Launching Mirobot Apps
One of the design goals of Mirobot is that it should be the starting point for learning more about technology, not the end point. The built-in user interface is really just designed for making a simple start with getting to use Mirobot and it's always been my intention to make other ways of using Mirobot. Today I'm launching Mirobot Apps, which is an online repository for apps to use with your Mirobot.
All you need to do is get your Mirobot on your network, then enter its address to start using them. I'll be integrating the apps more fully with the built-in application shortly so you can just cl ...
Read moreCompleting Kickstarter
There's a reason it's been a few months since the last blog post; I've been working full tilt towards delivering all of the units for the Kickstarter backers. All of these have now shipped and I've had some really positive feedback so far which has been great. Lots of useful comments and subtle ways to improve Mirobot in the future.
One of the things I've found really interesting about production has been the devices that I've ended up making to speed up the process and I thought I'd share a few of these with you here.
This is a 5 way Arduino Pro Mini programmer. It allows me to quickly put an Ar ...
Read moreEarly Bird Update
Yesterday I shipped 30 Mirobots to the Early Bird backers from Kickstarter. These units have quite a few improvements that have been based on the feedback from the beta testers as well as my experiences in sending out the beta units.
PCB improvements
The main change on this version is a much simplified PCB. This was brought about by using an Arduino Pro Mini which runs at 3.3V instead of the previous 5V. Running at a lower voltage has a couple of advantages; it means that we can talk to the WiFi module (which is also at 3.3V) without needing any resistors to convert between voltages and very impor ...
Read morePackaging
I've spent most of this week developing the way in which Mirobot gets shipped to its users. After shipping out 25 of the Beta units to the relevant Kickstarter backers I wasn't really satisfied with how it was packaged. It was error prone, with lots of pieces to pick and make sure are in every box. One of the pieces even arrived broken (which was probably by me as I closed up the lid). It all just felt a bit thrown in a box (well it was I guess!).
I had been playing around with the idea of cutting the parts out of a number of panels of MDF in a way that left them slightly attached to the surroun ...
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