Cheap BOE-Bots
Kenny Gardner
Posts: 169
If you are looking for a deal on Boe-Bots, head on down to your local Radio Shack.
100 bucks!
Radio Shack is apparently cleaning house as they prepare for their re-organization. They are doing some·really deep discounting ... apparently on products they will no longer be carrying?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104566&cp
Kenny
·
100 bucks!
Radio Shack is apparently cleaning house as they prepare for their re-organization. They are doing some·really deep discounting ... apparently on products they will no longer be carrying?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104566&cp
Kenny
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Comments
I can tell you what's going on with the Parallax products.
They'll sell out of Boe-Bots and that will be the end of that product's·availability through RadioShack, so the $99 is a good deal (it's the same kit we're selling at $179). They'll continue to sell the $79 BASIC Stamp Homework Board "What's a Microcontroller" kit even after they're out of Boe-Bots.
Within RadioShack, VEX is "their" robot so there is little need for a Boe-Bot.
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
But, but, but -- the BOE-Bot is SO much better! It's programmable right out of the box (none of this extra $100 for the "programming module"), the original kit costs less ($179 versus $300), the result looks better (a small box with wheels, instead of a cheap erector-set), the company support is much better...
Well, Parallax can continue to sell them, I suppose. It's too bad, Radio Shack is everywhere and probably made a nice outlet for Parallax. Oh, well.
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Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 3/21/2006 3:41:59 PM GMT
Shows what you can do if price is no object, and you're allowed to use additional parts that haven't been released yet.
No fun in being left.
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"When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)
······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
now the only problem will be choosing the accessories for it
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Who says you have to have knowledge to use it?
I've killed a fly with my bare mind.
could you inform me where i can find this kind of product. Certainly the boe bot is a great tool but i'm looking for more.
Thanks by advance,
Michel from Belgium
off course i tall about VMEX
Thanks again
Radio Shack now carries the VEX robotics line in the U.S.
I know here is a parrallax forum but my project is to accomodate some basic stamp with wex component.
I'm not a hacker to parallax but for my project i found wex component also easy to tune.
Regards from Belgium,
Michel
To day, via the net and the help of some friend i think it's more easy.
I working as a seacher in to the heart moving material product (as excavator, bulldozer ....),
Also as teacher i'm working at evening at the Brussels university(artificial intelligency and robotics).
My program start to the use off basic stamp: what's a microcontroller, boe bot , understanting signal, applied sensors and a lot of more.
My really problem is to find mechanical component to help my student in to their project.
I d'ont have problem with electronic component i order them to parallax but i need some help for mechanical component
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Regards from Belgium,
Michel Dechief.
Engineer and professor at university off brussel(artificial intelligency)
Not anymore.
Vex is·leaving Radio Shack·right along with the BOE-Bot.
All the Vex stuff is 1/2 price. Get it while you can.
Within my area, there are 5 Radio Shacks. 3 of the 5 kept their Vex parts in a box in the back room. One of them didn't even know there was a sale until I told them. "Oh yea, we did·get some new price stickers. We haven't put them up yet". Well, they needn't bother since I bought everything they had left.
At that same store, the BOE-Bot was listed for $149. They didn't bother to put up it's new sticker either.
It's no wonder Radio Shack is in dire straights. How do you expect stock that you keep in a cardboard box to sell? And, at the prices they were charging, did they really expect people to flock to the stores and jump on the Vex bandwandgon?
It isn't really fair to compare the Vex and the BOE-Bot. They are different entities. The Vex is more than just making robots.
I just bought 10 SRF-04's in nice, pretty red housings, for $15.00 each. A whole slew of Omni Wheels and some really neat regular wheels (all of which will fit just fine on a BOE-Bot with slight modification). Servos and what they call motors (continuous rotation servos) for $10.00. Tank Treads and Chain and Sprocket kits for $15.00. Optical Encoders for 10 bucks. Switches and light sensors.
All of which can be used with the BOE-Bot or any other robot you might have.
At any rate, they usually only carry one BOE-Bot per store (at least in my area), so you better get going and get yourself one cause they aren't going to get any cheaper.
Kenny
·
If you can't get it off the web (and I'm sure shipping costs are high to Belgium, and are there import fees?) then I can't help you. Any other Europeans on this site?
I feel sure there's German and English robotics sites, though...
May be you know a web site where i can order some component.
My projet is to do a all kind off field machine (also submarine) working whit a bs2 .
It must be a crawler whith possibility to swimming under water.
Size must be aproximately 40 centimeter lenght and 15 *15 other way.
I don't have problem for programming the bs2 but yes for the mechanical component.
regards
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Regards from Belgium,
Michel Dechief.
Engineer and professor at university off brussel(artificial intelligency)
if you want to save money, the rule of thumb is to find a friend in the USA to buy and personally ship.
Often it can be declared as a 'gift' or 'sample' which is duty free.
Often you avoid hefty shipping and handling fees and have more choice of how to ship.· Postal is slowest, but cheapest.
Otherwise you have to pay that nasty Value Added Tax [noparse][[/noparse]VAT].
Still, one has to wonder what is Radio Shack going to do.· They have to have something to sell.
It seems like "the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater'.
Vex may have been too much to support, but with the BOEbot, they didn't really need the same level of support.
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"When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)
······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
Post Edited (Kramer) : 3/23/2006 4:08:31 PM GMT
My response was why would I you don’t have any service in the store, there is small collection this and that, oh yea most of the time the person there is just a bit smarter that sergeant Shultz “I know Nothing Hogan" .........
So it has nothing to do VEX (Very EXpensive) ot BOE BOT's it just that the items are to high tech and complicated for the masses.
Richard
When I was in 9th grade, I would go into Radio Shack and write little programs on the TRS-80 Model 3 computers.
The salespeaple were very nice and for the most part knowledeable. They encouraged me to write programs because people would see me and think "if that kid can use the computer, I surely can". I wrote little draw programs and such.
It was kind of a dream of mine to work in Radio Shack. Then 4 years later, I could already see the decline, less electronics parts, less knowledgeable salepeople. Then some years later the old "Can I have your address" just to buy some batteries. Who came up with THAT idea ??? Then Radio Shack became "The Cell Phone Store" I couldn't even walk into the store without a salesperson asking me if I had a cell phone and did I like it.
I hate to say it, but I think Radio Shack is in a heap of trouble. If they are trying to compete with "Wal-mart" and "Best-Buy" they are going to lose. They just are not big enough. They stopped being "The Technology Store" and are now trying to be "The Me Too Store".
I never thought I would say this, but...Even if Radio Shack went out of business...I don't think I would miss them now. Sad... [noparse][[/noparse]wipes tear from face] Another little boys dreams are crushed...
Bean.
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"SX-Video·Module"·available from Parallax for only $28.95 http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012
"SX-Video OSD module"·available from Parallax for only·$49.95 http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30015
Product web site: www.sxvm.com
Coming soon... Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
"Sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."
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me in us. know some people in taiwan.
I agree with you.
10 years ago, RS disappeared from Belgium (about 10 millions people)
They had an outlet on every suburb!
ECO (from Belgium)
There are two major factors I see at play here, first is the Nintendo generation made consumers rather than creators of the kids (there are exceptions to this of course, evidenced by the youths on this forum but it is a general trend nonetheless). The second is the internet made it possible for people to easily purchase components from some wearhouse in the middle of a Nebraska corn-field. It has become increasing difficult for RS to compete with companies which dont have brick-and-mortar costs, the low costs of warehouse space in the midwest (and the extra components you can stock in that space) and bulk buying power the internet guys have.
Sadly the new direction they have chosen has already been done by larger retailers who will be able to do it better than them. I think they know that, and know that their path ultimately leads to demise. They are just trying to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible. Probably within a few years the only RS's left in existance will be the ones in malls which dont already have a BestBuy or similar store, filling the roll of "the place in the mall to get batteries and cell phone accessories".
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You should ask this question by starting a new post, as it is a different topic. (referred to "hijacking a thread")
Nonetheless: I have tried the Vex servos.· They do not have a hardware centering screw, as the Parallax servos do, thus you have to figure out specifically what the Pulse width has to be to make them go forward, center, reverse.· Instead of the standard 650 forward, 750 center, 850 reverse on the Parallax servos, you may be sending some really wierd Pulsout numbers.· On one servo it might be 300 forward, 1100 reverse, and on the other servo in the same package it might be some other totally different numbers.· A real pain.
I have used some of the bumper switches, and some of the erector set type hardware, things that I don't need support on.· For everything else, I go Parallax, as I know I can get good support here, and sample code provided in the tons of applications on the Parallax site work best with the items they sell, as thier samples often are geared using the products they sell.· Ethically, I feel better asking for help if I buy thier products!
Will the Vex servos work with the BS2?
Yes to both questions.
The biggest problems with the servos is mounting and attaching things to them (they don't have horns like regular servos). But, you can buy 1/8 in square·rods (get the oversized rods) at McMaster to insert into the servo clutch housing.
The hardware is great for making all sorts of things.
Kenny
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I had a franchise on Maui.
But, I swear. The people they hire haven't a clue as to what they are selling. If you ask them if they have something, they have to look on the computer first because they don't know what the heck you are talking about. Except for the manager, I don't think any of the people working at the Radio Shacks around me are there from one week to the next - their turn over must be horrendous.
I went to another store this morning to clean them out of their Vex stuff and they had·4 BOE-Bots sitting on the shelf.·4 of them! They were turned sideways and I knew what they were because I recognized the boxes, but unless you were specifically looking for one, you wouldn't know that they had them. And the price, of course, was the old $149 price. I asked the gal if they were on sale. She looked in the computer and they were.
I won't even talk about how nearly all of the stores·mix the Vex Servos in with the Motors. To them, there·is no difference. After all, they look alike!
Remember when they used to have catalogs? When I owned my store, I studied that thing daily. I knew every product that Radio Shack sold. I knew exactly what was in my store. You might say, "Yeh, but you owned the store, so its different". But, I was·an employee before I bought the place and I still knew everything that was in the store and in the catalog.
I guess now, we are just going to have to make sure we have plenty of soldering supplies because I guess we won't be able to run down to the corner to pick some up. And what about audio connectors and all the other weekend projects that require a trip down to the local Shack?
I truly is sad. It used to be a very well run Company.
Kenny
I said I just needed a project box.
And received a blank stare.
Not a kid, a guy in his late 30's, working at a Radio Shack, and didn't know what a project box was.
I pointed them out to him on the shelf - and noticed that they were called "Project Enclosures" on the label.