crowells
Resolved by Rich!
my daughter is in the 7th grade. she wants to build a wall-e robot as seen on your website for her science project but the costs are greater than we can support. her hypothesis is that a robot can, on its own, travel through any maze, successfully.
we have viewed all your video. we have searched the internet for cheaper options. and we feel that the brookstone rover is a good option. we believe it might be a cheaper option as well.
on the video you have the brookstone rover operating with sensors so it will not run into walls or objects and she wants to use that for her project.
questions:
- can we just purchase any brookstone rover new or used?
- can you help us to purchase the sensors and control boards to get it to do exactly what we see on the video?
your help would be greatly appreciated.
the complication is that we need to get the project done by mid october and we have learned that your parts will not be available until november. we are hoping that you can help us to get the parts we need from other suppliers so we can complete her project in time.
also we have no experience with electronics but have watched the videos and feel with some tutoring we could get it done.
As far as I know only the Brookstone Rover V1 is compatible (the V2 may be but I've not really seen much about it), play it safe and get a V1.
However, have you seen Roli in the store? It's a bit of a wait for the pre-order but would be a good base.
Or there are a few cheaper alternatives, the big trax, the rad, rad v2, etc base... pretty much anything with wheels or tracks. Add the EZ-B V4 developers kit on to it with camera and sensors and you are away.
rich. mahalo nui loa. your quick response made my daughter happy. thank you so very much. she is excited with the prospects. her name is azure piilani crowell. attends kahuku intermediate school here on oahu hawaii. and why she chose such an expensive project surprises us. she is quite serious about it though. hoping this leads to a career in engineering. we shall search for your suggested alternatives.
wondering if the ez-b v4 developers kit would be immediately available. would you know?
From whats been posted previously, the EZ-B V4 will begin shipping on 12/1/2013 to those that have pre-ordered.
@crowells,
There do not appear to be any retailers who have availability of the V3 board. Although I would recommend waiting for the V4 board because of the new features, if you really must meet a deadline, I have an EZ-B v3 board that I won't be using until the beginning of the year I would be willing to sell to you for retail price + shipping (and then I'll pre-order a V4 to replace it). Other then plugging it in to update the firmware and test that it works, it is unused.
This would just be the board and battery holder, not the complete developers kit, so you would still need to source servos, an H-bridge if you want to power existing motors or continuous rotation servos if you want to use those for locomotion, etc.. I am sure members here can help point you to good parts sources or have spares they could send your way.
You can contact me at alan@thetechguru.net if interested.
Alan