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Before BoeBot, There Was GrowBot — Parallax Forums

Before BoeBot, There Was GrowBot

ercoerco Posts: 20,259
edited 2015-02-18 10:31 in Robotics
I had not known... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallax-Growbot-Robotics-Stamp-II-and-Serial-Solder-1998-/171667792711?

A priceless relic circa 1998? Ken, do you need one for your archive?

Comments

  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2015-02-07 19:55
    I did not know this either - great find erco! What a piece of history!
  • CrazyrabbitCrazyrabbit Posts: 116
    edited 2015-02-08 08:53
    I have a modified GroBot board laying around. Very expandable for some 3 pin header devices. Good if you wand to use 2 app modules. I found the older servos had some issues. I offered $50 on the ebay one you mentioned but no deal.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2015-02-08 11:07
    That's almost worth it for the blue anodized chassis.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2015-02-16 21:32
    Martin_H wrote: »
    That's almost worth it for the blue anodized chassis.

    Agreed, mine for $60 as of tonight. Had to have "Old Blue" for my collection.
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2015-02-16 21:51
    It's amazing that Parallax has been using the same basic robot design for almost 20 years.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2015-02-16 23:37
    Very interesting. Never heard of this either but searching the forums for growbot or grobot comes with quite a few results. Like the blue anodized frame also. I like the idea of a "soldering required" version of the BOEBOT. I think this format should be revisited.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2015-02-17 05:40
    SRLM wrote: »
    It's amazing that Parallax has been using the same basic robot design for almost 20 years.

    The Boe-bot chassis is a great design with plenty of attachment points, and rock solid because it is thick aluminum. I've seen some competing chassis from another vendor and their quality wasn't close. It would be hard to improve upon. With some of the newer high torque CR servos you can use it as the drive for a good size robot.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2015-02-17 10:26
    Documentation at http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/80935-GROWBOT-Documentation?p=552623&viewfull=1#post552623
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2015-02-17 19:33
    erco wrote: »
    Agreed, mine for $60 as of tonight. Had to have "Old Blue" for my collection.

    JEALOUS! Thank for the link to the documentation too! Interesting stuff. Wonder who wrote that? Was Andy around back then?
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2015-02-17 20:20
    erco wrote: »
    I had not known... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallax-Growbot-Robotics-Stamp-II-and-Serial-Solder-1998-/171667792711?

    A priceless relic circa 1998? Ken, do you need one for your archive?

    No, but thank you.

    Parallax was before our time when we created this, both in name and function. Today "Growbot" is a hydroponic mobile garden platform for you know what.

    Actually, that robot brings back interesting memories. It was the first significant product I worked on by writing the assembly and programming instructions. The assembly documents were prepared in MS Word in a layout that allowed us to print them, staple in middle and put into the kit. Was a real pain to handle the page numbering, too! Russ Miller did the chassis design over a weekend and John Barrowman designed the PCB in a couple of days. We started this project in October and shipped the first units a few days before Christmas. Our standards have really increased since then - thankfully our customers gave us a second chance. . .or a third, or a fifth!

    Anyway, I have a GrowBot on my desk (the robot type, that is).

    Ken Gracey
  • NikosGNikosG Posts: 705
    edited 2015-02-18 04:53
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    ...... Russ Miller did the chassis design over a weekend and John Barrowman designed the PCB ......

    The story of the origin of the Boe Bot ancestor is very interesting
    However I googled : Russ Miller and John Barrowman and the result was:
    Russ Miller :internationally known as one of the top drummers of today
    John Barrowman :a Scottish-American actor
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-02-18 05:09
    I know John Barrowman is JonnyMac's partner:

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/153509-AP-16-schematic?highlight=John+Barrowman
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2015-02-18 10:03
    Since everyone loves the BOEbot chassis so much, Parallax could have each batch they produce anodized a different color. This would make them collectable among those of us that hoard, I mean collect, Parallax products. After a few years of "collecting" you could have a colorful little fleet of BOE bots running around. It would certainly be good for repeat, repeat, repeat sales of the cute little guys!!

    I know my three or four little silver guys would soon be jealous and pressuring me to get with it and add some colors!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2015-02-18 10:31
    Well, they are applying that color strategy to the Scribbler line. Place your bets, what color will the P2-based S4 be in 2019?

    I still want chrome, even a limited edition one.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARALLAX-GROWBOT-ROBOT-KIT-NEW-/141925023882?hash=item210b64008a:g:h6AAAOSwYlJW4GbW
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    New and unassembled! Great find Andy, it's likely worth even more if it's anything like an unbuilt Heathkit.

    Ken might need one for his archives. Maybe I should nab it ASAP for a future Toddler exchange. :)
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    May be a later model with the non anodized chassis. I will wait for a blue or gold.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Looks like this is an upgrade to the standard BOEBOT chassis.

    pdf
    pdf
    growbot_upgrade.pdf
    866K
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    I found this guy in a box today (!) and realized that I never did anything with him, partially because the O-ring tires needed replacing. I found some skinny but serviceable replacements at my local Ace Hardware store and had to bang out a quick Figure 8. I'll include this video in the Figure 8 thread, because I believe this will be the first Growbot there.

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Private Video? Can not view.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    Sorry, there was a delay since the video uploaded slower than my concurrent post. Should be OK now.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Supurb! Nice video with Theo also!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    Thanks Jim. I still like to do a momentary stop between circles to show clearly when one ends and the next one starts for reference. Like some other bots I have tried, this one does a slight turn if you just stop sending servo pulses. That is, when the servos are coasting to a stop, they don't do it evenly, which messes up the alignment for the second circle. The solution is to send PULSOUT 750s to both servos (their stop/null point) which actually applies dynamic braking and slams the wheels to a sudden stop, quite visible in the video in the middle and end.

    Noteworthy that Growbot requires a 9V battery (for the BS2) in addition to 4xAA cells (servos only). The 3-position DPDT toggle switch functions the same as the 3-position slide switch on BoeBot: off, stamp on only , stamp & servos on.

    That unbuilt Growbot kit is still listed for $100: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARALLAX-GROWBOT-ROBOT-KIT-NEW-/141925023882
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    erco wrote: »

    That unbuilt Growbot kit is still listed for $100: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARALLAX-GROWBOT-ROBOT-KIT-NEW-/141925023882

    Ken needs that one on his desk!
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