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| The objective of LinuxPCRobot.org is to build a fully functional robotic development platform for $500 or less using linux, commonly available components, a little skill, and some good old fashioned scrounging. |
Comparison with WhitBox PC-BOT 914 (basic)
Submitted by mohawk software on Fri, 2011-02-11 21:04
Granted the Linux PC Robot (LPCR) is not a product that you can buy, it is something you need to build, compare WhiteBox's Seriies-9 basic unit.
| LinuxPCRobot | PC-BOT 9-Series (basic) | |
| Height | 25" | 21" |
| Differential Drive | yes | yes |
| Drive Type | Servomotor | Stepper |
| USB Based I/O | yes | yes |
| MiniITX System Board | yes | yes |
| System Board | Intel D510M0 | VIA EPIA SP13000 LVDS |
| CPU | Intel Dual Core Atom | VIA C3 |
| CPU Cores | 2 | 1 |
| RAM | 1G | 1G |
| 802.11g wireless | PCI | USB |
| Cameras | 4 | 1 |
| payload | 20lbs | N/A |
| Cost | Less than $500 | $5795 |
The WhiteBox is obviously a well made product and has a lot more polish than LPCR, but is it really $5200 better? To put it in perspective, you could pay someone $125 an hour for a standard 40 hour work week to assemble your robot for you.
I'm not an idealist, I'm a capitalist at heart. I do like making money. I firmly believe that it is idiotic to try to charge so much for so little. I do not begrudge WhiteBox making money, (if they are) it is good to see people trying to commercialize robots, but it is my belief that $1500/$2000 for their product is the proper price point for a basic platform. Anything more is prohibitive and keeps it out of the hands of most of the would-be experimenters.
Robotics is fun, but it is a field that requires multiple disciplines. The learning curve can be pretty steep. Adding excessive cost raises the barrier to entry.