6 replies to this topic

[boiacchi]

Hi Guys, since I have bought my first NetduinoI have developed several devices and I would like to try to make some of them a "product" that I can sell or at least propose to investors that may be interested in . Now all the devices I got are of course prototypes and the cost for making them is much higher than the one I would like they to have once the are in sale. My question is how can I reduce the cost of making let's say one project a product ? Is that allow ? At the moment using the classic NetDuino the device cannot cost less than the price of the netduino it self. what are the possibility to achieve that ? thanks a lot

[Arron Chapman]

Hi Guys,

since I have bought my first NetduinoI have developed several devices and I would like to try to make some of them a "product" that I can sell or at least propose to investors that may be interested in .
Now all the devices I got are of course prototypes and the cost for making them is much higher than the one I would like they to have once the are in sale.

My question is how can I reduce the cost of making let's say one project a product ?

Is that allow ?

At the moment using the classic NetDuino the device cannot cost less than the price of the netduino it self.


what are the possibility to achieve that ?

thanks a lot

Tell us a bit more about what you're trying to do. Do you want to integrate the Netduino design into your own? Do you want to purchase the Netduinos with a discount and just incorporate an actual Netduino into your design?


In General you are welcome to take the design of the Netduino and incorporate it into your own the design is licensed open source, under CC-BY. The biggest thing here is that you *cannot* call your derived work Netduino, as that is a trademark of Secret Labs and you *must* give proper attribution to Secret Labs for the Netduino design. The design is *not* CC-BY-SA so you are *not* required to share your design in an open source manor.


The SourceCode for the Netduino Firmware is also available under an open source license in this case Apache 2 which has similar terms as CC-BY.


If you want to use actuall Netduinos in your project there are a variety of resellers which offer volume discounts and depending on your volume you may be able to work directly with Secret Labs.

[CW2]

As Arron has already mentioned, you'd probably need to disclose a little bit more information about your project. If the Netduino (or Netduino Mini) cost is a big concern you can of course design your own board and include only features you need or add ones not present on Netduino but required by your project. One thing to consider is that the Netduino microcontroller itself costs $20 in single quantities, so you'd probably need to buy thousands or tens of thousand just to get close to the retail Netduino price.

Another way to reduce the cost is to switch to a different platform, i.e. much cheaper microcontroller - while .NET Micro Framework boards are great for learning and rapid prototyping, they could be overkill for a particular project. There are plenty of microcontrollers that might be suitable for the task, like the recently introduced Cortex-M0 or such. On the downside they cannot run .NET Micro Framework, so you'd need to start programming from scratch, most likely in C/C++.

[JerseyTechGuy]

I too am working on bringing several Netduino driven products to market. I can tell you from doing the research, you will not be able to create your own Netduino for less than the Netduino itself. While my product is more complex and is more in the $350 retail range, I had toyed with both the idea of producing a single board solution built on the Netduino's design as well as just building a shield and associated sensor boards and using a Netduino. It looks to be far cheaper to get a Netduino (Even Chris said this). As CW mentioned. If you are looking to get into the "Less than a Netduino" price range you may need to look at a different platform. The Netduinos feature a great processor and with that comes a bit of a price tag. If your design features only the need for a few I/O pins and not a lot of processing power, there are cheaper ways to go.

[boiacchi]

Thanks you all guys for all the answers. Probably I'll integrate the netduino mini in my projects as it seems to be the easiest( and probably cheapest way to go). Talking in practices I'll create my own printed circuit board where I'll put the nedtuino mini itself. I know there are other micro-controllers on the market which sometime may fit better especially when I need to control just a couple of digital output but on the other hand I would not like to learn a low level programming language such C/C++ :-)

[boiacchi]

I too am working on bringing several Netduino driven products to market. I can tell you from doing the research, you will not be able to create your own Netduino for less than the Netduino itself. While my product is more complex and is more in the $350 retail range, I had toyed with both the idea of producing a single board solution built on the Netduino's design as well as just building a shield and associated sensor boards and using a Netduino. It looks to be far cheaper to get a Netduino (Even Chris said this).

As CW mentioned. If you are looking to get into the "Less than a Netduino" price range you may need to look at a different platform. The Netduinos feature a great processor and with that comes a bit of a price tag. If your design features only the need for a few I/O pins and not a lot of processing power, there are cheaper ways to go.

One more question at this point :-)

Once the prototype is ready (integrating the netduino) should I get it patented before trying to sell it or propose it to potential investors?

[JerseyTechGuy]

This is something in my opinion I would not go at alone. Seek out a Trademark and patent attorney. They can help you with Patent, Trademark, Copyright info as well as Non-Disclosures, and more if you are talking to investors and want to be sure your idea is not copied. Again, someone may have a differing opinion, but I've always felt this was money well spent.