New Product Friday: Slip and Slide
Tons of new stuff this week including some Actobotics kits, robot parts, and more.
You want new products? That's good, because we have quite a few this week! We even have some new robotics stuff, and everyone loves robots, right? Check out the video, and then brace yourself for the new stuff below.
Wasn't that fun? Slip rings are really cool and definitely solve a difficult problem in robotics.
Want to start messing around with Actobotics but have no idea where to even begin? Why not check out the Actobitty? It's a small an simple robotic platform that uses two motors for motion and a central channel for attaching sensors and other goodies. It even comes with these clever little clips that allow you to attach an Arduino to the top. It comes as a kit and assembles easily and can interface with all other Actobotics products.
Need something a bit bigger and off-roadier? Check out the 4WD off-road chassis. Like the Actobitty, it has all Actobotics products, but is quite a bit more substantial. It has a pivoting suspension, plenty of room for batteries, controllers, and other electronics and uses 4 heavy duty planetary gearhead motors. Check the video and watch Casey try to break them. Casey approves, and Casey knows motors.
OK, so maybe robots aren't your thing, that's cool. We don't judge (well, maybe Casey will). What about cameras? This week we have a camera slider kit from Actobotics. It uses a 24" channel, a timing belt, and some pulleys to create a simple motorized slider (motor not included). You can use any of the Actobotics motors or even attach a NEMA 17 stepper with an adapter plate.
So. Now you have all this really cool Actobotics stuff, but you want to make this crazy robotic arm thing. But how do you make the arm rotate 360 degrees while still maintaining an electrical connection? Two words: slip rings. Slip rings are simple electromechanical devices that have a set of wires on each side, and allow you to spin assemblies while maintaining electrical connections. Check out the video above for a demonstration. We have them in 3 flavors. We have a 12 wire and 6 wire (both capable of 2A), and a 3 wire capable of 15A.
Remember those little clips on the ActoBitty for connecting your Arduino? We have those as separate products. They don't require tools, you just snap them on the channel, and snap in your board. We have a pair of them for both Arduino boards and for the Raspberry Pi.
Last, but definitely not least, we have some new hookup wire. This isn't just any ordinary hookup wire, this is super flexible silicone jacketed wire. It's great at abrasion resistance, heat resistance and is extremely flexible. We have it in both black and red, 30 awg, 24 awg, and 12 awg, in lengths of 1, 5, and 10 meters. Check here for all the lengths, colors, and sizes.
That's it for this week folks. Thanks for reading, watching, and just coming to the site to hang out. Of course, we'll be back again next week with more new products, see you then.
