Ben says “It is a hit! The kids love it and teachers too.” I couldn’t be more pleased. This is exactly what I’m trying to do – inspire, educate, and maybe pay my bills (in that order).
Now if only I had some lesson plans…
Wow! Some days there is just too much news. I should split this into 5 separate postings but one of my news dissemination providers just changed their TOS and it means I can’t post as often as I’d like.
I’m setting new records for fastest order fulfillment! It makes me giggle. It’s almost ticklish, in a good way. Fastest order to fulfillment time is now 30 minutes, including the time it took to bike to the post office. I’ve got another one today, and that means I have only two Drawbots (or one skycam) left in stock. Better get that 3D printer going and restock ASAP.
Segues? We don’t need no segues! IndieGogo’s Robots for School campaign ended yesterday. Thank you to everyone who participated, shared, tweeted, linked, and so on. Those of you who contributed have been emailed a coupon code for the shop and a sneak peek at the next kit.
Alan, one of the local VHS members, bought a Drawbot from the shop (thankyouthankyouthankyou) and has been playing with Shapelock to design a better pen holder. Check this out!
Nice work Alan! Have you made some tweak to your drawbot the world should know about? Please share! I’m seriously considering a forum.
I’ve got FabLearn 2012 on my mind. I haven’t figured out how to save time to work on the next kit. I don’t remember the last time I felt like I was working on something fresh from the top of my dome, so to speak. More parts are due from Adafruit any day now and I’ve found a chinese supplier who can get me 12v2a power supplies for about 1/3 of what I’m paying right now.
Lastly, because I’ve been sitting on it forever and haven’t done anything… The Skycam code is now on github. I haven’t documented it yet. I hope it encourages you to buy a second Drawbot and do something cool, like build a room-sized machine that builds LEGO houses or something.
Halloween special pricing!
For the next two weeks I’m having a sale on orange EL wire and yellow EL wire. 25% off the usual price. Get all decked out for Halloween while supplies last!
…and seriously, be quick about it. These things are moving. While the 3D printer was stalling all Drawbot orders EL was movin’, movin’, movin’.
It’s always busy in some way here. I love the way the challenges keep changing and things are growing. For instance, last night I bought a new Brother printer and label maker. Kits look great when they’re nicely labelled and come with an invoice. Feels more industry standard, less care package from mom. Also: Shaking my fist at HP and Canon. Not only have I been disappointed in your product but now I see your display at the local Staples should have tipped me off from the start – HP’s says “we will distract you with video!” and Canon’s says IDGAF. Brother’s was the only one that clearly spelled out their support plan to give me confidence with my purchase. There’s a lesson in there.
Last night a new piece of contract work fell in my lap. It’s the first time I’ve ever used the Twitter API or Tropo.com. So far they seem great and are really forthcoming with help. My hat is off to you for doing it right. Easy APIs make me a happy man. It’s also great to be working on something while the 3D printer is going. It makes me feel so… efficient. Like my first employee, almost!
PS: Did you notice there’s a Facebook and Twitter icon in the top left? You can follow us there if you like.
This morning I woke to find my development web server died and took out half the electronics in my office. Thankfully it was just a flipped breaker. After we got the power back on the server refused to start. It’s in the shop now and as soon as it’s back I’ll you the twitter stuff. Nobody likes to be teased without mercy.
So while it’s in the store I went to the post office and shipped another 3 kits today. All the back orders (except my less-than-stellar IndieGoGo campaign) are now filled and “delivered”. Special thanks to each of you who sent me kind words of support and kept clicking refresh until I delivered a tracking number. Special thanks also to the lady at the post office who gave me water when I nearly collapsed. Note to self: bike more often!
Today’s next goal is to get all the products in the store photographed. You may remember I built a light box a while ago. I never showed you the box itself, did I?
Let me know if you find something in the shop that is missing a picture and I’ll take one ASAP.
Many hands make light work, yes?
I’m ecstatic that I’ve solved my production problem and can meet demand now. I’ve even got a backup solution in case my primary printer goes boink. I’ve got an online store that works, and I’m getting a label maker & printer so I can make sure orders are fulfilled in a timely way with precision.
So where do I go from here to grow the business? Branding? More kits? Advertise the CanDo more? Better pricing, like discounts on EL that isn’t moving too fast? (I’m looking at you, yellow and orange.) No one I know is currently growing a company like I am, so I don’t know who to ask or even *what* to ask. I’ve also got opportunities all around me. Should I 3D print for other people more often? Do more CNC routing? Funds are tight and time is limited so I can’t choose them all at once. Your advice, please. What would you like to see from MCS?
Oh, and I’ve started to include all the M3 screws you’ll need in the Drawbot kits. No sense making you drive all over to buy a box of 100 when all you need is six.
Another Drawbot being build by a member if IRC::freenode::reprap
I’ve had three other friends try to print parts and all of them have had things … happen… to their machines in the middle of my prints. I think I know what’s going on.
I’ve had several prints quit before finishing today. One is useable, the others end early.
I think the laptop I’m running on is going to sleep so I’ve pushed all the energy saving options to off. The other option is thermal shutdown – the room is quite warm (to warm the bed faster) and there might be too much heat building up in the polulu chips. I have a small 12v fan I’m going to use to blow air over the heat sinks and I hope that will keep them in line.
But hey! At least a kit can ship tomorrow! Also I heard from some of my suppliers that more motor mounts are due soon, so stay tuned!
