MarketingIdeas¶

Just some thoughts about pricing structure and other logistics of selling Scouts if that becomes a reality.

My main theme is to have a set price that let's us make a decent return (for expansion, better tooling, etc) to companies or institutions that are willing and able to pay. For students (individual or small groups) we give a hefty discount to get our platform in the hands of young researchers.

Information We Need¶

• Cost for each subsystem (Scoutfly, ScoutBOM, chassis, etc)
• Assembly/labor time for each subsystem (only for work that we do, aka my billable hours)
• Costs that change with quantity (hopefully discount)
• This will tell us the actual system cost in materials + outside fab + (our) labor
• Also figure out turn around time for a single robot
  • Can any part of the process be treated more like an assembly line?
    • Just requires better process control & documentation

Pricing Tiers¶

• Full Package (Scout + BOM + Full IMU)
  • Good for research institutions or purchases of multiple units, allows full robot collaboration
• Individual (Scout + Full IMU)
  • BOM daughter board and hardware not needed, cover BOM holes with rubber inserts
  • Can be upgraded in the future for a non-zero fee, needs shipped back to us
• Student (Any Stock Configuration)
  • In the spirit of academia, a student can get up to (3) robots "at-cost" or nearly so
  • Need to provide us with a research proposal, be backed by someone from their institution (faculty)
    • Reviewed by us, as long as they have their act together and seem responsible, it's a go
  • Would be nice (not sure how to enforce) to have some sort of publication requirement
    • Must write a (length?) blog post within the first 2 weeks of research
    • Over the next 6 months (not on any particular schedule) write at least XX more "quality" posts regarding research
• Student (Any Stock Configuration)
  • Could we lease it to them? If after the lease period is up, they want to continue research, we can grant an extension
  • Otherwise, the device is legally repossessed by us

Order Priority¶

• First come first serve? (FIFO)
• Who ever is paying the most? Students?
• Delivering large quantity orders
  • Do it in stages

System Maintenance¶

• When motors or other parts break, do they ship it back to us?
• Could give them parts, but then also have to document replacement procedure (and they'd need tools...)