Student designs face-to-face fundraising robot

Fundraising | Kirsty Weakley | 18 Oct 2011

A product design graduate from Dundee University has built a donation robot which aims to engage with the public in a fun way.

DON-8r was developed as part of Tim Pryde’s dissertation project last year and is a small battery-powered robot that uses sensors to navigate its environment and interact with people.

Pryde said: “The idea was to use gaming technology to engage with people in a playful way.”

He has recently returned from a fundraising conference in Poland and last month exhibited the robot at London Design Week where the prototype raised £30 for the Pluto Appeal, a campaign from the Children’s Hospital Trust Fund to raise money to buy a robot that performs intricate surgery.

Pryde has also gained interest in the device from a Danish charity, which raised £20 in 15 minutes when the charity took it out on the street.

“I was inspired by the increasingly negative attitude that many people have towards on-the-street charity workers.” said Pryde.

However, the robot is not intended to replace street fundraisers, as it relies on human support to keep out of trouble.

Pryde is currently working full time in design and says of the robot: "It is definitely a project I want to return to but at the moment it requires funding to develop the prototype."

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