We're proud to announce that we just got our shipment of 'Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels' tonight! The first 100 books will come signed by Dave Hrynkiw, and come with a free GM2 or GM3 gearmotor!
We often work with people with very interesting projects. This time, it's an impressive Iron Man MkIII costume build, by Phillip Vatour of Calgary.
Phillip had come into our offices one day and said: "You might be interested in seeing what I've been building with the stuff I buy here...". He pulled out his phone and handed over his photo gallery. Flip..."Nice Iron Man gauntlet" ....flip..."Nice Arc reactor" ...flip... "HOLY CRAP - that's a video of a functional visor-flipping helmet!"
We were so impressed by his build, we invited Phillip and his family to the 2016 Calgary Comic Expo as a keynote display at the Solarbotics booth. He'd spend several hours each day, suiting up and posing for photos, while explaining his build. He's one of a handful of builders in the world with such a fully-featured Iron Man costume, so we were very happy to work with him at the show. We were very happy to arrange a photo-op with Stan Lee (creator of the "Iron Man" character), as this was to be Mr. Lee's last Comic Expo appearance. Mr. Lee was apparently quite impressed by the quality of the suit, as were his staff attending the photo op.
What's particularly notable about Phillip's efforts is that he doesn't rent out his time or make paid appearances. He volunteers for the Make-a-Wish foundation and the Calgary Children's Hospital, making appearances as Iron Man for the kids. We were happy to help out by promoting a donation bucket to help Phillip pay for ongoing costume upgrades and maintenance (apparently Iron Man costume molds aren't cheap!).
Phillip designed the costume to have quite an array of features, which are fairly independent of each other. A tech-costume of this complexity can often have some failures, so this design allows the majority of the suit to stay functional if a single element is damaged. Of course, this means there's a multitude of batteries to maintain, and Phillip has a full check-list to cover during suit-up and servicing.
We produced an informational flyer we gave out at the show, available here as a pdf (Ironman Phillip Vautour information sheet).
We're proud to announce that we just got our shipment of 'Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels' tonight! The first 100 books will come signed by Dave Hrynkiw, and come with a free GM2 or GM3 gearmotor!
Ok, more like The Northern light. There's only one, but it creates lots of light! We made the SB-Firefly as a ATtiny85-based blinky light / "chewing-gum & duct-tape problem solver", that is also Digispark compatible. We made the Star Controller 3-watt RGB LED kit as an easy way to tame bright and power-hungry LEDs. We […]
Thanks to Roger K. (that pinky-ring wearing devil - congrats!), we've got a new pic of the Tildenator with his roboraptor in the press: Mark Tilden and the "RoboRaptor" Get it while it's hot - this link may go stale soon 'nuff...
Sometimes we get the opportunity to help out select people who are developing projects for a good cause. One of those things dear to our hearts is inspiring children with science and electronics. So when John Porter came to us looking for a hand to make a musical gear project as part of an exhibit […]
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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.