A walking and talking robot with free software available for download - only for $999!

Win a ROBOT-X!

Simply log into your FundRazr account and share this page using any of the above links. At the end of the campaign, the three referrers who have brought in the most contributions to the campaign will win their choise of a ROBOT-X or $999 in cash.
In addition, anyone who refers more than $500 of contributions gets their choice of a Robot-X T-shirt or $25 credit in the Robot-X Store.

ROBOT-X - a walking, talking robot for everyone - Including you!

In the 21st century, technology has progressed to the point where what we build is only constrained by the limits of our imaginations. It’s time to imagine a radically different kind of robot. A robot that is designed, constructed and programmed like never before. We can imagine a build a far more amazing future for robots and their relationship to humans. It’s time for a Robot-X. This is our Manifesto:

A ROBOT-X is:

• IMAGINED FIRST
• EASY TO BUILD
• COMPLETELY OPEN SOURCE
• INTENTIONALLY ITERATIVE
• FIERCELY SOCIAL
• FILLED WITH HUMANITY AND DREAMS
• THINKING FOR HER/HIM/ITSELF

Imagined First

Nothing amazing was ever built by humans that wasn’t imagined first.

Imagination is the most important skill needed to build your robot. Our science and technology have progressed to the point where what we build is only constrained by the limit of our own imaginations. In the 21st century anyone can imagine and design a robot.

Ask yourself: Who do you want your robot to be? What is your robot’s name? (Because every robot has a name.) Every robot is an individual. How do you want to act and interact with your robot? What would you want your robot to do that other people could never imagine?

Science fiction stories, comics, and movies are powerful tools to imagine your robot first. We can use science fiction based on science fact to design robots and then share those stories as a technical requirements document.

Easy to Build

Building a robot isn’t hard.

Back in the 20th century building a robot was hard and complicated. Computers were massive and slow. Electronics were complicated and the manufacturing process was reserved for just a handful of people that had the money to build factories and assemble lines. But all that’s changed.

Today anyone can build just about anything. Computers are small and easily accessible. Software tools and apps allow anyone to be a programmer. 3D printers mean we can manufacture exactly the part we need. There are entire communities, event and places where you can go to build a robot.

Completely Open Source

The idea behind open source is that people should have control over the technology we use. We should be able to build it, modify it and share it. The practice and community around open source really got popular at the end of the 20th century with the internet and software. But since then it has expanded into new areas like electronics, medicine, fashion, government, education, and even soda pop. (Open source cola gives away the often tightly held secret of what goes into the beverage)

A Robot-X is completely open source. Starting with the 3D files, everyone should be able to design and customize their own robot. Next the software that runs the robot and makes up its brain is free and open. You can play with the operating system and even design different apps for your robot.

More than anything else we want you to share your designs with others. Did you come up with a cool new leg design? What’s your latest app? Even the production of these robots is open, people all over the world can collaborate to build better, smarter, funnier, and more exciting robots.

Intentionally Iterative

Why make just one robot when you can make lots of robots?

The practice of iteration is the repeating of a process with the goal of making multiple versions of an object or a project. We make many robots with the aim to improve and experiment with different versions. Each robot is the starting point for the next. Each new robots play around with what we learned from the previous. It’s OK to experiment and try new ideas. Building off our open source sharing, things get really interesting when you experiment with other people’s ideas.

Fiercely Social

A Robot-X is primarily designed to act and interact with people. They are fiercely social, connected to the Internet, social networks and each other. What would your robot say to another robot?

How we build these robots is social as well. There is an entire community of people all around the world who love building and who dream of a very different kind of robot. Working together we can change the future of robotics.

Filled With Humanity and Dreams

Robots are built by people. We design them with our hopes and dreams. We can imagine our possible futures and put those future dreams into our robots.

Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori saw that our machines, our robots are not separate from us. Because we make robots they are an extension of ourselves. In 1974 he wrote that “Machines, while appearing to be separate from us, are in truth only functions that have been cut away from us, but are essentially part of us.”

Technology is just a tool. Humans build tools and we fill those tools with our culture, our ideals and our dreams for the future. Technology is not separate from people; it is an extension of who we are.

Our robots are a way to imagine a different future, to build our dreams and let them play with us.

Thinking For Her/him/itself

You can design your robot to his her/his/its own personality and behaviors. You can make apps to do just about anything your imagination can dream up.

A Robot-X isn’t a puppet. They are designed to think for themselves. To move around and make decisions. They are designed to act and interact with you and other people. We want them to be adventurous and strange and funny.

Our Motto: “Every Robot has a Name”

Every robot is built by people in their backyards, and garages and basements. Every person has a name. Every one of us is an individual that’s why every robot should have a name because your robot and all the other robots you will build will be an extension of you. Your robot and the design for your robot will go out into the world. Other people might use part so of it and then make it their own. This sharing and iteration can go on and on. We keep building…we keep sharing…we keep designing, programming and building robots.

That’s a Robot-X. It’s a way for us to imagine, design, build and share our own personal visions for the future. And it’s also a way to make some really awesome little friends.

Gear Up for Action

Below is the journey we are taking into the future of robots.

Your Robot-X is almost ready to go! The final step in your build isto connect all the systems and wake up your robot. The Online crew walk us through the final steps and show you how to share your designs with the rest of the world.

Then Online crew show us how to build and share apps for your robot. Iteration and sharing is essential to our Manifesto. When our collaborators share their visions for the future of robots we can truly build amazing things!