What is MinuteBot Base?

The MinuteBot Base is a thick, robust base plate that can be used for construction of robotics based on LEGO Mindstorms.

MinuteBot Base extends a LEGO beam into a rectangular plate with 21 x 30 holes. The dimensions and holes are a perfect fit with LEGO products:

The physical dimensions (L x W x H) of a MinuteBot Base are: 240 x 168 x 8 mm. The weight is estimated to be around 135g. 

The material is ABS (maybe with some glass fiber added to increase stiffness). 

The component is claret-colored. This makes the component stand out as a unique MinuteBot creation (we have checked with the people at LEGO and they are completely cool with the project).

What can the MinuteBot Base be used for?

We hope that a lot of dedicated LEGO builders will appreciate the new possibilities that MinuteBot Base provides and use it for whatever project they are tinkering with!

Personally, we would use MinuteBot Base for semi-professional robotics. As an example, we recently needed a robot for a biotech research project. It would have been easier if we had a robust base plate with holes - see images:

We know we're not the only ones using LEGO Mindstorms in a research lab setting. Check out this cool video by courtesy of Dr. Oyen, OyenLab, Cambridge University, UK:

Do I need more than one MinuteBot Base?

No, not at all. You can do a lot of awesome stuff with just one MinuteBot Base. But, as they say: Two's company, three's a crowd - and four is a party! Look at what you can do by linking four MinuteBot Base plates together:

Where will the money go?

The tooling for this product is very complex. One MinuteBot Base has 630 holes! This makes the required investment quite high.

In order to support advanced robotics and laboratory projects, all the tolerances on the MinuteBot Base have to be within tight specifications. We expect that a few iterations of the tooling will be required, so samples will need to be sent back and forth, checked and measured. Again: 630 holes! This precision will add to the cost.

Our Broader Vision: MinuteBot

Imagine a small robot made and programmed within minutes. That's MinuteBot. 

MinuteBot is semi-professional robotics made easy. Designed and built to be used together with LEGO Mindstorms - but with robust elements.  All MinuteBot Products will be designed for higher precision and durability using industrial-type components.

The MinuteBot Base is the first step and the foundation for this vision. The planned MinuteBot family so far looks like this (and we are displaying the industrial technology inside):

We have other ideas for future MinuteBot components, and we hope that you have too! So please don't hesitate to contribute with input, ideas and advice during the duration of this project - and beyond.

The journey starts with the first step: The MinuteBot Base!

The Team

Right now, we are a team of two: Lasse Mogensen and Soren Jensen. We are both graduates from the Technical University of Denmark (MSc Eng), and come from a background of product and business development, medical devices, mechatronics products and B2C products.

Between us, we have carried out more than 90 product development projects, including one successful Kickstarter project (SEQINETIC).

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Legal stuff: The MinuteBot Base and other MinuteBot products are not endorsed by or officially connected to The LEGO Company. LEGO and Mindstorms are trademarks of The LEGO Company.That said: We have checked with the LEGO people - the company is based in our home country of Denmark - and they have no problems with us creating this project. They are really cool people.