[Dprglist] Flamewheel: a "reliable educational robot" that you apparently set fire to...

[Murray Altheim]

On 7/03/21 12:39 pm, Murray Altheim via DPRGlist wrote:
> I'm kinda interested in seeing DFRobot's response to my comment about
> their "Flamewheel" robot, which they promote by setting fire to it.
> 
>    https://www.dfrobot.com/blog-571.html
>    https://youtu.be/uyXzKd1LB2Q
> 
> Rather than repeat I'll just post my comment here:
> 
>    "I'm still trying to understand why anyone would promote the idea of
>     setting fire to a robot, [...]

   "We soaked the wooden wheels with lighter fluid. And then we set it
    alight! How’s that for a Flamewheel? We left it burning for 3 minutes
    and it still runs fast like nothing happens!"

Well, as someone pointed out, there are cultural differences in China,
where the danger of demonstrating how cool it is setting a wooden
robot on fire to an audience of children isn't taken very seriously.

Their response to my post? It has simply been removed. Perhaps for DFRobot
it's normal to just disappear things one disagrees with. There's a long
history of that in China.

So I won't be doing any further business with DFRobot. I've removed all
references to their products from the NZPRG website, as I won't promote
their products or otherwise steer people to their site. I won't be
blogging about using my DFRobot HuskyLens on a robot. Maybe I could
post a YouTube video testing how long it operates while on fire.

I realise this kind of individual protest is somewhat pointless, but I
likewise won't promote a company whose behaviour exemplifies that of
the autocracy in which it calls home. They could have had a *little* bit
of courage, like Ai Weiwei.

One of the nice things about living in a free country is I can choose
to be snippy about behaviour I disagree with and not worry about being
sent to some prison camp in Xinjiang.

Cheers,

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim <murray18 at altheim dot com>                       = =  ===
http://www.altheim.com/murray/                                     ===  ===
                                                                    = =  ===
     In the evening
     The rice leaves in the garden
     Rustle in the autumn wind
     That blows through my reed hut.
            -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu