Ok, we were fed up with the strange pinouts on the L298 motor driver, and decided to do something about it. The result is the Solarbotics L298 Compact Motor Driver. It happens to be the same size as a BEP tile, offers four status LEDs, plugs for easy wiring, and screw terminals for motor and […]
New GMPW Wheels!
Dave Hrynkiw
June 21, 2007
No more rubber band tires for us! We've invested in getting our very own wheels made for us, with molded-on thermoplastic rubber wheels!
These wheels are slightly larger in diameter than the old style, measuring 69.2mm (2.72") diameter and 7.65mm (0.30") wide. Ah, but how good are they? They're definitely better than the old style! We know from head-to-head tests that these have better traction than the rubber-band tires (definitive numbers are coming...). We've also spun them up on our lathe to see how true the mold process is, and they're quite true - no visible wobbling!
A new enhancement is a built-in opto-reflector 32-step pattern! Built to be bolt-on compatible with the Wheel-Watcher series of wheel-encoders, all you have to do is paint the groove white (for dark plastic wheels), and scrape away the raised surfaces to generate a sharp, accurate 32-stripe pattern!
Did we mention that there was no increase in price for all these enhancements too?
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Closed May 21, New Product Friday
Here in Canada, we think those plucky British monarchs are pretty swell. So swell that to this day we still celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday every year on the Monday before May 25th. The fact that Queen Victoria died waaaay back in 1901 doesn't seem to phase us at all. We're pretty hardcore that way. So […]
Fire Stuff, Light Stuff, New Stuff
We don't know about you, but we're ushering in the New Year with a BANG. That's the sound our metaphorical sledgehammer of rage made while we beat the snot out of our internal server this week, after it refused to come into 2012 in an operational status. Fortunately, our crack IT squad has patched up […]
Interesting stuff at the Exploratorium
Not exactly relevant to BEAM, but an interesting distraction: Here's some interesting media from the San Francisco Exploratorium. Notable media to watch is their "Iron Science Teacher" competition (familiar with "The Iron Chef? Same idea...), and their hosting of Robot Sumo Wrestling.
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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.