Yeah, that’s right. We’re giving away free robots.

We’ve built an insanely cool robotic arm and we’re giving away 10 for free. Wait, what… “free”? Yes, free… and it’s actually not that crazy.

Robotic arms are incredible. They’re used to make the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the cars we drive. They have a level of precision and repeatability that no human can match. And they never get tired.

They can do this:

And this:

And even this:

They are awesome.

The problem is that robotic arms generally cost more than a luxury car. So most people, no matter how creative or resourceful, can’t afford to buy one. Neither could we.

We want to change that. We created KATIA — our Kick Ass Trainable Intelligent Arm — to let everyday people leverage these incredible tools in their own applications. In other words, we want to democratize robotics.

We’ve already built a range of functionality — from advanced camera motion control to a variety of creative tasks like 3D printing, 3D scanning and laser cutting. We even made an app that lets you draw a picture on your iPad, which KATIA then sketches onto canvas!

But what’s really cool is that for every application we imagine, there are a hundred we couldn’t and that’s where you come in. We’re looking for off-the-charts awesome makers, builders, hackers, and creatives to help us create some of the very first robotic applications for KATIA.

Robotics today is lot like the early days of computers. In the early days, “personal computers” were viewed as toys for hobbyists and merely a passing fad. Sure they were cool, but people wondered: “What could you really do with computers?”

That has obviously become a ridiculous question. You can do the Internet with computers! And video games! And next-day delivery!

But it only became a ridiculous question because of the visionaries who were able to see beyond the horizon. It only became a ridiculous question because people built applications that showed the world how to use a new technology.

We’re looking for the visionaries of today who can help us show the world what a ridiculous question “What could you really do with a robotic arm?” is going to become.

Tell Us What You Would Do With KATIA

This post was originally published on our blog at carbon.ai.