With so many Penguins out there, it will be exciting to see all the new apps developed for it! I drew up some plans the other night for a new Penguin Persona. I got stuck on it a year ago and had to shelve the idea, but periodically tried to get past it. I never had any luck, being stuck after the first program app idea. Suddenly, two nights ago I got the inspiration from this thread to review the project again and realized in the back of my mind, all the challenges were solved! So I sacrificed a night of sleep to document all of it and ended up with not just one solution but a total of eight solutions! It's always very exciting and educational to have fun working on a new Penguin project. The best part of any project is sharing it with others.
Lol! I got a shipment notification from UPS telling me there was going to be an important delivery on the 15th. I thought wow, what is Parallax sending me and WHY? ...oh yeah, it's the Penguins!
Lol! I got a shipment notification from UPS telling me there was going to be an important delivery on the 15th. I thought wow, what is Parallax sending me and WHY? ...oh yeah, it's the Penguins! Rich H
Rich! Wow! You're the first person to receive a Penguin from the special offer. Now if we have any questions about Penguin, we can ask you.
Lol! I got a shipment notification from UPS telling me there was going to be an important delivery on the 15th. I thought wow, what is Parallax sending me and WHY? ...oh yeah, it's the Penguins!
Mine are also due on the 18th as well. But I'm on the right coast, so I imagine they were all sent out the same day. That's good timing because next weekend is a long weekend, so I should have some time to dig into fixing one of them.
I have the rechargeable batteries and a battery eliminator, but don't know when the Penguins will arrive. Probably will take a while considering I'm on the flip side of the world.
I have the rechargeable batteries and a battery eliminator, but don't know when the Penguins will arrive. Probably will take a while considering I'm on the flip side of the world.
Mine are due on the 15th and it's perfect timing. I just finished my propeller odyssey and am finishing my install in the Children's museum today. I'll be looking for a new project while I am thinking about my next sculpture and parallax came to the rescue...
No notification here also.
Just keeping the faith.
We (American public in general) are so used to instant gratification, that if we don't get immediate feedback, we start to worry.
I'm sure the penguin give away was handle differently than the normal store bought process.
Probably none of the automated computer generated files.
I guess we're like a bunch of kids in a candy shop. . . or is it a pack of wolves when it comes to a penguin giveaway? I had just received my first propeller when I saw the post about the march of the penguins. I may have a sensory overload when my penguins arive.
I've never had a problem with "the normal store bought process". Parallax is tops when it comes to customer service. These guys are real professionals. Trust me, I know it when I see it. I work for a company that has spent thousands of dollars beating customer service into my head.
Neither have I. How long does it take a penguin to fly to Mars?
I know you're joking but seriously, a Penguin has left the Earth. I have launched my Penguin as part of an amateur space program. It's something accomplished on a poor man's budget with common parts to get into near space and comply with the rules and regulations of the China government in the region where I travel. The work on the Robot Brain is taking up my time now, but in the future I plan to open up a Penguin page about it. I'm anxioiusly waiting for my new Penguins too because they have more ports and can be trained do new stuff and learn new tricks..
As you can see in the photo, a Chinese charger was packaged with the batteries. The charger is made by Great Power, ICR123A, Model number PH-1CR123A-3.0, RATED 12V DC 130mA AND 3.6V DC 200mA. The wall transformer will unplug from the charger for external use. It's model number HA0036A rated at 220 volts (we are on a 220 volt standard in China) at 50Hz 4.0W Input, Output 12V DC 150mA.
I created a photo battery eliminator for Penguin. It eliminates the expensive batteries and provides a line to a pack of inexpensive batteries alkaline batteries. This was my favorite when developing Penguin code. At sometime I want to mount the battery pack on the Penguin and run it with the inexpensive batteries. It also had the switch option to remove the batteries and power the Penguin from a power supply. There is also the option to install rechargeable batteries and charge those during Penguin use.
There's also a power pack that was developed for Penguin, which uses a power supply and no batteries. To build this I just used available parts in my parts box (power supply, cables, etc.). I'm not sure where those links are located. I'm busy making a new Penguin index to all programs and work at my signature seen below (under construction).
I guess we're like a bunch of kids in a candy shop. . . or is it a pack of wolves when it comes to a penguin giveaway? I had just received my first propeller when I saw the post about the march of the penguins. I may have a sensory overload when my penguins arive.
I've never had a problem with "the normal store bought process". Parallax is tops when it comes to customer service. These guys are real professionals. Trust me, I know it when I see it. I work for a company that has spent thousands of dollars beating customer service into my head.
As a quick update (I should have more details tomorrow), not necessarily all of the penguins have been shipped.
Also, the notices that have been sent out are for UPS shipments, and must have come from Parallax's internal records, as I didn't include e-mail address fields in the data I sent to California. This means that if you didn't get a notice, there are three possibilities:
Your pair of Penguins didn't ship yet.
