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 GraviTrackafter 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.
It's a short week this week, so new product is coming early. We are closed Friday April 18th, which is hence called Good Friday. LilyPad Arduino SimpleSnap with LiPoly cell $29.95 This is the LilyPad Arduino SimpleSnap Board. It's controlled by an ATmega328 with the Arduino bootloader. It has fewer pins than the LilyPad Arduino […]
Well, we had a fun time at this year's Western Canadian Robot Games! Especially since Solarbotics' own Grant McKee won advanced minisumo with "Ender's Wraith", and although he also placed 2nd with "S.S. Solo" (but wasn't legally able to win 2 spots), the third place bump up went to...me! Dave Hrynkiw, with 2Strong2Bad! Besides the […]
BOY those are strange little screws on the face of the GM11-14 series of gear motors! 1.7mm diameter x 0.35mm thread pitch ain't a common bolt, but we found some 4mm long that we've made available for those of you looking for a precision method of mounting the motors. Check out part M1.7x0.35!
Did we forget to mention that we're currently closed for Canada Day? I think we did. So, yeah. We're not really around for the rest of today, but we'll be back in action tomorrow to return phone calls and emails and ship your orders. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to […]
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.