Seems like if they got rid of the ‘Segway’ 2 wheel balancing then the cost could be taken right down. The base would be bigger I guess, but I’m sure many customers wouldn’t mind if it saved them a few thousand.

I very much doubt the cost is due to a Segway like wheel balancing system. The manufacturing cost difference wouldn’t be that much at all. You would still need motors and still need motor driving electronics etc.. (If anything it could be cheaper to do it like a Segway).

Its far more likely due to “supply and demand” i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand
As their relatively new business isn’t going to sell that many robots to start off with (like any startup company), so each individual robot costs more simply due to running costs of the whole business (such as other business costs for things like marketing, PR, sales, trade stands and shows, staff wages, warehouse storage, transport distribution etc… (even just attending one big trade event like CES could easily cost a company $50k to $200k, so imagine the cost of attending a few big trade shows per year). So the cost of manufacturing and components is only a small part of the overall end cost for a startup company. (I suspect their cool looking QA robot proved too expensive especially being launched unfortunately in one of the worst recessions we have ever had. So QB looks like a bare bones version that does cost a bit less to make, but its mostly to make a cheaper looking product, to be able to pitch it for less money so its more of a marketing appeal difference not a manufacturing cost difference).

I like the robot, the look of it keeps making me smile. I like its face and the big head with a thin body looks kind of cartoony. I’m wondering if the head could be made to move up and down telescopically, so it can change its height. That would be useful for looking around (and it would make it easier to store).