So...what did Santa get you?

Make a RGB led collar for it :smiley: Going to make something like that for my parents when they get a dog, so it can be seen in the dark :wink:

I got a dog. ;D

you hacked it yet? or have you took it apart for anything?? ;D ;D

I got a Kindle.
I have rediscovered my love of reading (no, not the town in Berkshire), and in the famous last words of Captain Oates:

I am just going outside and may be some time

Goodwill and other thrift stores are a great source for wall wart power moduals and +5vdc regulated cell phone charges, usually $1-2. Also old VCRs are a great source for electronic parts and are cheap sometimes.

Lefty

Goodwill and other thrift stores are a great source for wall wart power moduals and +5vdc regulated cell phone charges, usually $1-2. Also old VCRs are a great source for electronic parts and are cheap sometimes.

There's waaay better stuff than that there if you spend some time looking, and go often.

Besides robosapiens and roombas (and Powerwheels), I've found large R/C tanks, trucks, cars, etc. One time I picked up a Wowee Roboquad for five bucks. I am always finding old Polaroid cameras for the ultrasonics (equal to the Senscomp 6500). I once found (but didn't buy) an electric two-wheel mobility platform (like a Segway, just cheesier) that would've made a good robot platform. Sometimes you find mobility chairs going cheap, too.

Let's see - high-speed air pumps from breathing treatment systems can be repurposed for pneumatics. I recently found a "professional" long-distance 802.11 can-tenna yagi for building-to-building use (paid $7.00 for that!). I've found various computer bits and pieces (once got a nice bluetooth Mac keyboard, also a laser barcode scanner, and an embeddable PC system). You can also find tons of wire and other such bits, plus remote controls of all sorts. There's cell phones and pagers to be had (sometimes you can repurpose the displays, or the vibrating motor). Playstation controllers and similar joysticks/pads for all kinds of fun. Large VHS video cameras - lots of fun stuff there (comeon - you know your robot needs a zoom lens!)...

Really - there is a ton of stuff to be had for electronics and robotics hacking from Goodwill and other thrift stores. I always go with an eye to see "what can I buy with 'hackable' parts"...

;D

Junk Stores: "Building 19", a local buy-damaged-stock-and-resell-for-pennies-warehouse-place provided me with my Christmas gift:

$5 got me a Wowwee Rovio (Wifi mobile webcam!!) with battery issues

After discovering it works(!!) with a good power source $7 got me 4 "AA" 2300 mAH NiMH. A little solder and elbow grease later, I have a 6v 2300mAH NiMH pack, which is close enough to the 3000maH it's supposed to run on. After a ten minute charge I got about a minute of driving it around via web interface.. bodes well for running halfway okay when they are fully charged. This device sells for upwards of $150, I'm into it for $12.

Now, the question becomes whether I can hijack any signals off the WiFi the Rovio has onboard. It would be too cool if there's a usable UART channel unused, just waiting for an Arduino..

Now waiting on those little suckers to charge up!

Thank You Dumpster Claus!

I've got a nice shirt of my favorite football team. I love it :smiley:

Thank You Dumpster Claus!

;D ;D ;D

I've got a nice shirt of my favorite football team. I love it

American or real football?

:wink:

It wasnt santa, but I got a great electronics gift from our former manager at work, he came in today before leaving the state to go work with his brother to say goodbye to everyone

while he was walking around one last time, I said "hey man I have your big multimeter, dont leave without it" and I got in return "I never use it anyway, you take it as a gift, merry Christmas"

I am now the happy owner of a barley used Tektronix DMM914

!!SCORE!!

(ill get a picture of it after I eat dinner)

I am now the happy owner of a barley used Tektronix DMM914

That is a nice score. If you don't already have one, you might try and find the user manual for it, if not free via the web maybe E-bay for a tree version.

Lefty

i got the pdf and have been reading though it, though I have used it a few times at work, im not totally new to it ;D

PS: it also measures frequency and capacitance (yay!)

Omg dude that things friggin nice, it has so many buttons I wouldn't know what to do with 'em

I got a cheapo (45 dollars I think) multimeter that does capacitance and frequency (I chose it specifically for capacitance)

pic ;D

I have never had a multimeter with a setup menu in it before heh

I have never had a multimeter with a setup menu in it before heh

Next thing I would do if I was you is to look up the current protection fuses the meter uses in the manual and get some to have on hand for when you blow one open. Note I said when, not if, you blow a fuse. You will need replacements and some are non standard safety rated, weird size, etc, so get a head start and get an order off. First check E-bay as the 'official' fuses from the vendor are usually pretty expensive. There is usually two size used for the two different current ranges, say 500ma and 10amp is common.

Lefty

1A 600v
15A 600v

both fast blow, doesnt say what physical size in the manual I will have to look (and its been a number of years since I have blown a multimeter fuse)

santa got me one post in this forum so that i can put a link in my next post. santa is awesome.

he also got me 8 1000 lumen leds. thats right, 1000 lumens. i might actually be able to blind myself with these.

A new laptop! Kind of. It's a work one but it means I'll be able to work from home a bit, and it'll also have more software than I have at the moment.

he also got me 8 1000 lumen leds. thats right, 1000 lumens. i might actually be able to blind myself with these.

Nice, I need to get some high brightness LEDs white LEDs.

I got my first Arduino!!!! :smiley:

Mine Santa bring me arduino too :smiley: