Painted GraviTrack

Solar botics
March 5, 2018

We always enjoy seeing our products being modified, revamped and DIY-ed, as well as the results of these transformations.

Our customer Vera Kark provided us with some thoughtful feedback on adding mechanical tweaks to improve our Solar GraviTrack build and documentation. She also painted the brown MDF of the machine. She used tempera paint on the wood components still in panelized form, and the GraviTrack's performance seemed to be unaffected. 

The GraviTrack looks great in vibrant jewel tone colours, however, we do not recommend applying paint to the hand mechanism itself. You can paint the base and the rails, avoiding the hand mechanism completely. The moisture and the thickness of the paint might affect the precise tolerances of the moving parts, and will interfere with its proper functioning. Another relatively safe option might be felt tip marker since the moisture from alcohol evaporates quickly.

 

Photos & video by Vera Kark

P.S. Also, a particularly bad idea is painting your GraviTrack after the assembly is completed. Even though we were using a very watered down acrylic paint, the mechanism seized up the moment the paint became sticky. Don't be like us. Take care of your GraviTrack.

A portrait of a sad stuck GraviTrack

MORE POSTS

March 15, 2011
Zendulums for Japan

Effective immediately, all the proceeds from the sale of Zendulum kits will be going to the Red Cross efforts in Japan. We'll change up the Zendulum laser artwork to note it as such shortly, and post the new pic. (Done!) Fractured Hinomaru inspired by James White's "Help Japan" poster.

September 18, 2003
Solarbotics at RoboMaxx, Robothon

We're making the trip out to Robomaxx in Grants Pass, Oregon October 11-12. Gonna be there? Hunt down the dude in the cowboy hat wearing the "Solarbotics" Shirt. That'll be me. Maybe I'll have samples of our gearmotors burning a hole in my pocket. If it isn't me, tell him to give back my hat […]

July 13, 2001
Solarcell Analysis - part 1

We've been working on testing our Sunceram Solarcells for real-world performance. Our first test is under direct sunlight, and we tried our best to get accurate data under ideal conditions - summer solstice, during the brightest hours of the day. As we're located in Calgary (lat:51.050N), Canada, you may get slightly different results due to […]

February 6, 2007
GM Motors used in humanoid arm

Here's a link to a neat project featuring our GM gear motors in several spots in a humanoid arm mechanism. Very cool! Read More...

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

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.

cart