ROBOTIC Kits

We stock a range of Robotic kits suitable for both beginners and advanced hobbyists.

Alex- Animated Head

Boe-Bot(tm) robot

SumoBot® robot

Toddler Robot

HexCrawler Robot

3-Axis Machine

PCBDrill:

pcbdrils pic

Drill pcbs using standard NC (Excellon standard) drill files from your favourite pcb programme:

Load and display Excellon generated hole data
Different colours per hole size
Flip and board rotate options
Select datum holes for automatic calibration
Hole progress display
Select tool size hold points
Select drill feed speeds and travel
Select tool change position/ recalibration facility

Accurate drilling is achieved as follows- simply fasten your pcb to the platen using double sided tape or blu-tac; no need for accurate alignment. Load the pcb file and display on screen and select two diametrically opposite holes to act as datum points. Joggle the drill over the first hole using the keyboard, then the second hole. Hit enter and the software calculates the transformation matrix which accurately aligns the proposed hole positions to your board alignment- nothing else required. Software selection options allows for drilling to be suspended whilst waiting for a new drill bit to be inserted or skip if you wish to drill all holes to the same size. We have compared a commercial board with a board drilled on our machine- holding the two boards to the light indicated an extremely good correlation- ie the holes coincided very well!

Click here to download the assembly manual

This is the type of Excellon format file our software looks for:
(use a simple text editor programme to read the NC drill files created by your PCB programme)

M48 'Starter header
T001 'This represents the tool number
X01388Y00304 'Pairs of XY co-ordinates
X01496Y00304
X01713Y00304
X01821Y00304
T003 'Change to tool number 3
X00504Y00804
X03204Y02204
M30 'End of file marker

Replay Software

replay pic

Simple movement editor to allow the machine to be set a series of moves from the PC keyboard. Moves are stored and may be replayed with looping play plus options such as pause, re-calibrate, speed control, relay operation etc.

Plot-It Software

plot pic

Accepts standard HPGL code (not circular interpolation codes though) for use as a simple plotter or for LIGHT engraving work.

The 3-Axis Machine kit includes all wooden components and hardware, stepper motors, slides, driver board PCB and components, software diskette and assembly manual.

Robotic Components

Serially controlled bipolar stepper motor driver and motor combination. Set motor speed and steps with simple syntax. Limit switch inputs may be polled or ignored for start-up calibration. Up to 4 separate board addresses for daisy-chaining. Stepper is 200step/rev and requires 12V @ 0.5A. Comes with BASIC Stamp application code sample.

Unipolar version of the above stepper driver card. Uses the same command structure so may be used with the free ware on our web site. Runs stepper motors rated at up to 5A and 24V DC. Set motor speed and steps with simple syntax. Limit switch inputs may be polled or ignored for start-up calibration. Up to 4 separate board addresses for daisy-chaining.

Convert standard DC motors such as car windscreen motors into a powerful servo motor with this driver board. Drive options include either standard R/C servo input signals (1-2msec pulse repeated every 20msecs) or 0-5V input. Board may be configured for servo action or variable speed reversing DC motor drive. Supports motors up to 5A continuous current and 24V DC. Requires motor supply and 5V DC for the electronics (must be separate supplies or well isolated from each other!)

"Easy Step'n", An Introduction to Stepper Motors for the Experimenter," From Square-1. All you ever wanted to know about stepper motors and drivers but were afraid to ask. This book (200 pages) explains how to- determine surplus motor electrical and mechanical specs by using easy-to-build electrical and mechanical test equipment, design and build microcontroller based control systems design and build driver circuits to switch power applied to stepper motor windings. The book is hands-on and full of experiments. The format of the books uses flow charts and many code examples in a step-by-step approach.

Works with any domestic IR controller. Use to add IR control to your equipment / Stereo etc. Simply train the decoder to respond to specific keys on your remote. 7 outputs selectable to be either momentary or toggle action. May be re-programmed over and over again.