using picaxe for commercial projects

[deneve]

Although I am a teacher wanting to use Picaxe in my school I think I might be able to use the system for commercial projects too. Can I program a chip for embedding and sell the system. Are there any restrictions on me doing this

 

[Rickharris]

no real restrictions but crediting Picaxe would be a good idea.

 

[Dippy]

I suspect only Technical can give you a definitve answer, but I will bet 10p that you will get responses including the words "mission critical" and/or "life support".

 

[deneve]

Dippy. What do you mean by mission critical and life support? Sorry I'm a bit slow and new to picaxe. Have I missed something?

 

[Rickharris]

This has been discussed before and the general principles seem to be - you can use the picaxe in a comercial system, i.e. selling it on as part of a further development, BUT there are strong safety issues about using the picaxe system in a safety critical situation where there would be no liability or responsibility on Rev Ed

I am sure they wouls phrase this in a more legal manner and what I post in no way represents their policy or intent but is my personal opinion.

 

[manuka]

Quite OK, but as well as issues mentioned above keep in mind that bringing a commercial electronic product to market may involve considerable <b>&quot;compliance&quot; </b> costs! Best start small &amp; get a feel for such hassles &amp; the agressive competition.

Some of the best commercial Picaxe applications have been local one offs, where a client specifically requests you come up with a solution that he'll pay going rates for.

One form ~2003 that springs to mind was a harbour side marina solar powered flashing light ID for boaties returning at night. Previously they were having troubles locating guide lamps against the glare of city lights etc, but the Picaxe powered ultra bright white LED system allowed coded flashes to inform of entrances etc. I recall this was set up by a sparkie in Australia (Sydney?) when Picaxes were first promoted, &amp; he proudly mentioned &quot; And what's more I programmed it myself&quot;. No doubt he turned $$ of parts into an invoice worth $$$. Stan

 

[manuka]

You may want to ponder RoHS <A href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoHS ' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a> for starters! It's amazing anyone would now bother to market low profit electronic items given such compliance issues.