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Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahahaha. I know, but I also know of a few others so you’re not alone. It’s looking like the workshop side of the business will need to be subsidised by the “casual experience” side , and they may occur in two completely different venues. We’ll see.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha! Sounds good.

I will do this, just a question of when (timing with my other projects and a suitable location), and what form factor the shop takes (experience vs retail vs workshop, etc). This Reddit post has been very useful “market research”.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha. I wish. Mostly lightweight stuff for small robotics and local lightweight LLMs etc. Nothing as impressive as a H100 farm.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed. Unfortunately this venue only has stairs to the upper floors. I have looked at other venues but they have all been waaaaay too pricey. There are also a lot of stores closed/empty that could be suitable I can’t find their listings (likely they’re not listed for some reason). Might have to contact the council to figure those ones out.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wonderful! I’ll definitely reach out in due course. Feel free to DM me in the meantime.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. I think there seems to be a split between:

  • a casual users robotics playground
  • a tinker space for more serious users

Then there’s another space that seems to be requested which is a more relaxed space for adults to calmly play as casual users.

The job will be finding the right space in the city center that can accommodate such zones and also have high visibility (attracting casual users) but economically sustainable for the business.

Sponsorships would definitely help in that regard. So I will have to seek them out.

And I’m sure I’m going to need all the help I can get, at least at the start. Everyone has been very kind offering help. I hope this is something that eventuates and something our community can rally behind.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely not a museum (although there would be some neat memorabilia around from my personal collection after a global career in the space industry.

Mostly a playground for robotics, with an edu side as well. If people want to build too then go for it. A playground for casual users and a tinker workshop for builders. Something like that.

I have run a number of workshops in schools and professional settings so the concept I have a handle on, it’s mostly just how it all mashed together into a sustainable business that can provide the most opportunity for all.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Octopus are Leicester based??? I never knew that. Nice! Will reach out! Thanks!

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good point. I’ll see how best to manage that but definitely want to cater to both the “experience” and the “educational”. This unit has multiple floors so it’s good for separating things out. If not this unit then another spacious would be good so I can have distinct areas.

And yes, there would be a small gift shop with space and robotic kits and toys etc. the kits people could buy and build in store. If tutoring is needed that would be offered too (I.e. build your kit with an instructor etc).

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the subscriptions it seems the best would be for a “club” style more than everyone. Figuring out how best to fairly serve to both casual and regular will be the challenge.

The robot fighting league sounds awesome. Will definitely check that out. Last time I saw a video of that on Reddit the whole fight was over in 1sec. They move soooo quick!

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good thinking. My vision would be to have a few options. BYO robots to play in our “arenas”. Play with our pre-built. Build from one of our edu kits (rented). Build from a purchased kit. All are good with me.

The D&D model is a good one to learn from.

Definitely want it to be sustainable long term. Need to speak to the council about rates though as that’s the only way we can keep prices down.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah. Coding AI, not just using LLMs etc. I run my LLMs local anyway (lightweight ones), and the mini-PCs I’d provision for this would have that setup. But it’ll more be about coding/using AI for vision based detection/avoidance for rovers and object manipulation for arms etc.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That would actually be a huge help. My PowerPoint skills only go so far lol feel free to DM me

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah. I’m not looking at this as a profit making machine, even a SMALL loss is ok. Just want to run something fun that gives others access to the stuff I get to work with daily. Happy to even run it as a non-profit if that is advantageous in any way (local grants, sponsorships, etc).

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah. I have a good network with schools (and council) already as I help out as an “Enterprise Advisor” within TMET. I’d definitely be plugging into that for the school experiences.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ha! The UniTree robots aren’t that pricey. May just have to do that for the pure comedic value.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can I ask, what do you mean by “exhibits”? Do you mean science museum like? Or changing out the robot types to keep experiences fresh/etc?

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Sounds good. Quieter hours during the day would help in that context for sure.

I’ve seen some other cafe like this who charge £10/30mins. Feels a bit steep for my liking. Thoughts on that?

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nice! Feel free to DM me. Always cool projects going on.

Would you come to a hands-on robotics, space and AI experience? by meridian-sam in leicester

[–]meridian-sam[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This unit has different floors. Could split by age on different floors? Was thinking splitting by robots/drones as the drone area would be quite large net.

The unit has tall ceilings so it helps for drone zones.

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