Lotsa Inventory, BeetleBot Reviews

Wowza. It's been a a busy couple of weeks. So let's get the big thing out of the way, alright?

All inventory from HVWTech.com has been added to Solarbotics.com! Seriously. We got a million more categories to match the bajillion more items we've added, but it's all there. We've even cleaned up some of the bugs, so everything should be working properly. If you stumble across a broken link or any other issues, please feel free to let us know. We ballpark that we've brought across more than 350 products, which is, quite frankly, nuts. We're so glad we can offer you so much inventory, but we're also so glad that we're done bringing all of those items across. It was a lot of work. So take a look at what's there, and enjoy!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! On top of bringing over all the existing items, we've also been adding a fistful of brand-new ones.  We just got a big shipment in from ThingM, which tops up our BlinkM supply and also adds the new MinM. Some other highlights include super-useful Pololu wheels and some kits from DaleWheat.com for making purdy, blinking lights. Check it all out:

• BlinkM MinM
• Pan & Tilt Bracket Kit
• Getting Started with Processing
• 433 MHz RF Transceiver
• MicroSD Shield (new version)
• Pololu 60x8mm Black Wheel Pair
• Pololu 70x8mm Black Wheel Pair
• Pololu 80x10mm Black Wheel Pair
• Pololu 90x10mm Black Wheel Pair
• tinyCylon kit
• Lux Spectralis
• Wee Blinky

And in other news, we've started to receive some reviews for the BeetleBot. If you aren't quite sure about the kit, take a read through one of these links and get a point of view from someone else:

• Louis/DutchBot from Lets Make Robots
• Antony from Robotixlab
• Bruce from the Pictou County Electronics Club

Even if you aren't interested in the Beetle, be sure to check out those sites - they have lots of great resources and information for robotics and electronics. We'd just like to quickly thank our reviewers for their hard work and excellent write-ups.

Around the office, Dave is playing with the new pick and place machine (that's #3, if anyone's keeping count) and yours-truly is the second fastest motor-tray loader in the west, behind none other than Cheryl "The Speed Demon" Hrynkiw herself (we've been holding time trials in the office to see who can load rig for 120 GM9's the quickest for branding in the laser. Sorry Dave, I just robbed you of a top 3 finish and gave Tom the boot from 2nd). On a sadder note, Vinny in sales/order processing has moved on from the company. We'll miss him. Being under the constant fear of having our kneecaps mercilessly crushed for the slightest mis-step is something we definitely won't miss, however. All kidding aside, we wish him all the best with his next endeavour.

And that about wraps things up for another week. Autumn is slowly creeping up on us, so get out there and enjoy the last few drops of summer before it dries up.