Your Penguins shipped, but not via UPS (e.g. you had a PO Box, or international address).
Your Penguins shipped via UPS, but Parallax was unable to match your shipping information with an e-mail address in their system.
I should have more details sometime tomorrow. Ken was out of the office today, and I didn't want to bother any of the other folks with this.
(I'm guessing that delivery to Mars is only a little longer than to Pittsburgh, I just hope there aren't any problem caused by the solar wind on the way there.)
(I'm guessing that delivery to Mars is only a little longer than to Pittsburgh, I just hope there aren't any problem caused by the solar wind on the way there.)
Mars will come into Opposition on March 3, 2012 in the constellation Leo. Two days later, on March 5, 2012, the planet will have its closest approach to Earth during this apparition: 100.78 million km (0.6737 AU). This is close to the least close, or largest value, as Mars will be considerably close to the aphelion of its orbit, which it will have passed just on February 15, 2012. Opposition occurs close to Northern Summer/Southern Winter Solstice on Mars, which takes place on March 30, 2012, so that Earth will be at high northern declination from Mars, and the Martian North Pole will be in good view from Earth. A little farther away than Pittsburgh..
Not only is solar wind a concern, but errant asteroids (some suspect they are launched by aliens from remote sites)..
As of this morning, all the Penguins except for about 5 pairs were shipped out. Those 5 pairs required manual intervention due to international addresses, PO Boxes, etc. Those are in process, and will be leaving Rocklin, California latter today!
As many packages as possible were shipped via UPS (lower costs), the balance are being shipped USPS. The notices that have been sent out are for UPS shipments, and have come from Parallax's internal records. This means that if you didn't get a notice, there are (as of latter today) two possibilities:
Your Penguins shipped, but not via UPS (e.g. you had a PO Box, or international address).
Your Penguins shipped via UPS, but Parallax was unable to match your shipping information with an e-mail address in their system.
All Penguins destined to locations in the US of A should be delivered either this week, or the first half of next week. International shipments are your best guess, but it's safe to assume that they were shipped today, February 15th.
(The delivery to Mars has been routed through a newly found wormhole, and may make record time.)
We have touchdown. The penguins have landed in Mars. Thank you to everyone that made this possible.
Now my ethical dilema: How do I explain to my Boe Bot, recently upgraded to a Propeller Bot, that I will be spending a lot of time with 2 new robot twins?
We have touchdown. The penguins have landed in Mars. Thank you to everyone that made this possible. Now my ethical dilema: How do I explain to my Boe Bot, recently upgraded to a Propeller Bot, that I will be spending a lot of time with 2 new robot twins?
Mine's an international shipment. I just checked. No news about shipping yet. I'll keep you posted.. any other intl. locations have news of shipment?
I don't think there will be any "shipping notices" for international (or any non-UPS) shipments. Please keep in mind, that absolutely NO money went to Parallax, and Parallax is contributing all the Penguins, the rework kits, and even the shipping costs.
Those that got shipment notices only got them as an automated part of the shipping process, and only if the system was able to match their shipping information with records on file.
So, the natural question becomes, how do I know if my birds flew the coop? There isn't an easy answer, but let's make life simple. Most (all) of you have ordered from Parallax before, or should have some idea how long a package takes to get through shipping, customs, brokers, etc. So make the worst case assumption, and figure your Penguins got shipped on February 16th. (They almost certainly got shipped sooner than that.) Add your normal UPS or USPS shipping time as appropriate, and then add a few days or, for international shipments, add a week. If you haven't seen birds by then, report back here, and we'll see what we can find out.
Please do not contact Parallax. Part of the deal here was offloading the administration from Parallax, and they have been fantastic. Also, this has been handled "off line" and "out of the loop", so the normal tools that support staff would use to check on things simply will not work.
If we see a problem or two, I'll get them collected up, and forwarded to the appropriate folks at Parallax, and get the answers back. Please feel free to either post here or send me a PM. The "penguins@" address is shut down, so that won't work (feel free to send anything there, but realize the only reply you'll get is "no such number" :-) ).
OH - Those that got your birds already, anyone done the fix yet? I plan on running mine with the USB cable attached to start with, then I'll get brave.
The "penguins@" address is shut down, so that won't work (feel free to send anything there, but realize the only reply you'll get is "no such number" :-) ).
OH - Those that got your birds already, anyone done the fix yet? I plan on running mine with the USB cable attached to start with, then I'll get brave.
This sounds like a rational thought; one that I plan to follow through with.
Comments
Rich H
Got my notice also - due on the 18th!
Now we need to find a deal on rechargable batteries for the Penguins.
What batteries and charger do you have?
