Any News on Griot`s Garage NEW Full-size GR6 Rotary?

[Lonnie]

So this thread is an extension of the thread:
https://www.autopia.org/forums/griot-s-garage/191919-huh-griots-rotary.html

I see the GR3 mini-rotary has been on sale for a while, but I have not heard anything about the GR6 (assuming that is the model name with the "6" meaning 6" backing plate). I also see that there are pads in Griots website that seem to "fit" and be offered for this up-coming rotary. So where is the rotary machine?

Not that I am impatient for its availability or even contemplating buying such a buffing machine. I just wonder if the timing is right to bring such a machine to market with the COVID pandemic, if there are manufacturing delays because of said pandemic, too much competition in that market segment, or if there even is a market for such a rotary that has Griot`s second-guessing itself. I really do not know and I hate to be the fabricator of "fake news" and hearsay.

Hey, we`ve been down this road before about a new buffer coming to market with LC Power Tools UDOS 4 in 1 Random Orbit Polisher, only to wait almost three years for it to come to market:
https://www.autopia.org/forums/mach...able-stroke-polishing-machine.html?highlight=
I am hoping that history is not repeating itself.

 

[Rsurfer]

So did you buy a UDOS? If so, how do you like it?

 

[Accumulator]

Heh heh..right when [today`s aggressive products] have made serious correction quick and easy, and automakers have made their cc so thin...here comes a resurgence of interest in rotaries...and from the same people who said they were the Devil back when that was the only way for time-efficient correction on those then-thick clears!

 

[Lonnie]

So did you buy a UDOS? If so, how do you like it?

Nope, did not buy one, nor will I at this point. Great idea, as I noted in the 2nd thread link in this first post, but the purchase price (Manufacturer`s Suggested Retail Price or MSRP) and weight of this buffer kind of made up my mind.
It`s a very good question : Who has bought the UDOS and what are their experiences and opinions about this revolutionary buffer? Not sure if their is a market for it, seeing that cordless buffers are the current market trend right now, and those Autopians who have such cordless buffers REALLY like them, despite the "sizable investment" of such buffers itself, the battery packs and recharger base.

Back to the Griot`s Garage GR6:
Is this new buffer designed and priced for professionals OR the hobbyist or both?
I would THINK it is being marketed for the more "serious" hobbyist or professional who will use this buffer perhaps daily or more frequently and will be a more "robust" design to handle this constant use, BUT I would also assume it follows in the design vein of being similar to the now-available GR3.

Side note: here`s what I wrote in a post about "features" I`d like to see in a buffer/polisher (Don`t laugh too much! I was a mechanical designer)
As long as we are dreaming or sky-blue (AKA outside-the-box) thinking about features we (I) would like to see in a polishing machine, here is my list of features/items I think would benefit the end-user:
1) Digital read-out of RPMs or a stall-warning on DA`s
2) Digital read-out of force being applied (like incorporating a load cell)
3) Digital read-out of pad temperature.
4) Digital Paint Thickness Gauge readout as you polish
5) Data-gathering telemetry computer program of the above"polishing data" items, along with micro-GPS locations of the machine (speed and movement), for statistical analytics of how the polishing was done (great training tool of polishing techniques. Think Formula 1 racing data and how it analyzes the driver at a track during the race for improvement)
OR a head-up clear glasses (like wrap-around safety glasses) display of that data as the detailer/operator uses the polisher
6) Quick-change backplate sizes
7) Voice command with a user-definable "name" for your machine (Roboto, power On. Roboto, change the speed to xxx PRMs. Roboto, change the stroke to rotary)
8) High torque, low watt/amp usage brush-less rare-earth magnet motors (electrical efficiency)
9) Air-bearing or magnetic-levitation bearing spindle (near-frictionless)
10) Titanium or ultra-composite metal/fiber frame for less weight (I did not say it would be cheap!)
11) Wireless or wi-fi power-source (no cord, no battery pack)

Geeze, Captain Obvious, why not a polishing machine robot with Artificial Intelligence that will do the correcting and polishing for you, including selecting the pad size and type and dispense the polish or compound. George Jetson would be proud...(Google it; you will laugh at the reference. Remember I am old(er))

Edit: After looking at all the polisher data info I wanted displayed, the polisher would need to have a "dashboard" of digital read-outs that rival most sports cars OR have a single LED readout display that is user-selectable OR can be allowed to scroll through the display of the various data info at user-defined time intervals. As we in engineering used to say of any conceivably impossible design idea, "Go ahead, Edison; invent one."