Fair sharing,

I also think that you should provide a way for our contributions.

Thank you for all your efforts.

hj

I agree with the above posts. I already support some YouTubers on Patreon but I have rules on who and why.

First rule. That person makes interesting videos on a regular basis. Amateurs who produce almost professional content on limited budgets. After subscribing to a channel for a while, it relatively easy to ascertain whether the moderator knows his stuff and can present it in a way that it is palatable for the layman, me included (that's bad Engish)!

Second rule. That person has few financial supporters and possibly needs a bit of encouragement to continue funding their channel. If someone already has over 1000 Patreons, they don't really need my support. Others that are struggling possibly do!

Third rule. I don't mind YouTubers supporting their channel through sponsors, as long as it does not dominate their productions and they are completely open about it, and honest about any reviews of the sponsor's products. It is too easy to sell your soul to the devil, in this day and age of the quick buck!

Conclusion. If you did decide to go down the path of donations from followers (sounds a bit like disciples, but don't let it go to your head ? ), I would certainly contribute.

@pugwash

First of all, thank you - it's heartwarming to see that many of you realize that putting all of this together is costing me quite a bit of money, and although right now I've been distracted by some Summer chores, creating content for the workshop is what occupies most of my day.  And once Summer is done it will pretty well occupy all of my days.

Now I'll let you in on a secret.

It's not really a secret, I just haven't promoted it yet. I actually started a Patreon account to finance the work I do here.

I didn't announce it yet as I'm really not ready, but Patreon changed their payout policy and said they would "grandfather" my account at the older (and better) rate if I published it by May. So I hit the publish button, even though I don't yet have everything ready (like a welcome video).

Two of you (you know who you are) have actually found the account and pledged, I wrote both my "patrons" an email explaining that I wasn't ready and offering refunds, none of them took me up on the offer and said they understood.

I'm working to go "live" in September. And there actually is some "Patreon-only" content already, and I'll be adding more before I announce it formally.

I'm also looking at a PayPal donate button for the website, they have changed the way they do that so I may need to do it with a PayPal.me address instead. For those who would prefer to make an occasional or one-time contribution.

I just want to stress that I don't want people to feel obligated to contribute or to feel bad if it would strain them financially. I would love to make a living doing this, but the real joy is being able to teach people as I always wanted to be a teacher.

One of the greatest ways to contribute to the growth of the channel and website (and forum) is to promote it to other people who may have an interest.  A larger YouTube viewership would make for more YouTube revenue, which is currently how I fund the workshop. 

Again, thank you so much - I'm genuinely touched by this post Jan, and all of you who have piped in.

?

Bill

@dronebot-workshop

This is wonderful news. This site and its mission could not have come into my life at a better time ( recently retired, finally able to immerse myself self in a field about which I know little but have long had an immense curiousity ), and my version of DB1 is coming along at a stately and satisfying pace. Much is being learned along the way. I give daily thanks to Bill and his vision, whether he's posting or not, and am delighted that a Patreon page is being created so I'll be able to help support his efforts in some small way.  I wanna be on the team!

mt

@dronebot-workshop

Hello Bill,

Thank you for your warm response. In the meantime I have also found your Patreon account via your link and done my thing.
Do not feel burdened, you do not ask for money, you only create a possibility for people who find it pleasant to contribute something. My contribution also makes me feel more connected to your channel and your work.
The moment you publish a video where you mount a lidar on your new Mc Laren sports car or better yet RTK position determination in your private jet, I will seriously consider halving my contribution or even worse to stop it. ? 

Sincerely,

Jan Korteweg

Posted by: @jan

The moment you publish a video where you mount a lidar on your new Mc Laren sports car or better yet RTK position determination in your private jet, I will seriously consider halving my contribution or even worse to stop it.

I'm not contributing anything to anyone who has a private jet. ? 

I'm in the financial category of "those who are strained financially".   Of course this is all my fault for getting myself deep into debt.   It's all my fault, my fault,  my fault.  Let this be well understood.  I'm my own worse financial enemy.   I make no secret about it.

