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Welcome to Trossen Robotics, your source for Hobby and Educational Robotics!
Providing customers with a one stop robot shop and superior customer service since 2005.
Why Robotics?
Robotics offers an interactive learning experience that is both fun and rewarding. Robotics teaches us essential
skills such as electronics, programming, mechanics, mathematics, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork.
No matter if you're looking for robot kits,
robot parts,
educational robotics or
RFID products,
our robotics store has what you need! To get the latest up-to-date news in the Robotics world or to check out
the latest product
releases and sales at Trossen Robotics, read our articles below or visit the
Trossen Robotics Blog. To join in on some exciting
discussions on robotics and see what all the buzz is about, check out the
Trossen Robotics Community (TRC); one of the most active
and friendly robotics communities online. The TRC members have experience in a wide range of backgrounds:
from animation to cinematography, EE to programming, mechanics to interactive arts, woodworking to machining.
Whether you're just starting out or a veteran hobbyist, we're confident that you'll have a blast hanging out in the TRC.
We hope that you enjoy your visit, and if at any time you run into questions, please
feel free to contact us or
post in the TRC.
Trossen Robotics - the World's leading one stop robot shop for hobby and educational robot kits and robot parts!
Serializer WL Robotics Controller now under $100
arbotiX Robocontroller Now Available!
We’re officially launching this much anticipated new Robocontroller today! Thanks to all of those who pre-ordered, your board should be on it’s way! Our initial stock of these is limited, so get em while they’re hot!
The arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced 3rd party Bioloid controller, is now in stock and ready to be sold! It incorporates a powerful AVR microcontroller, XBEE wireless radio, dual motor drivers, and 3-pin servo-style headers for IO.
The arbotiX robocontroller is specifically designed to control robots built using the Bioloid System and AX-12+ servos, although it is also a very high-end solution for powerful rovers. It is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for a CM-5, rather it is intended as a high level development tool for building more sophisticated robots.
For full information and product manual, check the manufacturer’s page.
arbotiX Robocontroller Specifications
- 16MHz AVR microcontroller (ATMEGA644p).
- 2 serial ports, 1 dedicated to Bioloid servo controller, the other to the XBEE radio
- 3 Bioloid AX-12+ style ports onboard, plug your AX-12+ Servos directly in!
- 32 I/O, 8 of which can function as analog inputs
- Servo style 3-pin headers (gnd, vcc, signal) on all 8 analog inputs, and 8 of the digital IO
We have also put together the arbotiX Robocontroller Starter Kit that includes everything you need to get started, including a pair of Xbee radios, an Xbee USB Explorer, and a USB AVR Programmer!
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PhidgetSBC – Phidgets Linux Based Single Board Computer
Phidgets have long been a favorite for computer software developers due to their ease of use, wide selection of sensors and I/O boards, and solid API offering for a variety of programming languages. The one thing that has always been a requirement however, is a physical connection to a computer via USB cable.
All of that is a thing of the past now with the introduction of the PhidgetSBC; an Arm9 based embedded Linux computer (it runs a custom Linux Distro built using Buildroot) combined with the tried and true Phidgets 8/8/8 IO Board.
So what does that mean to you? In its simplest form and function, it effectively cuts the cable of your Phidgets projects and allows you to access your Phidgets devices over ethernet or the included Wifi dongle. The onboard computer acts as a server for the variety of APIs that Phidgets offers, and this enhanced ‘mobility’ opens the doors to a much wider variety of applications. The PhidgetSBC can function as a wireless extension of your PC, a Wifi enabled Robot Controller, or even a standalone Robot Controller. That’s right, the PhidgetSBC is fully programmable; there is an easy to use interface that allows you to load custom C or Java code directly to the board and have it run autonomously, without the previously required PC link. If that wasn’t enough, more advanced users can modify the Linux build to their hearts content, host other USB based Phidgets devices by simply plugging them into the PhidgetSBC, and has integrated support for streaming a web cam feed back to your PC. I’m really just skimming the surface here, for more details check out the (as always) very well documented product manual.
