Kompakt UK are very pleased to introduce Benjamin Gray…
Would you like to introduce yourself, your team and MeArm?
I’m Benjamin Gray, I founded MeArm Robotics. We currently have three employees; myself, Christian Fraser-Williams and Jiaxing Lu. MeArm is a company that makes small educational robots out of acrylic sheet.
What’s the history of MeArm?
MeArm as a company started in October 2014 and from a standing start has shipped around 3000 of our prototypes all over the world. We’re about to launch the first full version of the robot and see that as being a real new beginning for the company!
How did you get into robotics?
The MeArm was my first attempt at a robot, well the v0.1 was at least. Then I got some help from a mechanical engineer called Jack Howard and the MeArm became my ‘in at the deep end’ start into robotics.
How do you think making robotics more accessible will benefit future generations?
Understanding how robots work is key to the future of manufacturing and may even be key to controlling what goes on in our own homes. Using and programming robots on a more regular basis will increase our understanding of these incredibly useful tools.
How does MeArm work? What else do we need to make it run?
The prototypes required a controller, so some knowledge or interest in electronics was required. Now nothing else is required. We even include the tools in the box!
What are the benefits to having Open Source design and code files?
Being open source means that we can tap into design, coding and promotional talent all over the world. Without open source the development team was about 50 people who contributed significant amounts to the project. They did that because they were able to, and in some cases so they could profit from it!
Tell us more about the global impact of MeArm, such as in Taiwan and South Africa?
It’s been amazing how MeArm has spread across the globe. Very quickly we saw it being built by enthusiasts as far away as Peru and Australia. In Taiwan and South Africa in particular we saw them being built by people in education, who used it as a tool to teach children to code and to get them interested in technology.
What is MeBrain?
We call it the Brains board now, as someone pointed it out sounds a little like migraine! This is the friendly controller which means you can plug and play with your MeArm. It’s simple to use but allows you to get started with learning to program the MeArm with either the C programming language or Scratch – a drag and drop programming language.
Congrats! You exceeded your funding target on Kickstarter, what will happen with the money raised?
We’ve used that to make the MeArm plug and play. It paid for the design of the board and allowed us to build the very first versions of the MeArm. It was essentially preorders and it’s just about covered the development costs, so it was fortunate that we made as much as we did!
Where do you see MeArm in 5 years time?
It would be great to see it used in classrooms across the world to teach children computer programming as well as getting outings on rainy days to amuse the kids!
Thanks Benjamin!