Your aiko project

I found your site today and found the videos interesting stuff. It would help somewhat if you added a
couple of banners with linking code to the site so that people could place your banners on their site for
building up traffic here. A small link trade section or something maybe.
I have a free site that gets people from time to time but i will be developing a forum amongst other things soon so i could help by carrying your banner or a text link.
I was pretty impressed by the now discontinued qrio project by sony and regularly scour the net to see what the latest developments are in this field.

Hi ForumReader.

Good idea, I will make a banner for link, when I have the time.
Yes, I remember the Sony Qrio, it cost $75,000US... not too many people buy it for that price.
It was very impressive the Sony Qrio and the Sony Aibo... but the cost was too much for the average consumer.

Aiko wrote:Hi ForumReader.

Good idea, I will make a banner for link, when I have the time.
Yes, I remember the Sony Qrio, it cost $75,000US... not too many people buy it for that price.
It was very impressive the Sony Qrio and the Sony Aibo... but the cost was too much for the average consumer.

Yea, the Qrio and Aibo were and still are impressive. But the price is a definite turn off.
If Aiko evolves to the point of mass production, these aspects should be considered.

1. Cost is a biggie. Most products that very in cost have a range of different upgrades and versions. Because of this, different production lines have to be made specifically for the variable parts. This cost more to produce, thus increasing the price of the products. In my opinion, the ideal way to market an Aiko series would be to have only one type. One set of parts and no upgrades. The upgrading would be the AI through purchase download. The next version of robot would have its own series. Now you ask, "What about the older model". Well this is where we would have to think green. Parts that break or get used over time should be made in such a way that it can be sent to a dismantle crew that can take the parts apart to its individual components, salvage the reusable parts and have the discarded parts returned to the fabrication process for reproduction. (Like meltdown and reform.) Having this type of system would benefit the company and the environment in one shot. Plus the sales would rise and keep constant.
I am not sure what Aiko would cost exactly, but as a consumer of electronics myself, and with the current economic situation, the price for a robot such as Aiko would be sellable in the $10,000-$20,000 range. If you laughing right now I fully understand. But take this into consideration. Research always cost allot. And from what my research has pulled up, a final product will cost 1/10th of the research and development prototype. (Unless your Sony and make it half..lol) But anywho, the 10K-20K range makes it affordable for the target market of home care and hazard jobs.

2. Production. As stated above, refining and limiting your product range allows for easier production and control. Plus, minimizing the amount of possible defects and recalls. (more cost) (PS3 and Xbox360 anyone?)
3. Now for accessories. These products can be done through outsourcing or left to the already existing market of human products. Maybe custom accessories such as different colour data port containers (like Chi’s ear covers in Chobits)

4. Selling the product can be done several ways. You can have a car dealers approach or even a walmart approach. But personally I think this method would be more profitable. Have one company ran product display and sales store in major cities. This makes a Hub and keeps cost down. This allows for people to visit and physically view the product. In addition to this, a company sales website would be up for sales. Having the stores and website company based, the middle man gets cut out and cost is again kept low.

If these points are followed, the production, distribution and sales of the robot series should be successful and profitable.