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Let's imagine you could buy a small electrical motor for DIY projects - the kind that are big enough to drive kids car toys in which they can sit or to open your garage door.
It comes with an integrated microcontroller, a predefinite C API, can be programmed using a gnu compiler, and has an easy to use "flash" tool. It has electronics protection function integrated so that it does not burn, detects blocking, etc... It can communicate via a communication bus or Ethernet with other devices if required. You can screw something on the output shaft.
Well, you get the idea, it is in the same spirit as the RaspberryPi or the Arduino are for electronics DIY.
Is this a good idea ? How much would you pay for something like that ?
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I used to experiment with hobby robotics and that sounds to me like a great product! I would definitely consider such a thing.
Maybe US$199 would be a good price.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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The problem is, once you start selling it, it will take a couple of months and you'll see an equivalent made in China for half the price including shipping worldwide..
If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson
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But the Chinese reverse engineer everything and ALWAYS get something wrong in the design. Even their reverse engineered Office software is crap. It is truly amazing that they are working on space travel and have "cutting edge" jet fighters. hmm. interesting.
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Kingsoft/WPS office are in no was reverse engineered. The earliest versions were written by hand in assembly language.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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What does that have to do with the Chinese? Are these Chinese based products?
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"their reverse engineered Office software"
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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There is a hierarchy of Chinese electronics manufacturers, from dirt-floored huts turning out dangerous and nonfunctional crap up to Foxconn's city-sized factories able to turn out iPods, and of course the defense contractors building fighter jets and moon rockets. Makers try to bootstrap their way up the hierarchy of capability and quality. The competitive pressure must be immense at the bottom. It's my suspicion that Chinese consumers have developed ways to tell who is who and are better able to avoid the junk than we are.
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Sascha Lefèvre wrote: made in China for half the price including shipping worldwide
I once bought an electrical component from China. Good price and just what I needed. The only problem is that it did not work as advertised. It was a remote control switch that was supposed to have a range of 100 meters but it's actual range was barely 10 cm.
I will never ever buy stuff online from China ever again.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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I know the feeling - I bought a 32GB SD card from China and it worked fine until you loaded more than 2GB on it. Turns out it was a 2GB card that reported itself as 32GB... My own fault, I knew it was too cheap. 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Yeah, I've recently ordered something from China on eBay, it cost sumthin' like 3 bucks or so. I live in Hungary, and they granted me Free Shipping. Imagine that! They sent me something extremely cheep stuff from a distance of half of the Planet for free! I believe they invented teleportation for sure.
Make love, not Warcraft!
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You can already piece something like that together from AutomationDirect[^] for a few hundred dollars (US).
There are two types of people in this world: those that pronounce GIF with a soft G, and those who do not deserve to speak words, ever.
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Thanks - Not sure though how easy these thingies are to program and setup, looks like pieces for - how should I phrase it - "real" systems.
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Actually, the price points are good and they have lots of programming examples. I basically taught myself PLC programming using their stuff. We use the DirectLogic PLCs[^] in a lot of places because of their flexibility, size, and price.
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Hrm. Automation Direct looks more like an industrial automation supplier (automated assembly lines and its ilk). Didn't see much in the way of a source for the hobbyist.
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Yep, but Automation Direct is at the low end of the supply pool for most industries. They're known for very inexpensive, no-frills stuff.
I just offered it up as an idea.
There are two types of people in this world: those that pronounce GIF with a soft G, and those who do not deserve to speak words, ever.
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More powerful, I think, and more easier to use.
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Cool! I got littleBits a few years ago for my kid to get him interested in electronics. It was a fad to him.  He enjoys math and science, just not interested in hardware for now.
Here's another[^] that looks interesting. Seems a few kickstarter projects have come up since then to make Lego-type electronics.
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Great thinking... It would be around $100
hi
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I'd pay a dollar for that. (old saying)
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Is Catman the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right meow?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I and my wife are both allergic to cats! Go away - far away! Do not pass GO. Do not collect 200!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Because the autoimmune system is out of control, thinking under such pressure can be difficult.
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Quote: Because the autoimmune system is out of control, thinking under such pressure can be difficult is impossible.
FTFY 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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