We would like to share our latest news with you.
On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, at 9:00 am, the Makers Lab of the EMLYON Business School opened its doors to BLUE FROG ROBOTICS for the first edition of his BUDDY MAKEATHON: 48 hours dedicated to the creation of accessories for the BUDDY emotional robot.
A dozen participants were able to highlight their skills and combine them as a team to compete in a fairly relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
After the official launch of the event, by Rodolphe HASSELVANDER, CEO of Blue Frog Robotics, and Tatiana REINHARD, in charge of the Makers Lab, 3 teams were formed.
The lunch break was an opportunity for the participants to get to know each other better and to discover the project of two mentors, Henry Thoor and Claude Villard, who came especially for the occasion to bring their expertise and know-how to the Makeathonians. They presented their environmental control system that they have developed for people with severe disabilities, including the wife of Henry, quadriplegic after a primary progressive MS (Multiple Sclerosis). In particular, they explained their ideas related to BUDDY in terms of accessories that could integrate their system in order to let the participants get inspired from their history for their own project.
Around 3:00 pm, all the teams presented the first brief of their project
- The TOTO Team (Christophe, Théodore, Joël et Benoît) had several ideas of projects, early in the morning, that they would have liked to develop such as an arm to change arms, a backpack for BUDDY, an arm to take care of pets and monitor them. And then, they finally chose a much more playful idea, much more child-friendly and offbeat: the BUDDYCheck, an articulated arm on several movements, offering interactions that are rather fun, which are in the idea of entertaining and amusing.
- The RCVA TEAM (Anthony, Anthony et Nicolas) decided to go for a BUDDYBall arm, the BBB, an arm that will allow BUDDY to throw balls with different forces and types of throwing to keep busy and / or entertain our pets, children and grandparents.
- The BUDDYPad Team (Christelle, Mickael and Leo) decided to imagine a project that could answer the daily problems of people with physical difficulties, who would have a hard time leaning over, picking up objects. They decided to create an universal arm with a set of equipment that will allow BUDDY to offer multiple services.
After introducing their project, each team went back to their working space to start a race against the clock to develop their own accessory project!
The different external mentors and collaborators of Blue Frog Robotics helped the participants in their mission by providing them all the experience they had in their field. The day was long: laughs, changes of direction, team spirit ... All that makes the charm of a Makeathon!
The next morning, our apprentice makers were able to discover on their arrival at the Makers lab their first prototype printed in 3D.
Around 4:30 pm, the teams presented, orally, their project, their ins and outs. The criteria taken into account by the jury included the user approach, execution and design, the economic projection, the quality of the pitch and the teamwork observed.
The 5 members of the jury then deliberated among themselves. Noting the quality of each project, they decided to separate the projects into three categories to reward them all:
- The Product Vision Award, given to the "TOTO" team, for their BUDDYCheck project.
- The Technical Achievement Award, given to the RCVA team, for their BUDDYBall project
- The Useful Concept Award, given to the "BUDDYPad"" team for their eponymous project
At the end of these two days, we can say that BUDDY MAKEATHON was a nice success, a lot of ideas were shared and things were built - all for the best of BUDDY!
Congratulations to all BUDDY MAKEATHON teams for their innovative project and their good mood and great energy! And a big thank you to Tatiana for her very warm welcome and availability on these two intense days to coach our fabulous makeathonians !!!
And finally, a big thank you to the Makers lab of the Paris campus of the EMLYON Business School for having us in this beautiful working space!!!
We can’t wait to put all these great ideas to use. Making BUDDY the best he can be!
Meanwhile we are pursuing our developments and we are still planning the delivery of your companion from April 2020.
A small bonus gift for you: an exceptional demonstration of the accessory with a dedicated application that our CEO created during this Makeathon! Enjoy!
And last but not least, a simple tip for a Makeathon Success: “The more you can laugh as a team, the more productive you can be”! Don’t believe us? Must watch this video:
Thank you for being a part of our incredible journey to bring BUDDY to life.
Your faith in our product and in our team inspire us every day.
Again, without you, nothing would have been possible, thank you.
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