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Mythbusters build robot with Radio Shack kit

botmag.com — The mythbusters have built a stair climbing robot using the Vex system from Radio Shack. Its pretty in depth article written for Robot Magazine.

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 19, 2006

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  • jtarchie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Yeah, but did Bob Villa ever build something from scratch and then blow it up because he thought it would be cool? No, I think not!
  • retawd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11I'm a big fan of the Mythbusters TV show and Radio Shack, but the idea that those guys built a robot with parts from Radioshack is like saying Bob Villa builds cabinet with wood.
  • student69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Here is alot more info / pictures / video:
    http://www.botmag.com/articles/mythbusters_test_the_vex_robotics_design_system_1.shtml#videos
  • retawd, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Your right. I stand corrected!
  • isdereks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4not sure about this one. i've gone in looking for a $1 connector and left with nothing but the connector which was found with the help of the sr [who did nothing but provide helpful service].
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5It's 150. (150 Off until june!)
  • sarahb459, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Pretty sweet... But probably too complicated for me... I'd like to play with the finished product... : )
  • zodieman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Where the hell is Jamie's white shirt???? I feel jipped
  • tpodr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The VEX system is only available from Radio Shack, so no going to the original company.

    Moreover, I just was viewing RS's website, and it seems all VEX components are 50% off. Yes, the starter kit is $150.
    http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104567

    And yes, having spent too much of my youth at Radio Shack, I do miss the old Shack. Every afternoon after school, I would sit in front of the display TRS-80 writing BASIC code. Boy was I a geek. Still am...
  • imbalanced, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thats what the sensors and programming kit is for
  • tuxracer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Are you kidding me? First of all, for a lot of people out there a cell phone is a free with contract endevor. And I am pretty tired of people talking about commission as a bad thing. Not that it always plays out this way, but the gist of it is this, the employees know about the products or are in the process of learning real fast. Because they have financial incentive to do so. I mean in the end, the guy at BestBuy doesn't give a ***** whether he says to you "I have no idea" or whether he spends 20 minutes with you. He gets paid the same either way.

    And please don't sensationalize an electronics store employee showing a customer a cool new peice of electronics by using the word "push" and "$300".

    Ask yourself this, why do they show customers cell phones? Because a good number of customers I show a cell phone to that is playing live TV for example respond with "Oh wow, you can play Live TV on that?" and take the phone from my hand and from there we determine if they are able to get that kick ass new phone. Now if at any point during that process the customer does not express interest, does not take the phone from my hand, etc.. I end the process. They came in for a battery, I just picked up a phone playing TV and showed it to them, they didn't express interest in it, I put it back down, no harm done.

    I mean if you walk into an electronics store and are offended at being shown a cool new peice of technology, than honestly, you've got worse problems to worry about.
  • XStatic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Vex starter kit at woot.com today
  • Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4If this isn't interesting to you, you probably shouldn't be using digg.
  • monsieurgrand02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool. Think of this being applied to a Roomba (thats the robot that vacuums, right?). Neat idea.
  • retawd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I miss the real Radio Shack. The RS I know, that I used to buy from had transistors, soldering material, and diodes. Now its the $300 cell phone and a computer no one who could actually solder (because we know better) would ever buy.
  • Toallpointswest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Speaking of home built robots, who remembers Heathkit's Hero2000? Anyone know what happened to that?
  • ssutherland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Visited Radio Shack yesterday and came home with a Vex starter-kit. I was also a bit skeptical of anything for sale at RS, but it was clear even before I got it home that this is a quality kit. After a few hours playing with it, I have to say I’m impressed. I don't think I could justify laying out $300 for it, but with everything half-off it was priced just right. The sale runs until the end of the month, at least here in Seattle.

    Now I'm just debating about shelling out another $50 for the programming kit. It's Windows-only, BTW, although that bit of information took a lot of work to figure out. Oddly, there was no OS compatibility information on the box.
  • ShiningToast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Dude they did that like last summer. You're reporting on it now?
  • rufo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, you're pretty out of date on what mindstorms are capable of I'm afraid. You have the choice of several different programming languages for the original Lego Mindstorms... NQC allows you to write in a C-ish language with the stock Mindstorms firmware, or you can use Java and true C/Cplusplus with several different available firmware versions. Check out the wikipedia article on Lego Mindstorms for more info.
  • Hellmark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It is sad to see that places like that are getting far and few between. All the geek havens are dying. Anytime I want something component wise, I have to order it off the net, which is screwy for small things (I recently got a 36 pin centronix adapter and a handful of diodes) since it costs more in shipping than the parts do. What little RadioShack has in, they want way too much (last time I was in, saw a 14" IDE Ribbon cable for $8! not to mention a few other things that were 5 to 10 times the price it should be)

    As far as the article goes, was a nice read. Was kinda curious about these, and hopefully can pick up one soon.
  • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I just ordered one up now. I saw them before x-mas, and $300 was way too much. $150 is totally worth it though.
  • nonchallant0819, on 03/30/2008, -0/+0This is a great story... found this one through http://www.google.com




    ___________________________________
    http://www.TopNotchCarpentry.com
  • Strd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Hmm, if microcontroller had an inteface to get input from PDA, PC or WiFi card it would be really interesting. As it is it seems have something like 3K for data and 32K for programm - not quite smart. I wonder if it possible to reprogramm it through serial port on the run though...
  • Kallahan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0By the way, not only is VEX stuff 1/2 off now, but the Boe Bot is 99.99 instead of 150.00. If you want to mess with the actual electronics check out the boe bot.
    http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104566&cp
    It's clearenced so it won't be around much longer.

