I wonder if they bought out Brian, or made a really good deal on all this stuff. I'd imagine this is basically his entire catalog, or a large portion of it.
Tell me what you all think of this concept. It's very modular, parts-oriented for the time being though I'm sure they'll have some kits soon.
Parallax has always specialized in larger robotic assemblies, like the Motor Mount and Wheel Kits. Our next one up is an underwater thruster. These are usually quite easy to mount as a whole system.
Yet I'm very interested in how people view the parts approach. I think Servo City has already done the best job with all of their parts.
I like the complete kits that I build and just need to write software for to make it go, and maybe buy some add ons for it. Similar to what Parallax has with the Activity Bot, Boe Bot, etc.
However, I also really like the all the bits and pieces that work together thing as well, like VeX, Servo City stuff, Pololu to some degree, and this stuff. The nice thing about this approach is that I can build something specific to my need/desire, which often is not a wheeled mobile robot. Like for one of my custom pinball projects I might use some of these parts for interesting things.
I love the idea of coordinated parts and materials for building automated equipment... this type of thing is a natural fit for small to medium scale, such as desk or bench top manufacturing machines. It's perfect for not only speeding up a build, but also for making it considerably more versatile for additions or modifications in the future! ServoCity recently picked up the line as well.
Machine framing will always be a great way to build things. Pittsco has long sold a similar product to schools, and Jim Frye at Lynxmotion retooled many of his arm designs to use the "servo erector set" parts he and his son developed over the years. With RobotShop buying out Jim when he retired, I see they're in the process of revamping the SES lineup with some new and interesting components. It comes at a good time now with Brian opening up all these parts on the ServoCity (consumer mail order) side.
There's still plenty of room for innovation, though, and maybe this is where Parallax could outshine. For example, none (that I've seen) make quick-release brackets for attaching parts. If you've ever worked with this stuff it's *really* tedious as you experiment with different placements and designs. With traditional machine framing, you can slide pieces along the length, and tighten up on a screw or two to keep things in place. With this stuff you're a slave to the screwdriver. Some snap-in-place plastic parts might be good for mounting lightweight parts like sensor turrets, and the like. (And yes, I know it means tooling for injection molding -- didn't say it was cheap!)
Some of the Actobotics parts Sparkfun is listing are outright arcane, designed primarily for the higher-end education, commercial, and industrial clients serviced by RobotZone. A subset of no more than 75 parts would likely address 80-90% of people's needs.
I also like the "Kits and Parts" approach. Best of both worlds IMO. If you are new to robot building you could start with a kit. Once you know what you are doing you could add parts to the kit or create your own from scratch.
Ron Czapala
Posts: 2,418
Comments
Parallax has always specialized in larger robotic assemblies, like the Motor Mount and Wheel Kits. Our next one up is an underwater thruster. These are usually quite easy to mount as a whole system.
Yet I'm very interested in how people view the parts approach. I think Servo City has already done the best job with all of their parts.
Ken Gracey
I like the complete kits that I build and just need to write software for to make it go, and maybe buy some add ons for it. Similar to what Parallax has with the Activity Bot, Boe Bot, etc.
However, I also really like the all the bits and pieces that work together thing as well, like VeX, Servo City stuff, Pololu to some degree, and this stuff. The nice thing about this approach is that I can build something specific to my need/desire, which often is not a wheeled mobile robot. Like for one of my custom pinball projects I might use some of these parts for interesting things.
Tim
There's still plenty of room for innovation, though, and maybe this is where Parallax could outshine. For example, none (that I've seen) make quick-release brackets for attaching parts. If you've ever worked with this stuff it's *really* tedious as you experiment with different placements and designs. With traditional machine framing, you can slide pieces along the length, and tighten up on a screw or two to keep things in place. With this stuff you're a slave to the screwdriver. Some snap-in-place plastic parts might be good for mounting lightweight parts like sensor turrets, and the like. (And yes, I know it means tooling for injection molding -- didn't say it was cheap!)
Some of the Actobotics parts Sparkfun is listing are outright arcane, designed primarily for the higher-end education, commercial, and industrial clients serviced by RobotZone. A subset of no more than 75 parts would likely address 80-90% of people's needs.
http://www.pitsco.com/Robotics/TETRIX