah, I've been buying up backer rewards quite a bit myself lately. Just so many great projects this past year!

So far I've backed:
- FTL (game)
- Double Fine Adventure (game)
- Xenonauts (game)
- Esquiso Smart TV (android-based device)
- OUYA Gaming Console (game console)
- Castle Story (game)
- Multiplo (robotics kit!)
- Project Eternity (game)

So far my favorites are the OUYA, Double Fine Adventure, FTL and of course the Multiplo kits!

18 days left for the multiplo! It's a really great deal for what you're getting. Even if you want to buy the Arduino yourself, they make a super amazing kit that will take all the hardships of making your own robot project out of the whole process.

I would want to add my own way to have a LiIon battery pack and install a laptop harddrive for data access.

[SilverWarior]

I haven't backed out FTL becouse I didn't find out about this game soon enough (kickstarter already ended) but I did bought the full game two days ago and I must say that on my opinion it is well worth its money.
For Xenonauts I haven't even know that they had Kickstarter so I din't backed out that either. I will probably buy full version since I love this genre.
As for Castle Story I knew for Kickstarter project from day ONE but I didn't backed it out since descriptions about backer prizes were a bit porly written and uncomperhensive (atleast for me). Besides they managed to raise terget amount in less than a day. I'll probably buy full game when it does comes out.

Basicly I didn't support any project through kicnkstarter lately but I did bought some games through preorder like Towns, Gnomoria, and few others.

As for robots. I would realy like to play with them someday but unfortunatly curently my finances doesn't allow any mayor spendings.

[WILL]

FTL is now on Steam for both Windows and Mac! It's getting awesome reviews too. I love the game and think they did a crazy awesome job designing it. I'd love to see a sequel or spin-off that incorporates either multiplayer or allows for more exploration of the same style of gameplay mechanics.

I almost finished the game except that crazy end boss kicked my butt before I could whomp him hard enough for the last time. I won't spoil it for those that haven't played yet. It's awesome go buy it!

I'm a little disappointed with Xenonauts, it's probably my least favorite of the bunch. I loved X-COM / UFO: Enemy Unknown and I really liked the idea of a "true to the spirit of the original" game project, however this is NOT really so. In some ways it's more true to the original than the new X-COM game coming from Fraxis on a game mechanics stand-point, but they don't get the whole economy side of the game I don't think and it fails to recapture that part of the game to make it a whole remaking. NO remake/clone project has EVER done this properly. I'd bet the farm on this.

I'm not saying that it's a poor game, but the engine that they are using is not theirs and restricts what they can do. They have promised Mac and Linux ports, but they are just hack-solutions to port them over. Had I have seen what they were going to do going into the kickstarter as a backer, I'd have opted out. This is the only project that I regret what I spent.

Oh and if you loved the Baldur's Gate and other Infinity Engine games (Ice Wind Dale 1 & 2, etc) and the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition isn't enough (They are fellow Alberta developers!) then you NEED to get Obsidian's kickerstarter for Project Eternity.



That said, if you are wondering where the best place to get into robotics, I think that Arduino is probably a great place to start for the software. It's IDE works on all 3 major platforms and there are so many sensors that support it or can easily be adapted. If only there was an Object Pascal solution though.

[SilverWarior]

I almost finished the game except that crazy end boss kicked my butt before I could whomp him hard enough for the last time.

Same here

I'm a little disappointed with Xenonauts, it's probably my least favorite of the bunch. I loved X-COM / UFO: Enemy Unknown and I really liked the idea of a "true to the spirit of the original" game project, however this is NOT really so. In some ways it's more true to the original than the new X-COM game coming from Fraxis on a game mechanics stand-point, but they don't get the whole economy side of the game I don't think and it fails to recapture that part of the game to make it a whole remaking. NO remake/clone project has EVER done this properly. I'd bet the farm on this.

That I had to agree. But there was a game which come very close and it is UFO Extraterresrials http://ufo.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/
There is also a sequel to UFO Extraterrestrials due te come out soon named UFO 2 Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth http://www.ufo2extraterrestrials.com/

That said, if you are wondering where the best place to get into robotics, I think that Arduino is probably a great place to start for the software. It's IDE works on all 3 major platforms and there are so many sensors that support it or can easily be adapted. If only there was an Object Pascal solution though.

If you find any pascal solution for theese please let me know.

[AthenaOfDelphi]

That does look like a cool project WILL. If I had more spare time I might consider backing them unfortunately I don't, but I have backed two projects this year:-

• Spriter
• The Nifty Minidrive

It's a great concept... been thinking whether any of my ideas would fit