Unlike Sparkfun, who actually manage to find fake Atmel ICs, we just get strange batches. The Atmel ATMega328 is the power behind the Arduino/Freeduino/*duino, and we have to set up a programming system to burn the venerable Arduino Bootloader into these chips. We normally use an AVR STK500 in HVSP (high voltage serial programming) mode, […]
The 2004 Robotgames are over...
Dave Hrynkiw
May 17, 2004
...and it was fun! Solarbotics was busy, showing off our new kits and gear motors, and shaking hands with a large number of our customers.
Yeah, there weren't any "official" BEAM events, but we still had a good time running our Solarbotics-sponsored SolarSpeeder race, with the winner being 8(?) year old Devon Bateman (taking home a Sumovore kit), followed by Tom Gray (who loves HexPummers), and then Mike Ball (who gave his ScoutWalker 1 to 4th place winner Jessica Bateman).
Competition-wise, we did pretty good! Our own Grant McKee is the WCRG Advanced Mini-Sumo Champion with "Ender's Wraith" (which also won 2nd at Robolympics), with myself (Dave) taking 3rd with "2Strong2Bad" (hmmm... a repeat of Robolympics). Ah, at least I managed to FINALLY defeat Dave Hylands' "Marauder", although his new "Stinger" did manage 2nd. This time... It was worth noting that "Stinger" uses GM12's and K SMD motor drivers!
Sumovores did pretty well too. Our own stock "Sumovoracious" with an Atmel add-on board finished 5th at line-follower, followed by James Wilson's "The Hulk" (fully stock) Sumovore in 6th. "The Hulk" also won 1st at amateur mini-sumo!
For full event competition summaries, check here (don't blame me if the auto-page change goes to quick!). We'll see about pictures in the near future...
MORE POSTS
New Sanyo Gear motors
Wow! They're finally here! These are the original gear motors we used sooo many years ago to convert and power the Miniball kits (yes, they're under review for bringing back - don't rush us!). We're the only place to find the whole assortment of four gear ratios - 75.7, 134.5, 196.6, and 297.1:1 reduction, and […]
New Product: OPEN BEAM! (..and some othe...
We have a pretty darn big announcement for you today: we're now distributing Open Beam! It's a new handy-dandy construction system that got its start from Kickstarter, and is gaining a lot of immediate support. Right now, we're stocking all the items except for the kits, which we'll probably bring onboard in the near future. […]
Closed July 1st for Canada Day
On Tuesday July 1st 2014 we are closed for Canada Day. We will return to our regular phone calls answering and shipping next day on Wednesday. Happy 147th birthday, Canada.
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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.