Exactly, MCL. If you look at the alternatives, the initial cost of entry is usually higher, the learning curve is usually steeper, cost of peripherals is usually higher, and support is usually MUCH less.
Parallax makes schematics for everything they sell available. As far as I can tell, the ONLY proprietary thing they protect is their PBasic run-time engine -- everything else is either already available or negotiable.
I agree, when I started this, I wanted to make BOE-Bots for elementary school kids at $20 each. But that's just completely unrealistic.
And at the price Parallax charges, I believe (after LOTS of research) that they ARE the low-cost provider of simple robotic and real-time platforms. Note I don't work for Parallax. And that conclusion was arrived at after checking out products from AVR, PICBasic, MicroChip, and several other alternatives.
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Parallax makes schematics for everything they sell available. As far as I can tell, the ONLY proprietary thing they protect is their PBasic run-time engine -- everything else is either already available or negotiable.
I agree, when I started this, I wanted to make BOE-Bots for elementary school kids at $20 each. But that's just completely unrealistic.
And at the price Parallax charges, I believe (after LOTS of research) that they ARE the low-cost provider of simple robotic and real-time platforms. Note I don't work for Parallax. And that conclusion was arrived at after checking out products from AVR, PICBasic, MicroChip, and several other alternatives.