turtlebot 2: mass production

asked 2014-07-03 18:40:03 -0500

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hi. we really love turtlebot 2 and ros. we plan to to build our robot based on turtlebot 2 and ros. our first production run will be around 300 - 500 units.

what would be a good way to source the parts effectively? buying kobuki base and kinect at single unit retail prices don't seem to make sense. they also seem like products for research and prototyping. we also want to keep our product cost as low as possible by buying wholesale/direct rather thay paying for retail prices.

where should we look for parts that are similar to kobuki and kinect? where do you usually go to source for robot parts in bulk? or do you have to deal with kobuki and microsoft to get bulk pricing?

any advice/comment/feedback is much appreciated.

answered 2014-07-04 00:20:39 -0500

fergs

13902 ●59 ●157 ●196 http://www.robotandchisel.com

For the Kobuki, going to Yujin would probably be the best option. They are a major manufacturer of robotic vacuums and so you are unlikely to find any source that can offer a better price. However, be aware that 300-500 units isn't all that much when you consider that hundreds of thousands of robotic vacuums are sold each year.

As for the Kinect, you might want to actually investigate their EULA as to commercial uses. Then, I would suggest finding out about availability, seeing as Kinect 2 is already out, and is very different (and not very robotics friendly in terms of openness).

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much appreciated for the answer. what would be a good alternative to kinect (in the context of buying in bulk and hopefully direct from the manufacturer)?

d ( 2014-07-04 00:44:35 -0500 )edit

This is ALMOST pertinent to what you want. Look into http://g.co/ProjectTango. As a bonus, meet our friend Tully in one of their videos. The idea is, if you are a developer, Google wants to talk to you. Seems to fit the bill here.

ccapriotti ( 2014-07-04 07:32:48 -0500 )edit

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