Bakiwi β a DIY robot kit for playful learning is live on kickstarter for the first time
2020/12/04, Berlin, Germany
For immediate release
Bakiwi – invent a robot friend
Bakiwi is a walking robot DIY kit launched by Jetpack Cognition Lab, Inc. in June 2020. The kit is available now on Kickstarter as the center part in the companyβs first crowdfunding campaign titled Bakiwi – invent a robot friend. The fabulous DIY walking robot kit. Jetpack is a Berlin based startup creating new bio-inspired consumer robots.
Update 2020/12/07
The minimum funding goal has been reached shortly after this release. The campaign is funded and is now in its stretch goal phase. Additional Bakiwis are available until the end of the campaign on 2020/12/26.
Update end
Who, What, Where, How, Why
Jetpack Cognition Lab was founded in 2019 by Oswald Berthold and Matthias Kubisch. Coming from research in bio-inspired robotics and artificial intelligence, the mission is to create new types of consumer robots from selected insights and build a matching marketplace to go along.
The first product Bakiwi was launched in June 2020 as a limited edition of 16 hand-numbered pieces. As a follow-up, Bakiwi is now available on Kickstarter in a campaign ending on 2020/12/26. This is an in-flight announcement after a surprising take-off and steep climb immediately after keeping the crew busy. The launch of the campaign closes a period of preflight preparation packed with anticipation and tension.
Bakiwi is designed and produced in the lab in Berlin by a team of four full time employees plus several part time collaborators. The production of Bakiwi frame parts is done on the in-house 3D printer using bio-degradable materials made from renewable source. The circuit board is designed by Jetpack and manufactured by international contractors in small batches. Parts and circuit board are packed with the small parts and shipped by the team.
The entire product is open source according to best current practices in open hardware projects. This covers software, electronics, 3D parts, and the documentation. Taken together with a reversible assembly, Bakiwi is understandable, repairable and extensible. With this it is ready for the future in a simple and effective way that is inaccessible to the competition.
Bakiwi is intended for curious minds of all ages. It is suitable for both experienced explorers and beginners. The Bakiwi kit is the perfect introduction to robotics, especially for young researchers. Bakiwi takes a radically new approach in talking about STEM topics.
Bakiwis are brought to life individually by assembling them with their own hands.
Quotations
What customers say about Bakiwi
β… Bakiwi opened a long locked door for me to hardware, in passing …β
Richard, 38, Computer scientist
β… how well you understand to bridge that gap …β
Denis, 34, Entrepreneur
ββ¦ the perfect present for my dad and we can work on it together …β
Mia, 28, Researcher
“It is the first time that a manual was exciting!β
Elisa, 35, Translator
What employees say about their work with Jetpack
βIt is fantastic, I can’t imagine ever doing anything else again.β
B., 38, Head of production
What the founders say during the day
βWatching robots is fun. But itβs thrilling to create your own robots and let them learn and develop skills.β
Matthias
βWe all think differently, and so are the robots we create.β
Oswald
What the founders say after everyone has left
βThen we can tunnel two signals through one channel.β
Matthias
βYes. Lets frame it as a modulation problem when we find the time.β
Oswald
Facts & Statistics
Bakiwis sold: more than 40
Campaign funding goal: 2800$
Age of campaign: 7 days
Percentage backed: 96%
Minimum pledge: 1$ Just like the project
Main pledge: 1 x Bakiwi Kit 70$ (plus shipping and taxes)
About Jetpack and the campaign
Jetpack Cognition Lab, Inc. is a robotics startup, founded in 2019 and run since by Oswald Berthold and Matthias Kubisch in Berlin. The company is funded on private equity in a pre-seed stage and is generating revenue within its first year of operation. In 2020 the team grew from two freelance founders to six people on payroll and a busy network of experts. Jetpack is creating a new category of consumer robots that are accessible to a much wider range of people and thus much more effective.
###