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Relevant forums / Q&A sites
To Do
- Find someone who can help you create the robot.
- Find a list of forums where these people congregate.
- Get a list of contact info of the people who work at SparkFun and all those other Maker things.
- Find someone who has a YouTube channel / website / blog and looks like they aren't yet too famous (so they won't charge you too much).
- Start to sketch out how the robot will work.
- Start to come up with a list of questions you need answered.
- What can I use to extend something in one dimension?are the limits on the dimensions of the
- Find someone who can help you make the video more viral.
- Get the guy who wrote "The Viral Video Manifesto" to act as a consultant to help you decide what to include in the video.
Relevant tools / components
- Design software
- Components
- A lifting mechanism
- Hydraulics
- Syringe
- LIFTING JACK - ENGLISH - Hydraulic Jack! from Ice Cream Sticks
- This is a very simple build and could be useful to try.
- Make A Hydraulic Arm!
- Syringe
- Scissor lift
- General Info
- Examples
- http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/item.aspx/38-inch-electric-scissor-lift-with-controls/1494/
- This looks like it's exactly the kind of thing I need, but it's too expensive ($800).
- The dimensions seem perfect for what I'm doing.
- https://rebrickable.com/mocs/pld/scissor-lift-truck
- The page also has pdf building instructions.
- LEGO Technic Mobile Scissor Lift Hoist Platform
- Piratech's Guide to building a scissor lift
- Automatic Height Adjusting PIV Laser Scissor Lift Staging System!
- Student Robotics - ThunderBots - Scissor Lift prototype with pulley system V01
- Making a scissor lift with popsicle sticks and 1/8" dowels
- This looks like the kind of system I would want to make.
- Lego technic scissor lifts
- http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/item.aspx/38-inch-electric-scissor-lift-with-controls/1494/
- Hydraulics
- A mechanism for moving side-to-side.
- This shouldn't really be necessary. The person using the device should be able to move it side-to-side as necessary.
- Wheels
- Slider
- A lifting mechanism
...
- A gripping mechanism
- Existing solutions
- OWI Robotic Arm Edge
- This looks like the one to buy because:
- It has really good reviews.
- It's cheap (~$50).
- It looks small enough to fit in the candy area.
- The arm looks long enough to reach candy.
- uArm - Desktop Robotic Arm
- This doesn't look like one to get.
- It's expensive ($300+).
- It looks too big to fit in the candy area.
- OWI Robotic Arm Edge
Evidence that this video would go viral and get a ton of views
- How to Get a Snack Out of a Vending Machine
- This video doesn't even show you how to get candy for free.
Potential structure of the viral video
- Just have it mimic copy the seagull-prank video.
- Keep the whole thing under a minute.
- Have a few seconds of close-up of the device, just like they have a few seconds of close-up of the crackers
- Then cut to the device being put in place.
- Then cut to the device being used to get candy.
- As in the seagull video, maybe have people laugh or say "Oh my god" in the video to act as a laugh-track.
- Then cut to a final shot of the amount of candy you got, and what the empty vending machine looks like.
...
- Then cut to a shot of you putting quarters in and having the spirals do nothing, just to show that you did pay for the candy.
Potential follow-up video that goes more in-depth
- This is what Mark Rober does.
- He creates a viral video.
- He then later releases a follow-up video that goes more in-depth.
- "I'm going to show you how to solve a problem."
- "I want that candy."
- "I don't want to pay for it."
- "If I had a small monkey, I could put the monkey in the machine and have it get the candy for me."
- Show a clip of the girl crawling into the machine to get the teddy bear.
- "I don't have a monkey."
- "If I had a small robot, I could have the robot get the candy for me."
- "I ask myself the question, 'Has anyone solved this problem before?'"
- "No."
- "Has anyone solved a similar problem before?"
- "Yes." (OWI Robotic Arm Edge)