These guys did really well, which makes me smile. I did find it kind of difficult to understand how the Infinity is meaningfully different from the Levitron though. And man, it blows me away that they could produce such a high-order device for so little, considering the electronics and the machining and everything. I wonder if we'll be seeing copycats in the near future...?
Congrats to the makers is in order. Seven hours to go, as I write.
I was expecting them to do better than 102 backers. They raised 2.7 times their goal of $5,000, but that was a modest goal considering the unit price of $125+
I believe they partnered with a company that was already fabricating the levitating platforms (which you can buy for $50) so that takes away much of the developmental cost.
To me there is a fundamental difference with the Levitron. I use the same criteria as Cyril for my collection: a top should fall down when it's not spinning. This top does not fall while on the floating base so it's not working as a top. Of course, you could spin it the regular way on a table, so when not floating it'a a top.
We know that air drag is a significant factor in stopping a top. I suspect that their claimed 30-45 minutes spin duration in the hands of advanced users includes extremely slow spinning at the end.