A nice coasterbot surprise
This morning, I got an e-mail from YouTube asking me to sign up for revenue sharing on my “popular video” of coasterbot folding. I didn’t think too much about this, because that was a 10 second video I shot one-handed. I hadn’t even bothered adding an audio track, or a link back here. The only reason I added it to YouTube at all was for a convenient way to embed it in the blog. There probably is a way for me to upload video here directly…but why use my hosted server space when YouTube will take it free?
At any rate, I just assumed this was part of GooTube’s plan to populate the world with ads. But, when I looked at my video, I saw that it had over 1,400 hits. That was a surprise. After some digging, I discovered that we had been featured (again) in a MAKE: Online blog post. Unlike the Speed Vest entry though, Gareth didn’t know this video came for me or that it was connected to a blog. So it’s a more anonymous credit. Still exciting, but lesson learned — I will tag all future public offerings with a link. And I’m now allowing YouTube to show my real name.
The idea of making the DVDs fold up is an interesting one. It’s been my goal all along to avoid doing the standard stacked CD design. I think it is possible to justify a longer body depending on the robot’s function and artistic goals. Some rotational freedom is appealing, too. Full folding, though — that’s tough, unless a human does it, and I am having trouble thinking of a good reason to put it in there.
I plan to finish a basic version of the bot in time for the deadline. The programming may be a challenge. I have been very impressed by the various contestants who have built bots within days. It takes a lot longer when you are doing it for the first time. When I get version one up and running, I hope to come back and explore some more exotic options.