What a shame that Ologic's kickstarter for an android/iphone robot didn't get funded earlier this year. Those guys demo'd a smart phone pet robot at Google I/O last year and since then, everyone else is getting the lift.

I'm sensing that more projects like this will move to Indiegogo, where you don't have to close the full funding amount unlike Kickstarter.

There are still challenges for hardware/real world products though requiring a minimum funding level for production. It also points out that using crowdfunding is successful only if you market your product to an appropriate audience, and have networks or channels to reach that audience. Go viral as sole marketing strategy = fail.

It seems like robotics is an interest that could support its own crowdfunding community.

Now that's something I'm working on! :) Robot Launchpad is an accelerator for robotics startups. Over next weeks, we're trialling a market place.

Facts - the Silicon Valley robotics community were the sole funders of the Ologic kickstarter but couldn't get them over the line. Suggests the community isn't large enough to be self funding at present. I think that can change.

I think that can change too, though perhaps I'm being influenced by this: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/17/crowd-funded-robots-are-on-their-way-says-mr-china/

Great article, thx. Grishin Robotics has certainly shaken the space up. I think PCH's new incubator will too. The number of hardware accelerators is growing rapidly!

It certainly does seem that way.

Especially compared with a few months ago.

We think the ground work has been done and the technology is ready to be made into 'products'. In fact, Robot Launchpad has a similar viewpoint to PandaWhale. We believe that robots are made of people.

Productizing robots has a lot to do with making the technology solve real problems, not simply be an end in itself.