The PhidgetSBC will run you $243.90 USD and we are currently accepting pre-orders for this as we anticipate it to be a very high demand product. Given that the development kits for the onboard computer used here usually run in the ~$150-200 range, this price is a VERY good deal to anyone looking to take their Phidgets projects to the next level. Initial quantities will be limited and orders are filled on a first come first serve basis, so get your pre-order in ASAP to snag one up!
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arbotiX – Advanced Robocontroller for the Bioloid System
We’re good friends with the folks over at Vanadium Labs; some very talented people who have been in the robotics game for quite awhile but have just now established their official company. This is great news for the robotics community however, as they have some pretty amazing products on the horizon. One product in particular is the new arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced Open Source microcontroller tailored for the Bioloid system and AX-12+ servos.
The arbotiX robocontroller is an advanced control solution for small-to-medium size robots. It incorporates a powerful AVR microcontroller, XBEE wireless radio, dual motor drivers, and 3-pin servo-style headers for IO.
The arbotiX robocontroller is specifically designed to control robots built using Bioloid servos, although it is also a very high-end solution for powerful rovers. It is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for a CM-5, rather it is intended as a high level development tool for building more sophisticated robots.
So what we have here is an Arduino IDE compatible microcontroller with a plethora of I/O, plug and play capable with AX-12 servos, and an Xbee Wireless Link to your PC. It’s also worth mentioning that this was the controller used in the robot that won Year 1 of Mech Warfare, Issydunyet. For more information on the controller check out the Vanadium Labs website.
Trossen Robotics will be exclusively distributing this exciting and powerful new Robocontroller with an estimated release date of Mid-October 2009. We’ll have more details in the near future, stay tuned!
Want to see the arbotiX in action? Here is a quick video showing a basic Inverse Kinematics demonstration on Issydunyet!
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Tutorial Contest Winners Announced!
In March we announced that our contest would go in a different direction this time and with even bigger prizes:
This round is going to be a Tutorial Contest , and is quite a bit different from our previous contests. Think of it as an ‘ Instructables meets How Stuff Works’ style contest: We want you to submit entries in the form of a detailed step by step ‘How-To’ or Informative Tutorials.
We had a good amount of solid entries in our first Tutorial Contest so picking our winners was a not an easy ordeal. Our entries covered many different topics, from electrical and soldering basics to more advanced robotics navigation tutorials. We highly suggest that you take a look at our Tutorials Section, there is a lot to be learned and if you have knowledge to share we highly encourage it. Without further ado, here are our winners!
3rd Place goes to Jes1510!
Jes1510 submitted some ‘back to the basics’ tutorials which were well documented, easy to read through, and really helpful for the beginning robot hobbyist! He’ll be walking away with an Ollo Bug Kit! Tutorials:
2nd Place goes to Pi Robot!
Pi Robot amazed us with two extremely detailed, professional tutorials that cover some very advanced robotics applications by breaking it down into more digestible bite sized pieces. Both are excellent pieces of literature, definitely worth a read through! Pi Robot will be walking away with a Bioloid Beginner Kit for his contributions! Tutorials:
1st Place goes to lnxfergy!
lnxfergy was determined to win 1st prize! He submitted awesome tutorial after awesome tutorial covering some pretty major aspects of robotics. All of these tutorials are very helpful for beginners and even more advanced builders can take something from them. From practical navigation systems to controlling AX-12 servos, lnxfergy demonstrated an amazing grasp of current hobby robotics technology, and was kind enough to share that knowledge with us. For his massive effort, he will be awarded with a Bioloid Comprehensive Kit!Tutorials:
We want to thank everyone involved with our first Tutorial Contest! Determining the winners was not easy, as there were many great tutorials to browse through. Again, we highly recommend you check out our Tutorials section, as there is a lot to be learned! Stay tuned for an announcement on our next round of contests!
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Robogames 2009 Highlights
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