What is wrong with this crowd funding project?

[mlaibow]

I launched a crowd funding campaign around 50 days ago that is going to end unsuccessfully in 10 days.
I am trying to find out why, so any feedback on the project would be greatly appreciated.

It is not a scam, I took a project I had built and deployed for an interactive installation, dug it out of the closet at the request of a friend who started a new crowd funding site, made it more general purpose, and launched the campaign.

So that might be the first problem. It is launched on a new crowd funding site, which simply might not have enough traffic or it might not have the correct audience for an Arduino-based project.

The product is an Arduino shield that acts as a powered distribution hub for powering and communicating with sensors, actuators, and interfaces along long bus cables. So you can run cables around a large area and crimp on little modules anywhere you would like, kind of like stringing up christmas lights. It is a platform for building interactive environments and wired distributed sensor/actuator networks. It comes with the shield, various assortments of modules, connectors, cables, crimping tool, and all the software needed to get going out of the box.

Here is the project's page:
http://www.crowdsupply.com/futuruption/octduino

I am not trying to promote the project anymore, it is clearly not going to be funded. I am just looking to at least get some thoughts as to what is wrong with the project, could be the particular crowd funding site, could be something wrong with my demo video/campaign materials/campaign parameters, or it could just be a lame project that has already served me well when I originally built it for a specific need.

Thanks,
-mat

[mikeselectricstuff]

For a start I'd never heard of that crowndunding site, let alone your project

[free_electron]

whoaaa . big honking flatcable everywhere....  should have used i2c with appropriate buffers.. only 4 wires needed (2 data, 2 power )

osepp and their arduino already have such a thing. so does liliypad.... and with far less wires....

[Short Circuit]

Limited and expensive pledge level probably scares many away.
Maybe also a bit too complex concept for a crowdfunding project?

[8086]

1. Never even heard of the website
2. $30,000 goal is huge for a few 'arduino' sensor modules, even with crowd funding.
3. Product doesn't look that great or unique/innovative. Many alternatives exist already, without the risks involved with crowd funding.

[mlaibow]

Thanks for you feedback.

I agree with all of these issues, and i do have a reason/justification for at least the technical and pricing issues, but the reality does not matter, if the impression and its appropriateness for crowd funding are not correct.

I actually searched for alternatives when I originally worked on the installation itself. I looked at osepp and lilypad and so on, but I did not find anything that was at the "room" scale. Sure, there are many ways to hook up some sensors to an arduino, but I could not find a solution for quickly creating a complete interactive environment with the concept of stringing up modules. Plenty of solutions for an installation with a single point of interaction, or a distributed processing setup with complete powered arduinos everywhere.

Of course, the absence of an existing solution that would have fit my specific needs, should have been a warning that the product is way too niche, too complex, too costly, etc.

Thanks!
-mat

[EEVblog]

Agree with the others. I've never heard of that site, and you are asking for a bit too much for your average Arduino type project.

[rusle]

I look at the arduino as a prototyping tool and to me the kit is to large and expensive for my hobby bench.
I am not able to see any specification either, which makes it impossible to me to consider if this might be a god solution or just obsolete technology.
Daisy chain with a lot of wires looks like this might not be a good solution in real life application.

[free_electron]

Big flatcables arent exactly room scale either ! (ever tried running them through pipes ir ductwork ?

If you start going roomscale you want as few wires as possible. preferrably in a round wire that is less visible . like an ethernet cable. And preferrably twisted pair and ruggedized to minimize signal distortion and emi problems... and you want to carry both power and data in a protected manner. i don't see any protection circuitry anywhere. nor any local power regulation.... with long cables your 5 volt aint going to be 5 volts anymore...

i woudln't call this room scale....

[jmole]

Honestly, the $4000+ you were pledged might have been enough to do a small run if your goal was lower.

I'll chine in with my feedback though:

1) Your video isn't really engaging. You need to describe the system, instead of playing with your laptop. Do I want to see you opening a processing sketch while some other thing is in the background? no. Do I want to see you crimping cables? no.

Do I want to see you swinging an accelerometer sensor chain around your head while some cool visuals happen? Yes. Stick to the interesting applications, and then describe the system. Video is like sushi, and all you showed us was making the rice.


2) An system with only accelerometers is pretty niche. I'm frankly surprised that you got the donations you did. A multi-drop bus with a single ribbon cable, I like that idea. You could expand it to include more modules. Still, I think if you communicated the project more effectively in the video, and put it on a crowdfunding site with credibility, like Kickstarter, you could pull in $8-10k.

[GeoffS]

Of course the real reason for the post may have been to promote the previously unheard of crowd funding site. 
[There's no emoticon for cynic ]

[MFX]

The 10 core cable (flat or otherwise) would be an immediate turn off for me, that and as others have said never heard of that particular funding site. Do you really need 10 core cable? what are they all doing?

Martin.