Do you have a link to them?
-Tim
Just keeping the faith.
We (American public in general) are so used to instant gratification, that if we don't get immediate feedback, we start to worry.
I'm sure the penguin give away was handle differently than the normal store bought process.
Probably none of the automated computer generated files.
I've never had a problem with "the normal store bought process". Parallax is tops when it comes to customer service. These guys are real professionals. Trust me, I know it when I see it. I work for a company that has spent thousands of dollars beating customer service into my head.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?97288-Penguin-Resources/page2
As you can see in the photo, a Chinese charger was packaged with the batteries. The charger is made by Great Power, ICR123A, Model number PH-1CR123A-3.0, RATED 12V DC 130mA AND 3.6V DC 200mA. The wall transformer will unplug from the charger for external use. It's model number HA0036A rated at 220 volts (we are on a 220 volt standard in China) at 50Hz 4.0W Input, Output 12V DC 150mA.
I created a photo battery eliminator for Penguin. It eliminates the expensive batteries and provides a line to a pack of inexpensive batteries alkaline batteries. This was my favorite when developing Penguin code. At sometime I want to mount the battery pack on the Penguin and run it with the inexpensive batteries. It also had the switch option to remove the batteries and power the Penguin from a power supply. There is also the option to install rechargeable batteries and charge those during Penguin use.
There's also a power pack that was developed for Penguin, which uses a power supply and no batteries. To build this I just used available parts in my parts box (power supply, cables, etc.). I'm not sure where those links are located. I'm busy making a new Penguin index to all programs and work at my signature seen below (under construction).
Also, the notices that have been sent out are for UPS shipments, and must have come from Parallax's internal records, as I didn't include e-mail address fields in the data I sent to California. This means that if you didn't get a notice, there are three possibilities:
I should have more details sometime tomorrow. Ken was out of the office today, and I didn't want to bother any of the other folks with this.
(I'm guessing that delivery to Mars is only a little longer than to Pittsburgh, I just hope there aren't any problem caused by the solar wind on the way there.)
Not only is solar wind a concern, but errant asteroids (some suspect they are launched by aliens from remote sites)..
I got the same info in my inbox! Yay!
As of this morning, all the Penguins except for about 5 pairs were shipped out. Those 5 pairs required manual intervention due to international addresses, PO Boxes, etc. Those are in process, and will be leaving Rocklin, California latter today!
As many packages as possible were shipped via UPS (lower costs), the balance are being shipped USPS. The notices that have been sent out are for UPS shipments, and have come from Parallax's internal records. This means that if you didn't get a notice, there are (as of latter today) two possibilities:
- Your Penguins shipped, but not via UPS (e.g. you had a PO Box, or international address).
- Your Penguins shipped via UPS, but Parallax was unable to match your shipping information with an e-mail address in their system.
All Penguins destined to locations in the US of A should be delivered either this week, or the first half of next week. International shipments are your best guess, but it's safe to assume that they were shipped today, February 15th.(The delivery to Mars has been routed through a newly found wormhole, and may make record time.)
Now my ethical dilema: How do I explain to my Boe Bot, recently upgraded to a Propeller Bot, that I will be spending a lot of time with 2 new robot twins?
Now to try my smd repair techniques out.
once I acquire some.....
I got me a Gordak952 to work with.
I don't think there will be any "shipping notices" for international (or any non-UPS) shipments. Please keep in mind, that absolutely NO money went to Parallax, and Parallax is contributing all the Penguins, the rework kits, and even the shipping costs.
Those that got shipment notices only got them as an automated part of the shipping process, and only if the system was able to match their shipping information with records on file.
So, the natural question becomes, how do I know if my birds flew the coop? There isn't an easy answer, but let's make life simple. Most (all) of you have ordered from Parallax before, or should have some idea how long a package takes to get through shipping, customs, brokers, etc. So make the worst case assumption, and figure your Penguins got shipped on February 16th. (They almost certainly got shipped sooner than that.) Add your normal UPS or USPS shipping time as appropriate, and then add a few days or, for international shipments, add a week. If you haven't seen birds by then, report back here, and we'll see what we can find out.
Please do not contact Parallax. Part of the deal here was offloading the administration from Parallax, and they have been fantastic. Also, this has been handled "off line" and "out of the loop", so the normal tools that support staff would use to check on things simply will not work.
If we see a problem or two, I'll get them collected up, and forwarded to the appropriate folks at Parallax, and get the answers back. Please feel free to either post here or send me a PM. The "penguins@" address is shut down, so that won't work (feel free to send anything there, but realize the only reply you'll get is "no such number" :-) ).
OH - Those that got your birds already, anyone done the fix yet? I plan on running mine with the USB cable attached to start with, then I'll get brave.
This sounds like a rational thought; one that I plan to follow through with.