Pololu Blog (Page 80)

Welcome to the Pololu Blog, where we provide updates about what we and our customers are doing and thinking about. This blog used to be Pololu president Jan Malášek’s Engage Your Brain blog; you can view just those posts here.

Popular tags: community projects new products raspberry pi arduino more…

Liquid Lifebar

Posted by Ryan on 3 May 2013

This gadget uses a Pololu Jrk and a linear actuator to help control the level of water in the tube, which can indicate the life of a video game character.

Featured link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywfZsYApj_M

Mars Rover

Posted by Ryan on 3 May 2013

The Beatty family built a moving model of a Mars rover for the New York Hall of Science’s exhibit. They used a 12-channel Mini Maestro and step-down voltage regulators. Pictures and a link to a video are available on their blog.

Iron Man suit Micro Maestro tutorial

Posted by Ryan on 3 May 2013

In this video, Jay May explains how to use the Micro Maestro to control his Iron Man suit.

Featured link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH4m_UqQ2js

Video tutorial on open- and closed-loop control using the Zumo

Posted by Ryan on 3 May 2013

In this video, Brian Douglas demonstrates the difference between open-loop and closed-loop control in an uncertain environment using a Zumo Robot.

Featured link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfydfvHyikM

Geeky wedding

Posted by Paul on 3 May 2013

This couple wanted an engineering-themed wedding, so they used e-textiles for their attire! The project used some Pololu voltage regulators.

Featured link: http://www.billporter.info/2013/04/22/our-geeky-wedding-electronic-wedding-attire/

RGB shoji lamp

Posted by Ben on 23 April 2013

This Japanese-style lamp by Pololu engineer Kevin Chang was made from laser-cut parts and uses an RGB LED Satellite Module 001, a ShiftBar, and a Pololu Mini Maestro 12-channel servo controller.

Here is a video of the lamp in action:

Featured link: http://blog.kevinwchang.com/post/48595870556/rgb-shoji-lamp

Raspberry Pi Telepresence Rover

Posted by Ryan on 12 April 2013

This tank rover by Michael Shimniok streams video to and can be controlled from a web browser. All rover functions are controlled directly by the Raspberry Pi with no additional microcontrollers. It uses our Pololu 30T Track Set, idler wheels, 150:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor MP, DRV8835 Dual Motor Driver Carrier, and Pololu Step-Down Voltage Regulator D15V35F5S3.

Featured link: http://www.bot-thoughts.com/2013/04/raspberry-pi-telepresence-rover.html

Fuzzbot

Posted by Ryan on 1 April 2013

Fuzzbot, by 12-year-old maker Quin of Qtechknow, helps clean the floors by dragging a dust cloth around while avoiding obstacles. The robot uses the Pololu Zumo Robot Kit for Arduino.

Related post: Qtechknow wins Educator’s Choice award at Maker Faire

Featured link: http://blog.makezine.com/2013/04/12/introducing-the-fuzzbot/

Raspberry Pi-based State Poster Project

Posted by Ryan on 25 March 2013

Emma, a 2nd grader, put together this creative tri-fold poster of Vermont. She uses the Pololu Step-Down Voltage Regulator and a Pololu Pushbutton Power Switch SV.

Featured link: http://www.swblabs.com/?p=871

LPS331AP pressure sensor test flight

Posted by Jan on 20 March 2013
LPS331AP pressure sensor test flight

We expect to release a simple carrier for ST’s new LPS331AP pressure sensor this week. While testing and writing example programs for the sensor, one of our engineers, Kevin, came up with a nice demonstration that calculates and displays the altitude on our Orangutan SVP robot controller. It was a beautiful spring day with great flying weather, so Paul and I took Kevin’s digital altimeter on a flight to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to see how it compared to the altimeter in a plane. Continued…

New Products

ACS72981LLRATR-100B5 Current Sensor Compact Carrier -100A to +100A, 5V
ACS37030LLZATR-065B3 Current Sensor Large Carrier -65A to +65A, 3.3V
A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current, Blue Edition
12V, 100mA Step-Down Voltage Regulator D45V1E2F12
JST SH-Style Connector Board for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 2-Pin, Back-Entry (2-Pack)
A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 750mA@5V / 500mA@3.3V
Pololu Ideal Diode Reverse Voltage Protector, 4-60V, 10A
ACS72981LLRATR-050B3 Current Sensor Compact Carrier -50A to +50A, 3.3V
RobustMotion RM-EGB Series 24VDC Compact Finger Gripper, 16D, Simple PNP Interface
ACS37220LEZATR-200B5 Current Sensor Compact Carrier -200A to +200A, 5V
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