We've been having fun playing with the L293D driver chip. It's one of those things to see how much you can make it do by itself (like with any BEAM application!). Grant McKee has been experimenting with some simple additions to the chip to make it (unto itself) a suitable brain for a simple mini-sumo […]
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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Freeduino, Freeduino, Freeduino!
The whole 'duino thing is just so much to say, we've got to do it three times. Blame Jerome, our intern... We've got Freeduino version 2.2 back from the assembly line today, and all tests out beeeautifully! New features include an SMD-mounted 16MHz crystal, better power-consumption circuit routing (for battery-operated projects), and "hacking pads" for […]
Lower gear ratio motors!
We're happy to announce another variant of gearmotor. Like the GM2/GM3 but with a gear ratio of 143:1, they run approximately 175% the output speed! - these are ideal for applications like minisumos, linefollowers and other wheeled devices. Check the "New Items" listing on the left side for details, or view them directly here: GM8 […]
Dave Hylands is only a marginal friend o...
Although he has purchased from us, and used our products (the "Secret Motor Driver") in his prize-winning minisumo "Stinger", we, as Solarbotics officially declare Mr. Hylands only "marginal" friend. You see, Solarbotics sent a few of our robots to the University of Northern Idaho's mail-in minisumo contest, and again he's served our own tuckus back […]
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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.