Got a new kit for you - the K SMD L293D Motor Driver. No, no, the SMD isn't "surface mount" - it's the Secret Motor Driver! This L293D-based motor driver fits secretly inside most standard servo cases like the Futaba S3003/S148, and our own GM4 gear motors. It replaces the low-voltage original electronics with LED-indicated, […]
Frogbots! Solar-powered, at that!
Dave Hrynkiw
December 15, 2000
I missed the full segment of this story last weeks on "Discovery Channel's @discovery.ca" program, but fortunately, the've put the segment online at their website. I seems that JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories - NASA essentially) is working on a solar-powered, single-footed robot frog. This seems like a GREAT idea for extra-terrestrial planet-surface locomotion. Check out the videos and see for yourself. Additional information at Space.com Even more technical information is here and here, in these Adobe Acrobat files from one of the researchers, Paulo Fiorini. Here's his homepage. And this is his dedicated Frogbot hompage - lots of interesting info!
Oh, and if you scroll to the bottom of the Discovery Channel / EXN page, you'll find a nice video clip of our favorite Roboticist, Mark Tilden. They shot this a few years ago, and I'm glad to see they resurrected it to be on this page.
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Wednesday Links: Robot Light Painting, M...
Masking tape and storytelling! Calcium pills and Scandinavian gods! Stop signs and distant relatives. None of the above mentioned things are going to be featured in this post, although they are extremely noteworthy. But all the things in the universe are interconnected, so there's still a chance that this stuff will make sense for someone. […]
Solar Eclipse at SB
Today August 21, 2017, we were treated to about 80% solar eclipse. In spite of the smoke, the weather cooperated so we couldn't miss this event. Pinhole projector boxes were made out of cereal and shipping boxes: Fancy ones were mounted onto a tripod, and a phone camera recording a time lapse video was taped to […]
Spyder Detail Pictures
One of the most popular BEAM Walkers ever built was Mark Tilden's VBug 1.1 - Spyder. We've recently had the opportunity to shoot a series of high-resolution detail pictures of this robot, which we're now making available to you!
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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.