Guess what! Like every year, from May 19-20 Solarbotics is going to be at the Bay Area Maker Faire! Well, kinda. While we usually run a full booth to show off all our cool BEAM and Arduino stuff (we even ran a totally rockin' ARDX workshop last time), it unfortunately looks like costs have risen […]
Ardweeny Non-Clock, New (Mainly Battery)...
Dave Hrynkiw
March 23, 2012
It's that time of the week where we point to a pile of new things and exclaim "LOOKIT THAT!", before bouncing away on pogo sticks. We're kidding, of course. If we actually did that it'd be plain ol' absurd. First things first - a neat-o community project needs to come before that sweet, sweet pogo stick action.
Over at Instructables, TheRafMan has put together a neat walk through on how to make a Roll-A-Way-Rover. It's based on one of those alarm clocks with wheels that tries to drive away before you greet it in the morning with the customary (and groggy) smash aimed right at the snooze button. Instead, though, this user has de-clocked the clock, taking out the clock components and swapping it out for an array of other bits. With an Ardweeny for a heart/brain (that he has also modified), it has been re-engineered to be controllable by either a computer (via serial port) or Wii Nunchuck (via Nunchucky). Check out some video:
Overall it's a pretty elegant little hack, managing to squeeze some impressive functionality into a pretty tight form factor.
...so this is would now be the point where we say "LOOKIT THAT!" So, uh, yeah. LOOKIT THAT!
|
Arduino Ethernet Shield $45.95 USD / $48.25 CAD Intertoobs. Intarwebs. Series of tubes. Whatever. Connect your Arduino / Freeduino SB to your LAN, WAN, or whole darn Internet! |
 |
Adafruit USB/DC Lithium Polymer Batter Charger 5-12V - 3.7/4.2V Cell $17.95 Need a USB/DC method to charge your Lithium Polymer battery? This Adafruit charger is a tidy solution! |
 |
Low Sensitivity Unipolar Magnetic Hall Effect Switch $2.00 Hall effect sensors are sensitive to magnetic fields. In this case, the Melexis US5881LUA (flat TO-92 package) features a low sensitivity, unipolar design, meaning that it won't be affected by earth's magnetic field, and only responds to a change in one polarity. This particular model responds only to a South-pole magnetic field. |
 |
Polymer Lithium Ion Battery - 1500mAh 11.1v $12.95 This high discharge LiPo is a great way to power any R/C, robotic, or portable project. This is an excellent choice for anything that requires a small battery with a lot of punch. |
 |
Polymer Lithium Ion Battery - 2200mAh 7.4v $15.95 This high discharge LiPo is a great way to power any R/C, robotic, or portable project. This is an excellent choice for anything that requires a small battery with a lot of punch. |
 |
SparkFun PWM Shield $19.95 This is the Arduino shield version of our TLC5940 Breakout. The PWM Shield will allow you to generate up to 16 PWM signals from your Arduino by utilizing the power of the TLC5940 IC. |
Neato-o project from the community? Check. Cool new product stuff? Check. I believe there's only one thing left to do. COME FRIENDS, WE SHALL GO IN SEARCH OF THE WEEKEND. LET US MOUNT OUR POGO STICKS AND RIDE OFF INTO SUNSET!
/boing, boing, boing!
MORE POSTS
Solarbotics Antweight
Adam Conus sent us a nice little message about his antweight combat robot The Fly.: Western Allied Robotics is kicking off another year of antweight combat events and I need new motors. (Because I'm very, very hard on them!) Still, they're cheap and light. Check out- http://home.comcast.net/~conusa/adam.htm to see the robot complete with solarbotics sticker!
Wednesday Cool Links: The Flying Stuff, ...
Solarbotics and the Useless Box have been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article "Looking for Something Useful to Do With Your Time? Don't Try This"! It is dedicated to the historical overview of the uselessness starting with its invention in the 1950s to nowadays. The useless box can take many guises, names and materials […]
Web Links Tuesday
Magnetic storage reaches the atomic level The magnetic field of a single atom is read and written, but it's not very stable (Via ArsTechnica) Magnificent Cardboard Airships by Jeroen van Kesteren Beautifully crafted and intricate fantastic ships made of cardboard (Via Colossal) Google X Levi's touch-sensitive denim jacket Embedded conductive threads make it touch and […]
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.