Does this mean the hardware/software has been open sourced?
If so, does that signal the eventual collapse of MR support for the GoPiGo by throwing it to the wolves?
It would be interesting to know how the GoPiGo is doing. (i.e. We’re crushing it in the education space though hobbiest adoption remains light.)
It seems that hobbiest robotics has taken a nosedive, (primarily because the small SBCs have become as expensive as an inexpensive laptop), but it would be interesting to know if there’s still any interest in a relatively inexpensive robot like the GoPiGo?
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The other side of this is that if the GoPiGo has been fully open sourced, (including hardware BOM and gerber files), than it should be possible for less well developed countries could clone the GoPiGo and make it available at reasonable cost.
P.S.
Have the Gerber files REALLY been released? That would be great for me trying to get PCB layouts for repairing Charlie and Charlene.
$199 plus around $150 for the Pi, may seem trivial to us, but in third world countries $350+ is a significant amount representing a significant part of a person’s monthly income.
I’ve seen a number of postings where folks in India have fabricated simple computers from discreet parts because that’s cheaper than buying it.
In fact, there’s an entire graduate thesis from a student in India that describes how he designed and built a simple 8085 development board - programmable in hex assembly language - to demonstrate inexpensive ways to teach computer technology to under-served populations.
We’re remarkably lucky to be able to buy entire iRobot vacuum based development platforms with fancy stereo-optic AI recognition - or even a GoPiGo robot with a camera, pan-and-tilt, and a distance sensor.
We need to be mindful of the fact that what may be inexpensive for us might be a half year’s pay for people in other parts of the world.
