Ain't cheap. Parallax's ActivityBot would seem to offer more value for the money.
From the product page, "The Arduino robot is a great way to learn about electronics, mechanics, and embedded programming. It ships fully assembled [emphasis mine] and ready to program out of the box ..."
How are you going to "learn about electronics and mechanics" if it's a fully-assembled system with no breadboard for hacking?
I saw the earlier press announcement and I agree it looks overpriced for what you get. Heck Pololu sells their own 3Pi robot which is a much better value.
The Arduino Robot is the first official Arduino on wheels. The robot chassis is comprised of two serially connected platforms, each of which features an ATmega32U4 and acts as an independent Arduino board. The upper platform, called the Control Board, includes a five-button keypad, knob potentiometer, color LCD, SD card reader (with SD card), speaker, and digital compass. The lower platform, or Motor Board, controls the two integrated DC motors and includes five reflectance sensors that can be used for line following or edge detection. The robot ships fully assembled and includes a USB cable, rechargable batteries, and a wall adapter for charging.
Seem pretty overpriced in my opinion as well...
Sooner or later there will be a clone for half the price though... ;-)
It seems like a good idea to use more than one processor on a robot. With so many sensors to monitor and devices to control on robots, it's about time we see one with multiple processors. Hopefully the approach will catch on.
It seems like a good idea to use more than one processor on a robot. With so many sensors to monitor and devices to control on robots, it's about time we see one with multiple processors. Hopefully the approach will catch on.
It seems like a good idea to use more than one processor on a robot. With so many sensors to monitor and devices to control on robots, it's about time we see one with multiple processors. Hopefully the approach will catch on.
I couldn't agree more, Duane. Eight independent processors and lots of I/O pins is clearly the way to go.
They could send me 10 free ones, I still wouldn't endorse a product that puts the goal of learning robotics so far out of reach of the average person. Their design choices make it too expensive.
Aspects of the design make no sense to me. Why put the controller and LCD smack in the middle of the top deck? Now there's no convenient place for a solderless breadboard without adding yet a third deck.
That said, the choice of LCD is not bad. It's not overkill like touch, but more than simple 2x16. It has a pretty good price compared to the third-party oLED module Parallax is now carrying.
Comments
From the product page, "The Arduino robot is a great way to learn about electronics, mechanics, and embedded programming. It ships fully assembled [emphasis mine] and ready to program out of the box ..."
How are you going to "learn about electronics and mechanics" if it's a fully-assembled system with no breadboard for hacking?
-Phil
Seem pretty overpriced in my opinion as well...
Sooner or later there will be a clone for half the price though... ;-)
Why Duane, was that sarcasm?
I couldn't agree more, Duane. Eight independent processors and lots of I/O pins is clearly the way to go.
And so for just $232, you can have eight BS-1's with 64 I/O pins! http://www.parallax.com/product/bs1-ic
Now we're barkin', Dawg !
I think the Arduino folks have forgotten how and why they became popular. This isn't how they did it.
The wheels on the robot look suspiciously familiar -- but also yesterday's design. Parallax's new servo wheels with integrated encoders are so 2013!
Two hundred seventy-five dollars?!?!
Heck, I bet you'll get one for free in hopes of getting an endorsement.
Aspects of the design make no sense to me. Why put the controller and LCD smack in the middle of the top deck? Now there's no convenient place for a solderless breadboard without adding yet a third deck.
That said, the choice of LCD is not bad. It's not overkill like touch, but more than simple 2x16. It has a pretty good price compared to the third-party oLED module Parallax is now carrying.