Poll: Do you want the "arm" and "leg" tabs on the case?

At the risk of going off (my own :slight_smile: ) topic:
If you have a roadmap, why keep us in the dark about it instead of revealing it now? Perhaps knowing your plans would alleviate this type of question.

Apple doesnā€™t tell you about features of iPhone 8 when they are launching iPhone 7. But you know they are working on it, right? Same thing applies.

I will say two things. 1) The technology of Pokitto is mapped two generations ahead. 2) You will be making a good investment on the Pokitto because backwards compatibility. The LPC11U68 processor was a very very careful choice indeed.

Now lets concentrate on getting the first round out the door. I understand your interest, and I really value the feedback, but we must go step by step.

4 Likes

I think the tabs will be quite useful. I would like to try using the Pokitto as a controller for one of the common ā€œrobot carā€ platforms. I could use the studs to secure the Pokitto to the base without depending on the plugged in header connection keeping things in place. In that case, I could also use breadboard jumper wires to make the header connections, allowing me more flexibility in wiring things up.

2 Likes

The pins in the corners that hold the case together are hollow (I think theyā€™re LEGO Technic pins). So you could run screws or studs down the centre of them to secure the Pokitto to a mount, even if the tabs werenā€™t there.

Iā€™m not sure about the dimensions, but another possibility might be that this longer pin could be substituted to provide ā€œsnap inā€ mounting capabilities.

1 Like

Have been using the longer pins myself, they work really well in coupling Pokitto to other things

crude design for securing your black tophat to the green pokitto 2 3L pin and a 1x2 technic part (red)

Dude the arms and legs are awesome itā€™s one of the things that actually attracted me to the pokitto. You can do so many things with them Iā€™m sure they will be useful in the future maybe for attaching other modules.

I can think of useless add-ons to personalize Pokitto, Mr. Potato arms and legs and hats and eyes lol

They give it personality and while I could do without them
Iā€™d probably like to have the arms at least for a lanyard and they could be used as mounting brackets if you felt inclined.
Functionality wise they add a form of case expansion so keep.

As Iā€™ve already mentioned, the corner pins that hold the case halves together are hollow, so you could run a lanyard through any one of them. The same goes for using the corner holes for mounting brackets.

2 Likes

One thing we spoke about here is durability. I threw the Pokitto over my shoulder to the concrete floor at Maker Faire Bay Area about 20 timesā€¦ did not break.

Turns out the ā€œlegoā€ structure is very good in absorbing the shock of the impact. The case will open a little bit, but the arms and legs and even the display stays intact. It works in a very similar way as the old Nokia phones with exchangeable covers. The case will snap open but nothing will break permanently.

By accident we may have actually designed a really durable case.

2 Likes

Ok thatā€™s pokitto abuse, and unfit pokitto parenthood, just send it to me and Iā€™ll be a good foster parent to it.

2 Likes

I donā€™t particularly like the arms, but the legs are cool. I was thinking of 3D printing an alternative case without those legs/arms, but I would need the OBJ file. Not sure if this was already discussed in the thread.

Well you can easily cut them off, there is material enough behind it. Butā€¦it is a nice feature of Pokitto.

It wasnt discussed if the cad files would be available. Might be a good idea to add them to thingiverse to increase popilarity. What would you say @jonne ? Oops just saw the other post regarding this. Never mind :grinning:

1 Like

The tabs were one of three things that were deciding factors in my getting into Pokitto! Factor 1 was the gpio headers. 2 was the shape and design with the tabs because I could easily see them being useful in construction of robotics with my Lego mindstorms systems components, and with the gpio available it just makes sense. And 3 was video games that I program myself.

You just canā€™t go wrong with a diy ā€œGameboyā€. I grew up wishing my Gameboy could have done more. Been more. And now the Pokitto exists! Iā€™m so excited.

3 Likes

@Hanski proved this with his impressive Pokitto racer:

That picture would be much less cool if the Pokitto was an amputee.
(I am officially coining the term ā€œamputee Pokittoā€ to refer to the ones that have had their limbs removed.)

4 Likes

Some would rather say this is a body mod :stuck_out_tongue:

I prefer with the limbs, because itā€™s always easier to remove than to add in this case. Also itā€™s part of the whole Pokitto design in my humble opinion

True, the body dimensions are even in Lego :

:grin:

I regret pasting ā€˜body modā€™ into Google image search.
Some things cannot be unseen.
*wipes internet history*

3 Likes

Iā€™m sure youā€™ve seen worse, come on! :smiley:

Like a mutilated pokitto!