Build Solar-Powered Gizmos (Section 1)

Type: Workshop
Program Area: Robotics

Materials Fee $20

Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 12:00 PM (90 minutes)

Location: Workshop Pavilion

I'll be offering a morning lecture on the essentials of BEAM robotics, followed by an afternoon build session, where we'll going to tackle one of several projects:

1) Solarengine kit - Lets you construct a "Solar digestive system" from a cassette mechanism that pulses a motor periodically. Several enhancements are possible to turn it into a Solarroller racer, Solar-powered flag twitcher or Symet (spinning robotic plant-life thing). Cost: $20USD


2) SolarSpeeder kit - Build a high-performance solar-powered racecar that goes ~ 10' in 40 seconds of direct sunlight. Not as open-ended as #1, but guaranteed to satisfy! $25USD


3) Symet Parts Bundle - this is similar to #1, but with no circuit board, and minimal parts. Literally a bag'o'parts that we put together in support of a TV special we did many moons ago, and still get requests for. Not for the weak-of-manual-dexterity, as we solder point-to-point for this project. Lets you build a simple ricocheting solar-powered device. $12.75USD


Attendance of the morning lecture SHOULD be a prerequisite, but not a necessity.

This workshop will be also be held on Sunday at 12:00 PM.

This work

Related site: http://www.solarbotics.com

Presented by

Dave Hrynkiw
President
Solarbotics

As a youngster, Dave tormented his siblings by often deconstructing their toys. This eventually led to one sibling sending him an article about a roboticist (Mark Tilden) that built robots out of junk. 15 years later, Dave is the President of Solarbotics Ltd., a company dedicated to the principles of "appropriate technology" for building cool and effective robots, often using of junk and solar energy.