About

The idea of DuckyCode was based on the PhD and research work of Assistant Prof. Professor Theodosios Sapounidis and is essentially a platform for learning programming for beginners, children and experienced users. This platform included a smart robot and four programming subsystems: (a) a tangible subsystem which enables users to program using magnetic blocks (b) a graphical which resembles the internationally known MIT scratch programming environment (c) a graphical system (similar to (b)) which allows the robot to be programmed from everywhere and (d) the system supports many text base programming environments such as the Arduino IDE. The DuckyCode eco-system covers multiple ages and needs using the same system. Therefore, it is ideal for families and schools. Regarding the business model we have a range of products that can be sold as a) a complete system (a robot with a collection of magnetic bricks) b) the robot alone c) extra magnetic bricks and services while available free to users the graphical system and community support. The products are available initially via the Internet and then in physical shops. The business model that DuckyCode will support will be based on: 1. In direct sales to users (B2C) 2. Sales through third parties (B2B & B2G) 3. Subscription Services

Solution & Product

The DuckyCode eco-system of: 1) A robot equipped with Bluetooth, WiFi, TFT, SD, LED display of all colors, sound and music playback system, touch sensor, temperature, sound, light, color, and gesture sensor 2) A fully expandable set of tangible magnetic commands with which users can program the robot. 3) Graphical programming interfaces that also program the robot 4) Programming capability with simple code writing

Innovation & Scalability

This new platform is the only one that: 1) It has both tangible and graphical programming subsystems. Therefore it can simultaneously support a wide age range of users 2) Users can change the meaning of cubes (for example with their mobile phone, they can turn a cube that represents a “turn right” to “one step ahead”). 3) Users can program on the Internet (for example a child can program the robot to “move forward and when find an obstacle to make a post on dad's Facebook account"). 4) It is designed so that anyone who creates one program in the graphics system can store it in a cube (so interoperability between graphic and tangible). 5) Users can modify the robot's functionality and also to develop their own pieces of code that they can make available to others. 6) Can be programmed remotely as long as there is internet

Traction & achievements

So far we have managed to: 1) To have 4 industrial designs and our trademark registered in Europe 2) We have utility patent registration in Greece 3) We have the first sales to customers (schools and families)

Team & Why Us

The Team consists of: 1) Prof. Dr. Theodosios Sapounidis is responsible for the strategy of DuckyCode and in charge of Research & Development. He received the degree of Electronic Engineering and then the Diploma of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He continued his studies and received a master’s degree in computer science. Subsequently, he was awarded a PhD from the Department of Computer Science focusing on the use of tangible objects to help children learn the basic principles of programming. He has been awarded six times internationally and nationally. 2) Mr. Ioannis Kedros Coordinates and implements the production of the DuckyCode kit and is responsible for logistics. Mr. Ioannis received the degree of Electronic Engineering. He obtained a Master's degree with the title "MSc Embedded Systems and Robotics" at the University of Essex, UK. He has worked in one of the world's largest microcomputer circuit manufacturing companies (ARM Cambridge - UK). 3) Mr.Pavlos Mantziaris is responsible for the development and code writing of the system. Mr. Pavlos Mantziaris is passioned for writing code. Mr. Mantziaris is a student at the Department of Computer Engineering and Electronic Systems Engineering at the IHU. He has years of experience in JavaScript, database management, and RESTful API and Embedded System programming. He is also experienced developer in C++ and C# languages, and web applications, in JavaScript. He has worked in various companies.

Funding Needs

We need 150.000 Euros for marketing and scale up the business.