Homemade Robotic Arms for CD Duplication?

LA Kings Fan writes "I have this current gig of a job which requires me to make numerous copies of CDRs (in the thousands). Since it would be ludicrous to sit in front of my computer to remove a burned CD and put a fresh one in everytime, I've looked around for better, more sensible solutions. There are two alternatives: CD Duplication Towers and Automated Duplicators. They both have their advantages but are very costly. The cool thing about the automated duplicators is that the burning process is automated by the use of a robotic arm which replaces the burned CD with a fresh one. This is neat, so I was wondering if anyone has attempted to take this concept a step further by essentially building their own robotic arm for their burner on their personal computer. Is this feasible? Can a robotic arm like this be created from off the shelf parts? I'm clueless when it comes to this engineering stuff, so any help would be appreciated."

Comments

Complication

[The_Mighty_Squid]

Don't over complicate a simple problem. I master CDs for a living. There are a ton of CD duplication houses out there. It is not that expensive. I've done a thousand with cases, screenprinting and distribution for about $1,500 and a week turnaround. Do your clients a favor and do it right and fast.

By the time you finish planing and building you robotic arm the whole project could be done. If this is a "gig" as you say your getting paid to do a service. Do the job you were hired to do. Don't go on a tangent just to impress us here.

I find doing a good job well and fast much more impressive than flashy unnecessary extras.

Re:Complication

[Lxy]

I find doing a good job well and fast much more impressive than flashy unnecessary extras.

You'll never make it into upper management with that attitude.

Consider the cost

[Webmoth]

Let's assume you need to make 10,000 CDs.

You have a fast CD burner (24x) with which you can make perhaps 10 CDs per hour. That means 1000 hours for 10,000 CDs, or about 6 months. Assuming a wage of $6/hr, to pay someone to babysit this machine would be in the range of $6000. Plus your media cost of around $5000 if you're paying $0.50 per, including label. You are looking at $11,000. Ouch!

On the other hand, you could purchase an automated duplicator for $2500. Yup, that's a lot of money to lay down in one chunk. Now you're down to a month and a half (your duplicator can crank away 24/7, your schmuck 8/5). Your cost? $7500.

Of course, you could build a changer out of Lego Mindstorms for a hundred bucks plus your labor and have it up and running by April... 2003. :-)

Or, you could just pay a replication house to press the CD's, print a fancy label on them, and get them to you in a week for probably $5,000 or less (wild guess). Remember, as quantity goes up, price per goes down. Way down. Don't let the "setup charge" scare you; consider the total cost and compare that with the total cost of one-at-a-timing it.

My boss has a saying: "A poor man can't afford cheap tools." You don't save money by buying cheap. If you skimp now, you'll spend a lot more later. If you do it right the first time, you won't have to do it right the second time.