Our annual Summer Fire Sale is in full swing! We’ve slashed the prices on our Robobuilder kits and select other robots and robot accessories! These sales are for a limited time only, and while supplies last, so jump on them quick. Click the link above for the full sale listing.
This Fire Sale was announced last Friday to those signed up for our newsletter giving them first dibs on these hot items. If you would like to be the first to know about this and future sales, be sure to sign up. It’s as simple as entering your email address on our Mailing List menu on the left side of our front page!
Here is a quick recap of some of the awesome robots and people we met at Robogames 2009! We had the opportunity to show off some of our creations as well as check out the innovative stuff others brought along to Robogames, to say it was merely inspirational would be an understatement. We’ll see you at Robogames 2010!
Do you ever find yourself in need of exactly 101 awesome Robot T-Shirts? Your long search is over thanks to the T-Shirt Blog, HIDEYOURARMS. This is quite possibly the single most comprehensive list of robot related torso wear the internets has ever seen, so I won’t bore you with the many reasons on why it is awesome. Instead, click the picture below and enjoy!
We’re rather lucky that we have such a large group of talented individuals in our community who are willing to share their progress and projects! A few recent projects have caught my eye so I wanted to share the wealth; some pure robotic goodness to be had here.
First up we have the infamous Zenta’s quadrapod robot project: Felix! Zenta has recently picked this project back up and teased us with a quick video of the bot walking. You can certainly see its Big Dog inspired walking gait and design.
WGhost9 is impressing us all with the professional machining skills displayed in his latest project, Beetlejuice. This is a hybrid hexapod with wheels on each end actuator, coupled with some fantastic craftsmanship on the shell that gives it a great aesthetic. It’s still a work in progress, but he is detailing each step he is taking in the project, definitely something to keep an eye on.
And last but not least, newcomer Upgrayd is detailing his quadrapod Mech build, “Second Amendment“. He is also posting as the project progresses, so the readers get a chance to see the thought process and inevitable mistakes that come along with any big robotics project. Can’t wait to see this bot at next year’s Mech Warfare!
After Year 1 of Mech Warfare, the competitors are busy working away to improve their bots, control scheme, weapons, etc… so it was only a matter of time before we would see someone adapting an iPhone to control their mech. Seeing as though the iPhone can be used for anything (Defibbing people, saving kittens from trees, backup generator for your house, etc), remotely controlling walking combat robots was the next logical step.
Builder Mannyr7 and his mech project CLYDE suffered some last minute setbacks that prevented him from competing at Year 1 (though he did show up to cheer us on and impress us with his professional airsoft gun setup), however he has taken the time to write up a tutorial and shoot a video on his latest iPhone control scheme. Definitely check it out, as its applicable to a variety of robots!
The iBotz line of educational robot kits are an ideal introduction for children ages 8 and up wanting to investigate the fascinating world of electronics and intelligent machines. Developed with the help of the Open University in the United Kingdom, these kits have a strong focus on teaching not only how to build the robot, but how the robot works. Detailed explanations of the circuitry driving the robot are examined, as well as what role the individual components play in the robot’s functionality.
We’ve been a bit quiet on the blog front as we are getting ready for Robogames 2009 in a little over a week and are furiously working away to finish up projects for demonstration. Our video production crew has been keeping busy also, and just finished up some new demonstration videos for the Phoenix Hexapod, showcasing its numerous features. This Hexapod continues to be one of our most popular sellers, definitely check it out!
Our video crew has been hard at work showcasing our various robotic products, and recently highlighted the Bioloid and Hexbug robots.
Is your house tidy? Are you lacking pesky insects in your kitchen? HEXBUGs are your solution!
Why deal with real insects when you can fill that void with these cute little robobugs! Hexbugs are tiny, cute, and make the perfect gift or desktoy for a geek near you! You can pick these up at our online store, as well as at our booth at Robogames 2009 in San Fransisco!
The Bioloid Comprehensive Kit is a tried and true humanoid kit, literally one of the most popular robot kits on the market. We put together a quick video highlighting some custom motions that can be easily programmed into the robot, as well as the new Zig-100 wireless controller. Stay tuned to our blog for an upcoming tutorial on how to make your Bioloid humanoid robot completely remote controlled and competition ready!
And as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’re at least in the million “word” range with our TRC Gallery. Over the past year our Community has grown considerably, and with it a really awesome collection of pictures from our various members’ projects! We highly recommend a look through if you’re the robot savvy type. Here are just a few choice pics to share:
Remember when we teased you with a stack of RX-64 servos? Well its time to unveil a bit more of what we’re working on for the upcoming Mech Warfare competition at Robogames 2009. Meet Hagetaka; a 7DOF per leg biped built around the powerful RX-64 servo from Robotis. This robot boasts 14 RX-64s, 2 RX-28s, a custom aluminum chassis machined by sponsor Big Blue Saw, an onboard linux based Gumstix computer with a PS3 Sixaxis controller , a WiFi video server using a Headplay Personal Cinema System for remote piloting, and of course dual automatic airsoft guns. Video and more info will be available in the near future, and be sure to check out the June issue of SERVO magazine for the first in a series of articles detailing the build process of this Mech.