None the less, even though I have hung myself out to dry financially I have no problem supporting BOTH Bill's YouTube Channel AND this forum.  My support will be small.  Necessarily so.   None the less, I recognize the immense value of BOTH Bill's YouTube Lectures AND the wisdom and knowledge I glean from the wonderful people on this forum. 

Bill does all the homework for us and lays it all out in such great detail on his website.  He absolutely deserves to be compensated for his labor.   If I were in better shape financially myself I would indeed support him with far greater financial support.  Let there be no doubt about that.

His YouTube Channel and Website are of the highest quality.   And now he has created this awesome quality forum that has quite naturally attracted all the quality people who value Bill's work and lectures.

So this is a goldmine of great minds. ?   And we all owe Bill untold riches for bringing us all together.

So yeah, as soon as I find the donation center I too will be contributing.  At least to a trickling degree.  But as they often say, every trickle counts. ? 

Just added my very humble trickle.

Hope it helps.

Yes, by all means we own a big debt to Bill for putting this together.  It is such a great avenue for all of us to learn, contribute our expertise, share our successes as well as our failures (to get the help we need to overcome those failures!) and just have fun!  That's what hobbies are all about, having fun while still learning and keeping our minds churning.

Thanks a million, Bill! ? 

I just came from the Patreon site.  I'm officially a "Robotics Engineer".  ?   That was the quickest degree I ever earned. ? 

I'd like to support these forums as well.  So if Bill ever gets around to adding a PayPal donation button on the forums I contribute here as well.

I'm a Robotics Engineer!
I'll see things crystal clear
with Billy's aid I'm not afraid
to soar to the stratosphere

My robot will be great
even though I've built her late
and when she's done
and I press "Run"
she'll write a poem as her fate

@robo-pi

Congratulations fellow robotics engineer.

I also found that link yesterday. Never thought I'd ever earn that title again. I just couldn't sleep.

To celebrate, my dear mother of 82 years old today baked an apple pie and my sister is now designing business cards for me.

I just saw on Patreon that we now contribute with 8 followers a nice start to end the weekend.

https://www.patreon.com/dronebotworkshop/overview

Posted by: @jan

Congratulations fellow robotics engineer.

I just put the title in my signature line.  Why not?  I'm proud to be a DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer. ? 

Posted by: @jan

To celebrate, my dear mother of 82 years old today baked an apple pie and my sister is now designing business cards for me.

It's super great to have family nearby.  I lost my mother of 90 almost 2 decades ago.  I still miss her as if she were here just yesterday.   My sister lives 600 miles away, and if I asked her to make business cards for me she'd just say, "Make you own". ? 

In fact, she's an artist and a painter and I did ask her to create a nice logo for my YouTube channel called Robo Pi (a channel I haven't actually started yet).    What was her reply?  Yep, you got it.  "Make you own". ? 

@robo-pi

Yes I am blessed with my family who all live in the neighborhood and with in the neighborhood I mean within a radius of 10 km.

That's quite common here. I live in the delta region of the Netherlands on a former island. The Netherlands is a small country that fits around 230 times in the United States. You can reach any external border here by car within a few hours.

We used to have a lot to do with flooding and that reinforces the family bond. My village was last hit in 1953 and people drowned in every family here. The Americans and Canadians are historically important to us. They liberated us with the soldiers of the Second World War and helped us rebuild our country and after the great flood disaster of 1953 they helped us rebuild the region. And after the Second World War, they and others also ensured that we were not overrun by Communist Russia.

Can you find out what you have all done for us and also had to make huge sacrifices. On the attached photo one of the cemeteries  where we buried the American and Canadian young boys  after the war.

These boys had no Patreon and came  and gave their lives for our freedom. This can never be paid back, but it should certainly never be forgotten.

To everyone who has joined on Patreon thank you so much,  your response has been amazing and I really appreciate your support. 

I'm currently working on some content for Patreon, as well as an intro video so that I can "officially" launch.  And I'll be putting together something to thank and congratulate the latest crop of "Robotics Engineers" as well!

Again, thank you!

?

Bill