On this page, we are going to briefly review the evolutionary process of the spanking machine. The idea of a Robotic spanking machine has been in the minds of men for hundreds of years. But to the best of my knowledge we (DD Machinery) were the first to produce a commercial machine. Now I am going to briefly share our log book which explains how we came up with our current design. The Robospanker is actually the result of years of research. When we first thought of building a spanking machine, our first thought was, to use hydraulics to deliver the spanking blow. But this idea was quickly dismissed because of how slow hydraulic cylinders respond. Our second thought was, to use pneumatics. At first we thought this would be too slow also. Anyone who isn’t familiar with pneumatics, just look at the device that closes your storm door. The device is nice and quiet, and closet the door nice and slow. Now of course this would be too slow to deliver a spank. But if you look at that device closer, you will see a screw on the end of the cylinder. This screw is a valve that allows air to seep out of the cylinder. If you open up this valve, the door will close faster. So we now realize there is potential there. We simply need to discharge the air as quickly as possible. To do this, we would need an electric solenoid valve attached to the end of the cylinder. This valve would open up quickly; allowing the air to escape quickly, thus the cylinder arm retracts faster. After seeing this, we knew we could build a spanking machine using pneumatics. We soon had our first prototype. That’s the irony of the SOMII. It actually bares a striking resemblance to our first prototype. In a lot of ways the SOMII brings back a lot of old memories. If I didn’t know better, I would say they had been looking at our log book. But I know that isn’t true, because if they had, they wouldn’t have made so many of the same mistakes we made during the research and development process. I couldn’t help to think of the advantages of being pioneers in this field, and the advantage of being followers in this field. As followers, you have the advantage of hind sight. As pioneer you have the advantage of experience. I also couldn’t help but to think of the old saying which states, that if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it. And that seems so true in the case of the SOMII. After building our prototype, and putting it to some test, we had a couple of concerns. One was that the air compressor was noisy. We put that concern on the back burner, figuring that we will come up with a solution. The other concern was that the solenoid valve and cylinders made a popping sound when the air was quickly released. These sounds were really aggravating, and we had to find an answer. We later discovered that there were small mufflers available to address this concern. So this noise was so loud, that the manufacturers of the solenoid valves, and cylinders were force to make small mufflers to deal with the issue. So we purchased the mufflers, and they really seem to work. We felt pretty comfortable that that noise level was now acceptable. So now we were ready to address the noise problem with the compressor itself. At least we thought we were ready to address that problem, when we noted yet another problem. This problem forced us to put the noise of the air compressor on the back burner again. Now we discovered, that with each stroke of our cylinders, we were getting a spray mist of oil out of the solenoid exhaust, and the cylinder exhaust. It actually took about 6 months of testing before this problem even came to the surface. We later discovered that this is an inherent problem with air compressors, and pneumatic components such as solenoids, and cylinders. As these devices age, the seals inside them become less efficient, and begin to leak. Since there is high air pressure present, these leaks come out as a thin, and almost invisible spray mist. Ok so now were aware of this mist, the question is, besides from being a little messy, is there any other concerns that we should be aware of. So we began to do some reading on this. We later discovered that inhaling this oil mist was a big concern in factories. But these articles were based on large industrial air compressors. Would this be a legitimate concern with a small air compressor? Since air compressors were not commonly used as a fixed appliance in a home, we could not find any studies on this. But it stands to reason that although home compressors are much smaller, houses are also much smaller than factories. So it would probably still be a comparative risk. We soon discovered that this health risk was such a big concern, that air compressor manufacturers were forced to deal with the concern. Than along came the oil less air compressor. We felt this was the answer to all of our problems. We quickly purchased one. (and by the way, the type of compressor recommended by the manufacturers of the SOMII is in fact an oil less compressor) So I really have to give them credit for that. Yet at the same time, they made a statement on their website, that really concerned us. On their website they state “any air compressor will work with the SOMII”. This to me, seems to be a rather careless statement. What they probably should have said, is that any air compressor will work with the SOMII if you are willing to ignore certain health risk. Click on the link below to learn more about the health risk of oil inhalation. Click on this link to read about the SOMII

