*******My previous listing was canceled due to an error in listing and coincidently sold outside of ebay in the interest of more money going to charity and less going to fees, I have been contacted by other enthusists that participated in the parallax promotion, to list birds for them as well so depending on if i continue to be contacted there may be additional birds available after this one *********
Another Blue Penguin is alive and well in MA. Red Penguin is waiting for some parts - allegedly these things can eat them in shipment if it takes too long!!
Big Dog isn't sure what to think about it. He has been struggling with the visiting Gerbil (grandkids on vacation), now he's REALLY tweaked by this thing that backs away when he approaches it. Can't wait to see how he reacts when it makes noises!
I got mine as well But one of the Servos is not working.... Does anyone know what I should do?
The servos are standard micro servos and can be purchased from Parrallax or at your local hobby shop. The item number for Parallax is Item code item# 900-00014 and cost $11.99.
Hi Humanoido, Yha I got them, but kind of annoyed that one of the servos don't work. I assembled one of them, and am having problem attaching the black plastic stride linkage, so the legs are centered. Any Ideas?
Hi Humanoido, Yha I got them, but kind of annoyed that one of the servos don't work. I assembled one of them, and am having problem attaching the black plastic stride linkage, so the legs are centered. Any Ideas?
It's unlikely that when the servo is centered you will be able to attach the linkage so that that the legs are perfectly centered as well. The tines on servo prevent you from attaching it exactly where you want and there is some variation between servos anyway.
All you really need to do is get it close. You can adjust the zero point in software.
Contact Parallax about the bad servo. They are pretty good about that kind of thing.
*******My previous listing was canceled due to an error in listing and coincidently sold outside of ebay in the interest of more money going to charity and less going to fees, I have been contacted by other enthusists that participated in the parallax promotion, to list birds for them as well so depending on if i continue to be contacted there may be additional birds available after this one *********
You're not alone aap. I put together one of the two penguins and one of the servos didnt work either. I'll probably look to see if I can pick one up at the local hobby shop or just order one from the Parallax store. I actually pretty excited to see what these birds can do!
Who cares??? People can do whatever they want with their things!!!
Yes, they can. You should note that my statements were about the methods used that appeared to be an attempt to avoid ebay fees. That is using the ebay site to sell, and to not reimburse ebay for that use.
I get your point - but perhaps they are legit. MANY people list thing on Ebay and Craigslist and the first one that brings cash wins - if it's the latter, then it's a cancelled sale!
I called up Parallax sales and they are sending me a replacement. There was not arguing or anything... their customer support seems to be great. No my concern is only their policy is not completely drop support for discontinued products. By completely I mean that they seem to totally remove all downloads and software for discontinued products e.g. the Penguin. Its the only thing that keeps me from fully trusting the company. Regards aap
You're not alone aap. I put together one of the two penguins and one of the servos didnt work either. I'll probably look to see if I can pick one up at the local hobby shop or just order one from the Parallax store. I actually pretty excited to see what these birds can do!
app, usually you can find links to discontinued Parallax products and downloads via Google. If those links are dead the wayback machine can usually find the content. I've used the wayback machine to pull downloads for products where the company has gone under and the web site has long been defunct!
I called up Parallax sales and they are sending me a replacement. There was not arguing or anything... their customer support seems to be great. No my concern is only their policy is not completely drop support for discontinued products. By completely I mean that they seem to totally remove all downloads and software for discontinued products e.g. the Penguin. Its the only thing that keeps me from fully trusting the company. Regards aap
Hey Aap!!! That's not exactly true - Parallax is better than you think! They offer 100% support on the discontinued Penguins, including all downloads, manual and software, plus off site links. You should fully trust the company. Their Penguin links are below. If you have any other issues about Parallax & Penguin, let's hear it.
aap: Even if Parallax vanished (heaven help us), Humanoido is THE one-man R&D center for the Penguin. I'm 100% positive that he will continue to support it for many years, especially since there are so many new Penguin owners wandering in the wilderness. Have you checked out his website? He's already done more refinement & software development singlehandedly than anyone else. I don't know where he draws his energy & enthusiasm from, but I'm thankful for it!
Make that one more DOA servo. I replaced mine with a Hitec HS-55 that I had on hand, well I have 20, and it fit well. They are only about .5mm wider and .2mm longer.
Pretty much same torque spec, and can be found at local hobby shops.
You're not alone aap. I put together one of the two penguins and one of the servos didnt work either. I'll probably look to see if I can pick one up at the local hobby shop or just order one from the Parallax store. I actually pretty excited to see what these birds can do!
I called up Parallax sales and they are sending me a replacement. There was not arguing or anything... their customer support seems to be great.
Yeah, I'd call that pretty good support. Especially since they gave away two Penguins instead of just one to each participant to ensure that each donator would have at least one working Penguin.
That's why I replaced the servo myself. I didn't what to tax the system since we got these already for 75% of retail. Parallax went way above the call of duty on this one!
Yeah, I'd call that pretty good support. Especially since they gave away two Penguins instead of just one to each participant to ensure that each donator would have at least one working Penguin.
Comments
Big Dog isn't sure what to think about it. He has been struggling with the visiting Gerbil (grandkids on vacation), now he's REALLY tweaked by this thing that backs away when he approaches it. Can't wait to see how he reacts when it makes noises!
The servos are standard micro servos and can be purchased from Parrallax or at your local hobby shop. The item number for Parallax is Item code item# 900-00014 and cost $11.99.
It's unlikely that when the servo is centered you will be able to attach the linkage so that that the legs are perfectly centered as well. The tines on servo prevent you from attaching it exactly where you want and there is some variation between servos anyway.
All you really need to do is get it close. You can adjust the zero point in software.
Contact Parallax about the bad servo. They are pretty good about that kind of thing.
"cancelled due to an error?" And "coincidentally sold outside of ebay?"
Doesn't smell like pure water.
Who cares??? People can do whatever they want with their things!!!
The discontinued Parallax products page
http://www.parallax.com/Store/DiscontinuedProducts/tabid/795/CategoryID/69/List/0/Level/a/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName,ProductName
The discontinued Parallax Penguin Page
http://www.parallax.com/Store/DiscontinuedProducts/tabid/795/CategoryID/69/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/435/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName
Parallax Support Links for Penguin Robot
PenguinDoc-v1.4 (.pdf)
PenguinCode-v1.3 (.zip)
Humanoido - Penguin enthusiast (Off Site)
Happy Feet Penguin Video (Off Site)
Penguin Dance Video (Off Site)
Skating Penguin (Off Site)
Pretty much same torque spec, and can be found at local hobby shops.
Yeah, I'd call that pretty good support. Especially since they gave away two Penguins instead of just one to each participant to ensure that each donator would have at least one working Penguin.
Rich H
That's why I replaced the servo myself. I didn't what to tax the system since we got these already for 75% of retail. Parallax went way above the call of duty on this one!
Parallax is the best!