Help make Aiko to become more human like and help her walk

Hi

I build Aiko from my basement, using my credit card and my entire saving account.
I did not fully finish Aiko the way I envisioned, simply because of financial restrictions.
My dream is to make Aiko have full leg functionality and develop more human like behaviour.
Every penny count !!! You can donate using paypal any amount!!!

Donate click here
http://www.projectaiko.com/donation.html

Regards,
Aiko

It's so sad that you didn't got sponsors so far, I'll try and make some publicity for your project.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/01/adgadget-fantasy-fembots-market-male-products/

I suggest for you to try to get in contact with Philips and Heineken,these two companies had some commercials with fembots but they were just computer generated textures, they might be interested in the real thing and they had huge success among men with those fembots commercials.

I'll make a paypal account and donate some moneys but you need to get a sponsor because donations will not be enough.

I do know of people who may be interested in sponsorship. Allow me to ask around. How much money are you looking for? How many sponsors would you like? If you could kindly provide all the details and a presentation, i may have some people for you to meet. Thanks!

Hi

I have tried calling many companies already. From fast food to Hi-tech companies.
It would be nice to re-do Aiko's arms and body that will cost about $6000.
But the most important thing is make a proper legs for Aiko which will cost about $12,000.

You havent dealt with my company before. I have already contacted you, and am currently awaiting a response.

Perhaps you should consider getting a university grant. I'm not sure how things work in Canada, but the US Universities would be extremely interested in your project. Iowa State, for example, has a cutting edge Human Computer Interaction program (Masters and PhD level).

BTW, University grant is a great idea as well (as suggested by Joshua). We have a current face recognition proj at our school that get hundreds of thousands dollar grant.

Oh, and somehow my other post got lost. But I can help with website redesign and hosting for free if you want, please let me know

Raine

Dude,

You seriously need to put a DONATE button on your homepage that links to your Paypal account. I'm sure you will get bucks that way. Perhaps enough to keep goin till you find a sponsor.

-Ron

Unlike most of the others that have posted here in this thread, I believe that Aiko does not need sponsorship.
Most times sponsors want a slice of the pie if you know what I mean, and since Le build her from the ground up and has copyright over his material, he would want to protect that. Same goes for Universities and Colleges. Under the Canadian Education System, if a "work" is done by an individual(s) for educational purposes such as getting their degree or if the institution funds the project, the project becomes IP (Intellectual Property) of the Institution. This is true even if Le only bought a single screw using their funds. Same goes for the US. I know of this because I had a project taken away from me after I spent 3 years working on it and used it as my final project. It was a crushing blow.

But anyhow, Le should stay with funds. Once Aiko is ready to "walk the talk", or "Blow your brains out with the talk" then and only then should he look for sponsorship. The type he would profit from and not lose any IP or control over Aiko is to use Aiko as the advertisement for the sponsor. An ensemble for her to wear at a convention or show or even on TV during an interview would work. This way, the company gets seen as one that sees promises in the development of the technology and contributes to that development.

As for free advertising, that’s a “MILK IT” deal. In the end, not only will he profit, but so will we if he decides to put her into production.

I hope this helped to clarify some issues and concerns.
Good luck and keep up the good work Le!

I suggest you put on your website a button with DONATE $5, $10, $25 or more.. just a few options so you can collect small donations from many people. That is how Obama funded his campain and won the presidency in US. It is going to be easier to get small donations from many people than large sums from big corporations. I promise to be the first one to donate $50 bucks when you put up those buttons ;-)

Hi

I do have a donation page
http://www.projectaiko.com/donation.html


Donation: Any amount through Paypal donation@projectaiko.com

I am not sure people notice or not... it has been there for a year now.

lol, did you get hes 50 bucks yet? ..j/k

Yea, a bigger, more noticable button would be better.
The link gets lost in with the others in the gray.

I strongly agree with Mattdragon. Sponsorship or University colaboration is full of legal pitfalls. Bill Gates did not get rich because his code was so briliant. He just had more vision than IBM and his mother was a lawyer. The history of independent inventors is full of examples where the inventor gets screwed and left with nothing. Le, you probably know this already, but you must be extreamly cautious. Never, never sign anything you can possibably avoid. Broke or not, get a patent lawyer if you can.

Hi

As of today, I can buy 3 motors for the legs from the donations.
I need at least 7 before I start ordering, because I can start working on one leg.

I agree with minoru on the subject every design is uniqeu its seems not interresting to the big players today but as time progress and the project reach a certain status. Then right there some of human decisision making becomes a hassle.

i cant belive it....its just like a dream come true
3 days ago i started a project named simply ,chobits' which was exact the same thing ur doing here
trying to create chii in real world ....and now u ar nearly done with it.....(its so hard to be orriginal)
anyway i have gathered about 15 ppl i will ask them and see how much they can donnate....
keep on the good work....
P.S. one question.. why not Chii??

