Pitching Your Robot Prototype

So you just did something pretty neat with $25 or less. Now what?

In this lesson, we'll go over the Anatomy of a Product Pitch, which will help you effectively communicate to others what you've done and why it's important.

A product pitch can help you in all kinds of scenarios:

• In a job interview, when asked to describe a recent project you worked on
• At a networking event, when you're in a group conversation with roboticists who want to hear about your work
• In writing a blog post about your robotics hobby
• In explaining to your spouse or partner why you're buying yet another Raspberry Pi kit
• On the Robotics Slack community, when describing your Udacity Explores lab prototype!

Product pitches work for concepts and ideas, but are especially effective with prototypes because you have something tangible and physical for your audience to see, touch and interact with.

Before diving into the Anatomy of a Product Pitch, let's first go through ways someone may describe their prototype.

What's the prototype? Let's say this person always misplaces their keys, and they want to build a robot that can detect where the keys are and deliver it to them. They build a prototype with $25 by using a set of magnets to attract the "robot" to the keys, and by placing a small box on top of a battery-operated toy car. They tape on pipe cleaners to be arms, and, like Cory did, place googly eyes on the box. How might they explain this prototype in a conversation with another roboticist?

Option 1

"I spent $25 and built an automatic toy car that will move toward my keys due to a magnet. It can't pick up the keys yet, though, but I plan on figuring that out soon."

Option 2

"I had an idea to build a small robot to find and deliver my keys. I was able to get it to move and have conceptualized how it could work. My next step would be to figure out a better detection mechanism between the robot and the keys."

Option 3

"I have a great idea on how to never lose my keys. I'm building a robot that can detect and then deliver them to me. I built a prototype - it's simple but it moves and I can see what the structure may be like. The robot would have a sensor drawn to another on my keychain, and have arms to pick up the keys. After I figure out the actual mechanics of it, I want to explore some ideas for it to be able to recognize where I gave it the order and return to that same location. I'll never have to rummage through my clothes again!"

Option 3 is the best pitch - and not because it's the longest! Let's find out why.