SparkFun Electric Imp Breakout $17.48 The SparkFun Electric Imp breakout board makes it easy to experiment with your Electric Imp IoT project. ESP-12F AP+STA Remote Serial Port WIFI Controller / Module $9.38 The ESP8266 (ESP-12F AP+STA) is a nice "Internet of Things" microcontroller with Wifi (or as a Wifi bridge for your project) Adafruit Metro […]
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
BEP Application: Wilf Rigter Solar Power...
The following instructions detail how to build a Solar Power Smart Head version 3. The Head will seek light and when it finds the brightest source it will go into a low current standby mode. This version also comes with an low power FLED circuit to indicate when the head is active.
New Parts Available
We are now stocking the Microchip PIC16F877A microcontroller individually that is used in our K SV-PIC kit. It is a very versatile and powerful chip, and you don't even need to buy 1000 at a crack! As well, we are selling the motor that is straight out of the GM2/3/8/9. Dontcha just hate it when […]
PumLantern Lantern CC2.5 A-SA released!
Hi All. We've been having such fun with the PumLantern shells, we thought we'd share the love. Download the zipfile with several file formats under "resources" for the K PL kit! It's released under the Creative-Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 Canada license. We use a laser to cut ours out, but there's nothing saying a steady […]
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.