When we discovered the existence of the oil less air compressor, we felt a tremendous since of relief. We really thought this would be the answer to all of our problems. We were able to start testing’s again, and all was going well. Than a few weeks later, we discovered yet another problem. This problem came in the form of an odor. The problem developed about 8 months into the testings. Upon a close investigation, we found the odor to be coming from yet another spray mist, coming out of the exhaust of the cylinder, and solenoid. This time the mist consisted of water which had built up in the air tank, and had a terrible odor to it. So, our question was, how did water get in the air tank? Again we had to do some reading. We soon found that this is a natural occurrence with air compressors. Humidity from the air is sucked into the compressor, and condenses inside the tank. This forms small puddles of water inside the tank. Our next question was, is there a health risk associated with this? After doing more reading , we discovered that the water in the tank combined with the heat generated by the compressor , makes a perfect breeding ground for bacteria's. As the water became infested with bacteria, it developed a terrible odor to it. And to think that this odor, and bacteria's were now being sprayed into the air with each stroke of our machine. Now keep in mind that this is happening all the time with air compressors today. Yet you hardly ever hear of a health concern. But most air compressors are used for a short period of time, maybe to hammer in some nails, than placed back into the garage. There is no research on what would happen if the air compressor was used daily in a home like other house hold appliances. Think about if the machine was used every day for 15 minutes a day, and with each stroke of the machine, it sprays this mist of bacteria. Again this may not be too significant if you only intended to sell a few of these machines for a quick profit. But what if you were in this for the long haul, and you intended to sell hundred are even thousands of these machine to be used in the home. All of a sudden, the risk factor has increased dramatically. Click on the following link to read more about the bacteria risk.

This was a major concern for us. One that we simply couldn't ignore. Than, as if to throw salt in the wound, at about the same time we discovered this spray mist, we discovered that our cylinder and solenoid was starting to stick. We called the manufacturers and asked about the sticking problems. They told us that these items require periodic oiling, and stated that there is usually enough oil coming from the air compressor itself to keep the parts lubricated. I than told them that I was using an oil less air compressor. They than recommended that we install an inline oiler to keep the solenoid, and cylinders lubricated. I thought, well if I do that, I will be right back to my oil spraying problem. And I'm still trying to figure out my water spraying problem. I knew there had to be an answer. Again I went back to the books to do some reading. I learned that hospitals were using oil less air compressors, and had dryer units installed to prevent the moisture build up in the tanks. I also discovered that Nasa was using oil less compressors with dryers in their space ships. Well this seemed like it would be the answer, get a dryer for the compressor. But after doing more reading, I later discovered that the compressors used in hospitals, and by nasa, were much more sophisticated and expensive, with built in dryers, and filters. They also required close monitoring, and maintenance in order to continue to do the job safely. So now we knew that a safe air compressor can be purchased for the home, but will the average home owner be able to maintain the unit properly to keep it safe? There is definitely a risk that some people would not understand the proper maintenance procedure. At the same time, we knew that with any kind of venture, there is a certain amount of risk. If the rewards is high enough, the risk can be justified. So less look at the rewards. In the case of hospitals, they are able to perform sophisticated surgeries, and save lives. In the case of Nasa, they were able to land a man on the moon. In our case, we were able to make it possible for people to have some good spanking fun inside their homes. Hmmm, in our minds, somehow the rewards simply didn't justify the risk. We also still had the problems with sticky solenoids, and cylinders. Not to mention, we had also discovered problems with the speed and intensity of the spank decreasing as the air pressure drops off. But the health risk is what really weighed heavily on our minds. If we were just going to build a handful of machines and sell them on Ebay, for a quick profit, we felt that we could probably do that without an incident. But as a responsible manufacturer that would build hundreds, and potentially thousands of these machines to be inside people homes, we felt this risk, no matter how small could not be justified. To make a long story short, we would not put anyone in harms way, for the sake of having fun. And we certainly would not put anyone in harms way for the sake of profit. We than knew that we had to build this machine using conventional mechanics. A few weeks later, we had a prototype of the electrical version of the Robospanker. It was bigger, and heavier than the pneumatic version. Our Pneumatic machine weighed about 35 lbs, and the electric machine weighs about 65 lbs. The extra weight actually came in handy. We found that the pneumatic machine was so light, that it moved with each strike. We didn't have this problem with the heavier machine. It had the added advantage of being more quiet. We now felt we had a product that we could sell with a clear conscious. A product that would be both fun, and safe. The Robospanker