U.S. Elections and Sumobots

The following instructions detail how to build a Servocore walker. A Servocore walker differs from a regular walker by utilizing the internal electronics in unmodified servos, which give position feedback from the motor in the servo. This position feedback allows for very long stride lengths without the use of mechanical stops or springs.

Last summer during a Solarbotics Robotics for Educators session, one of the teachers noted something about many of the mainstream robotics and electronics learning platforms commonly used in classrooms. He said that those platforms suffered from the Black Box Effect. This effect was where the “black boxes,” the controllers, were plugged into the computer and […]

Solarbotics held a few workshops and lectures at the MAKEr faire April 22/23rd. After giving a workshop, a nice man from Microsoft invited me over to see their BEAM robots. Obviously intregued, I found their display at the Microsoft pavilion where Microsoft encouraged all their engineers with "MAKE"-style hobbies to exhibit, including this squad of […]

Here's a link to a Smalltimes article where they interview Mark (and a few others) about using MEMS (or Micro Electromechanical Systems) in the toy industry. Read More...