Although the word Chi exists in several languages, and even in mathmatics. "Chii" may be copyrighted by CLAMP INC. The Clamp ladies may not approve it's usage. Some where Le explained why Aiko, sorry I forget which topic.

HI,

Although, my inspiration came from watching Chobits, I would not name my creation Chii simply it would be copying someone work.
Not too mention I have to ask permission.

Aiko is a fine name, it takes me two weeks to figure that one.
I didn't know what to call her, so I name it after my childhood friend's name.
I haven't seen since her since I was 8 years old.

There you go.... a little history of where I get Aiko name.

Aiko wrote:Hi

I do have a donation page
http://www.projectaiko.com/donation.html


Donation: Any amount through Paypal donation@projectaiko.com

I am not sure people notice or not... it has been there for a year now.

Dear Le
It's been three months since you said you had a few motors for the legs. How many motors do you still need, and how much will they cost?

You should change those donation buttons on your webpage as "others have suggested". Nominating an amount on a button, such as $5, $10 and $25 lets people know that their small amount is very welcome. When no amount is shown, people with only a little money may not give you any because they may feel it is not enough to make a difference. By putting the buttons there - you will get more of those small donations...virtually guaranteed. Add to your task list...change donation button!

uhm...are you going to give your supporters a bit of a discount on their first Aiko?

Keep up the great work!
cheers...
Suze
Brisbane, Australia

By the way - I also think Aiko is a beautiful name, don't change it...let it become your signature
Suze

Hi Suze,

As of today, I have enough for 6 motors..... I need one more to get 7 motors, so I can at least work on one leg.
I want to order all 7 motors at once to save money on the shipping, because over see shipping is expensive.


Plus I need an electric saw.... cutting by hand takes 5 hours whereas electric saw in 30 sec.

So another words, I think I need about another $700....
I am working part time, hopefully, save that soon.

Aiko wrote:Hi Suze,

As of today, I have enough for 6 motors..... I need one more to get 7 motors, so I can at least work on one leg.
I want to order all 7 motors at once to save money on the shipping, because over see shipping is expensive.


Plus I need an electric saw.... cutting by hand takes 5 hours whereas electric saw in 30 sec.

So another words, I think I need about another $700....
I am working part time, hopefully, save that soon.

Dear Le,
Congratulations - only one motor to go!
Oh...and an electric saw...

I wish we didn't have these exchange rates to deal with. I went to donate so you would get $200CAN in your account. I checked the exchange rate on XE Currency Converter and it said I should send $234AUD to equal $200CAN, which is not too bad.
Live rates at 2009.03.25 00:50:09 UTC
200.00 CAD = 233.159 AUD
Canada Dollars Australia Dollars
1 CAD = 1.16579 AUD 1 AUD = 0.857784 CAD

But when I went to pay through Paypal, it lists a much lower conversion rate, saying I need to deposit $295AUD for you to get $200CAN in your account.
PayPal Conversion Rate as of 24 Mar. 2009: 1 Australian Dollar = 0.683711 US Dollars

Can anyone suggest the most economical way I could send this money to Le (Australia to Canada) without losing so much to exchange rates? Or would you know how Le could get the same rate of exchange listed by the XE Currency Converter? I don't have much experience sending funds overseas.

If there's no other solution, I will use the Paypal option and deposit $295. It just seems sad giving banks that extra cash instead of Le getting it for his work.

Thanks heaps...
Suze
My email is suzecollett@gmail.com.au

Hi Suze,

Just donate $150US - $140US that should be about $220AU...I think...


Most of the motors, I paid in US dollar... or Yen.....
So converting to CAN is useless.......

I hope that help your decisison.

Heya Le,
Yep thanks, that did help I gave up trying to find a way to reduce currency exchange losses and just used Paypal, sent $165 USD - I forget whatever it was in AU?

I did find another way to deposit via XE and reduce some exchange fees, but it sounded complex to set up, wire transfers, possible fees here, possible fees there...savings were questionable so Paypal was much faster and easier

Best of luck on the lower joints - I imagine the waist and hips will need to handle a lot of balancing stress?

I'm thinking it's much easier to visually examine the competitor bots and logically work out (copy) the ratios...angles...movable joints etc for best balance, than it would be to work out (copy) your programming of B.R.A.I.N.?

I kinda think you have the upper hand in this development challenge. Whilst competitors have been creating moving 'machines', you've been creating a friend, a helper. The differing results will become evident as time goes on.

My sons gave me a poem on a bookmark when I began uni, and I treasure it; reading this when I felt almost defeated really did help me get through this degree (8 weeks to grad!). I probably read it a dozen times at least.


'Don't Quit'
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will.
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low, and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When life is getting you down, a bit;
Rest if you must, but don't you quit!

Suze