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Robot Price and Funding Comparison Chart

Run the Robot Price and Funding Comparison Chart MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

This chart puts two numbers side by side for the same four robots: what each one cost, and how much money its company raised. The bar colors carry a third variable, the outcome, so you can compare the numbers against what actually happened. Your goal is to examine whether either figure predicted survival, and the honest answer is that neither one did. Test your own hypothesis first, then toggle to the Funding view and see whether the pattern you expected holds up.

All figures are approximate and rounded for teaching purposes. They are not exact financial records.

How to Use

  1. Start in the Price view and compare the four launch prices. Predict which robot you think survived.
  2. Click Funding to swap the same four bars over to total money raised.
  3. Hover over any bar to read the exact value plus a one-sentence note on that robot's outcome.
  4. Click a bar to highlight its outcome in the color key at the top right.
  5. Read the two italic callouts in the Funding view, then decide whether more money meant more success.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="sims/robot-funding-price-outcome-chart/main.html"
        height="542px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School)

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Knowing the four robots and their release order, from the timeline MicroSim earlier in Chapter 2
  • Knowing that Anki shut down in 2019 and that Vector was later revived, from Chapter 2
  • Comfort reading a bar chart with a labeled vertical axis
  • Understanding that "$200M" means two hundred million dollars

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): In the Price view, rank the four robots from cheapest to most expensive. Write down which one you predict is still being made today, and why.
  2. Guided Practice (5 min): Switch to Funding and hover over every bar. Note that Cozmo and Vector share one value because both came from Anki, a single company. Which robot raised the most, and what happened to it?
  3. Assessment (5 min): Click each bar to highlight its outcome in the color key. Then write two sentences answering the question: did a higher price or a larger funding total predict which robot survived?

Assessment

  • The student correctly reads at least three values from the chart in both views.
  • The student states that Anki raised the most money, over $200 million, and still shut down.
  • The student states that Miko raised far less and is still shipping new models.
  • The student concludes that neither price nor funding predicted the outcome, and names at least one other factor, such as a clear audience or on-time delivery.

References

  1. Anki (company) - Wikipedia - Funding history and the 2019 shutdown of the company behind Cozmo and Vector.
  2. Anki Vector - Wikipedia - The Vector robot, its price, and its acquisition after Anki closed.
  3. Crowdfunding - Wikipedia - How campaigns such as Buddy's 2015 Indiegogo raise money before a product exists.
  4. Chart.js Documentation - The JavaScript charting library used to build this MicroSim.