Spintronics: Build mechanical circuits - Kickstarter Critique

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[xaytana]

I saw this on Reddit the other week and it piqued my interest. Didn't realize it was a game, I thought it was just an educational toy to parallel electrical circuits with a mechanical equivalent, though with it all being gear based I didn't understand how anything past a basic circuit could operate without overly complex components, mostly stuff when you get into logic, amps, ICs, etc. Though, in hindsight, the parts kit does only have analogs for basic components, not advanced components; still, advanced components would be kind of cool if someone figures out a way to make them.

I didn't really look at the Kickstarter or relevant videos, as they're always tryhard marketing wank that seems to follow the same kind of script. This is my first time seeing the KS video, and honestly the 'inventor' is terrible at presenting, notably his grammar. Plus he claims basic circuits, which Spintronics replicates mechanically, are 'difficult, 'invisible, ' 'abstract, ' and have 'advanced math, ' when none of that is all that true. Difficulty is relative, but he's also equivalating basic circuits to things like amps and ICs. The invisible statement is outright false, if you're building circuits you'll also have the equipment to test them, if not directly seeing circuit output on a component or device. I honestly think he needs to look up the definition of abstract. Then advanced math is a hard subject to cover, as most of what's going on here doesn't require difficult math, more advance circuits will, anything relating to magnetism does require advanced math in study but not always in practice, plus this is meant for kids who won't know the advanced math so that statement is somewhat contradictory. Then his description of electronics with the 'bending raw energy' bullshit is the descriptor equivalent of buzzwords. 'First physical representation of electronics ever built' is also blatantly false, mechanical logic has existed as a toy or art piece for some time, I wouldn't even be surprised if electrical logic itself had basis in some mechanical form.

I do see one _massive_ issue, however, gear ratios. Electricity follows the path of least resistance with minimal losses to the wiring. Gears, however, do not follow this, at all, and introduce speed and torque differences based on ratios. A lot of the gear pairs here are not 1:1, and while the 'circuit may work in theory, gear ratios will absolutely mess with what you're building. For example, in electronics you can have two inductors with the same rating and they'll perform within tolerance to each other, but in Spintronics, you could easily have one 'inductor' on a 1:2 gearset and another on a 3:1 gearset, which will cause what's supposed to be matched inductors to have wildly different operation conditions. Unless the stacked gears, notably the blue 3-tier ones, have interchangable gears, this will likely cause issue especially if you use them for parallel circuits with what's supposed to have equal outputs; though this can be alleviated by another gearset, but that adds parts to a build, which can get costly in larger builds.

That last point also brings up the issue of how accurate the various mechanical components are to their electrical equivalents. Resistors are easy, just apply friction and you have resistance. But inductors, capacitors, etc. are a different story. I'm curious just how close of a representation these parts provide. Not everything will have an analog, going back to my concern about advanced parts like ICs, amps, etc., will not have a simplistic analog like everything seen here.

$75/$135/$160 for this isn't bad for a KS product I suppose, though shipping on this is a terrible price add-on, may be cheaper if it was properly mass produced and sold in hobby/game/book stores, which would probably be preferable to the wider consumer base. I don't like the fact that a Kickstarter is being split into three products, though. I also don't like the fact that the only 'expansion' is a power pack, and not a general parts bin, this feels like all the parts are locked to the game it incorporates, but doesn't unlock the playset to have creative freedom; look at Lego for example, all parts within a set can be used to create whatever, all full-size sets have a fairly substantial part amounts, and Lego does make, or atleast has in the past, general parts bins to expand on parts collections. Creative freedom beyond the game is where Spintronics will fall flat unless they keep expanding the game or provide a parts bin. Without creative freedom, this will just get put back in the box and shoved in the attic to not be seen again for years. The game also seems like it'll be super linear, like most puzzle videogames where it's point A to point B, unless the game is somehow expanded on via an app; but again, part count is where any expansion to the game without another entire playset is where the concept falls flat, there seems to be little to no foresight in this. I know there's the 'parts a la carte' portion, but I fear this will be a pick and choose expansion, not just a bulk-price bin of parts for expansion, which that bulk pricing that parts bins provide is key to getting people to expand their piece count, as a la carte can get very expensive very quickly. I'm also afraid to see what the price will be after the KS ends, I honestly would not be surprised if the current prices are retroactively made 'early bird' prices.

The 'why isn't there a diode' explanation is a bit bullshit, honestly. Plus that diode mechanism could be used as a basis for a photodiode. Using two other components together may provide the same result, but if you're balls deep into the 'this is intuitive for kids' marketing wank, you should be including a part that is discretely a diode, _as that would be more intuitive for kids._ I just checked the KS page, and there is a diode, except it's KS exclusive, which is even more bullshit because what if someone comes across this in a few years, assuming the company is still afloat, yet can't have a component due to moronic exclusivity. Also what happened to the original comments on why there wasn't a diode, did the creator just entirely contradict themselves over having an exclusive part?

Honestly, at the end of the day, I would expect to find something like this in the STEM/STEAM section of various stores, though without the puzzle or graphic novel parts of it, at a substantially lower price. I'm interested in it, but mostly for how well of an analog gears can be to electrical components, maybe I'll pick one up second-hand from Ebay or something someday, or go through a deep dive of the KS page and see how easily replicated the components are since there seems to be some amount of blown-up diagrams. Though, I don't have much hope for this beyond the initial hype, unless they somehow score a contract with a larger manufacturer and a distributor, like what you get with Dragon's Den/Shark Tank products, especially when it comes to the pricing. This is the main reason, besides the extra parts issue, I'm more interested in just reproducing the parts themselves, it'd end up being cheaper to do so, and much more flexible in terms of gear ratios; plus I think it'd be kinda cool to make a system that's compatible with the various gears Lego produces, not only make this product more flexible but also integrate it into another product ecosystem.

On a side note, I do notice one thing that irks me a little. If you look at the KS video's thumbnail's background, it shows a model, that uses the actual playset pieces or a render of the pieces, that has perpendicularly-oriented parts, on at least two faces of a cubic shape, using a bevel gearset. Where the hell are those parts? Why throw that little image in there like an easter egg yet not actually produce the parts themselves.

[miles]

You say people will just see the 160 offer and stop scrolling down there, but why? I didn't stop so why would you assume people will?

[pencilpauli]

As a Brit, I'd just picked up my jaw off the floor seeing the product when I saw the UK shipping and it fell again.
That is outstanding. As a tightwad I always rate the shipping as a percentage of the pledge.
It gets up to 50% of the pledge cost and is a big put off.

Can't add to what you said about the KS presentation.
It would be cool if KSs had a pledge level presentation of what you get for how much right underneath the intro vid. Needs to be a standard thing. It sure is the first thing I want to know about a KS lol

[Footballfansis]

It truly looks amazing!! An out of the box game!! Good work with this series of kickstarter videos!!

[Yotanido]

You make such a big deal out of the price not being immediately obvious in the description.
Just... look at the possible pledges?

[amansparekh]

I see your employing your strategy about updates on your own videos asking for comments!