    Anywho Vex it pretty freaking sweet. 500 pieces in the starter kit. www.vexrobitics.com
  • Erkan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Always nice to read about Mythbuster!
  • jeff1943, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5So you aren't digg the story just because they used RadioShack?
  • SystemError, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1$300 to climb a full apple, is fine. It it was only a half apple or a pancake that would be a rip off.
    http://www.botmag.com/images/articles/vex_5.gif

  • savmac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Should I buy VEX or the new LEGO NXT later this year? I was going to hold out for LEGO but this looks pretty sweet!
  • savmac, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2VEX starter kit $150 through 6/3/06 - its mine!
    http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104567&cp=&kw=2762151&parentPage=search

    DOH - just saw the post above - nevermind.
  • absmith1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This just rocks! I've been fooling around with the Lego Mindstorms version of this stuff, but now I know I've got to try VEX. Everyone needs a stair-climbing Roomba!
  • gobeavs, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Most VEX stuff is 1/2 off at Radioshack now...Starter kit for $150. I'm really tempted....
  • agreen, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2AWESOME! As a former FIRST kid, i really love this. Way to go mythbusters!
  • green67, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@fluffyturtle....I agree.....yes there was a time when you could go into a RS and buy REAL electronics(remember the battery club?).......I remember when they used to have their "tube" helper...when I was a kid,you could bring in your blown "tube" and find the plug it fit in and get a replacement......but that was in the day of the "TV repairman"....doh!..I guess I showed how old I am!!....I still use RS for my basic electronic needs...the internet takes care of the rest.......cool story......digg
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2150!!!

    I'm getting this asap, seems a steal.
  • nate8, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2uh, the shack decided in februay to honor the rebates
  • SuperSloth, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"only programmable through a GUI"

    You're posting on Digg, so I have to question how this could possibly be a problem. Were you wanting to use your robot for on-site bomb disposal or something?
  • gobeavs, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I don't know what the NXT brings to the table, but if the mindstorms of 3-4 years ago are any indication they don't compare. Unless they have updated mindstorms since I did them, they are only programmable through a GUI enviroment...these VEX kits are programmable with EasyC or with C and a special compiler (you get it when you get the programming kit)...details on the controller and the starter kit here: http://www.vexlabs.com/vex-robotics-design-system.shtml
  • fluffyturtle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Eh, radioshack is slowly killing off their supply of components. They seem to mainly care about cell phones and pos RC's now days.

    It's refreshing to see some radioshacks are still holding true to their roots. I remember when you could walk into any radioshack and leave with almost everything you needed to build just about anything.
  • nate8, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1old link, but cool story

    but hey, the VEX stuff was on sale at the shack this month (sale ended 3/18). You could have had the starter kit for $200
  • pavelich, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3i know how you feel, i have been through it too. The thing is that the vex robotics set is completely unaffordable for normal people. That robot probably cost a grand. I would love to play with a set like that but it is simply not practical.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Too bad the STARTER Vex kit is like $300. Screw that.
  • gallamine, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I did a review of Robot Magazine on my website:
    http://www.gorobotics.net/Articles/Reviews/A-First-Look-at-Robot-Magazine/

    In their second issue they're having a contest to give away that robot build by the Mythbusters:
    http://www.gorobotics.net/The-News/Latest-News/Robot-Magazine-Offers-%11-Win-A-Robot-Built-By-TV%27s-MythBusters/
  • matperk, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2My friends and I competed in the VEX International Competition last year. We took 3rd. It was pretty sweet considering that we built the robot the day before we left for Atlanta.

    Also, My friend's dad runs all the tournaments in the country. That's the only claim to fame that I've got.
  • pbjorge12, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Just thought I'd mention that one day I went with my Dad to Radioshack to buy a Analog Input to VGA adapter
    The guy actually tried to sell us an analog to **** convertor, a **** to %%%% convertor, a %%%% to $$$$ convertor, and $$$$ to VGA convertor...
  • Heavy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3No Digg! This is not a robot this is a RC car, come back when its autonomous.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8No Digg ------- especially with Radio Shacks unethical behavior in recent times, like advertising free DVD players after rebate and not honoring the rebates.

    Also, as a former Radio Shack employee, I can attest that they sell junk, mediocre parts.......workers on commission who only want to sell you as much junk as possible on a customer even if they don't need it.....like if you go in asking for a $2.99 button battery, and they push a $300 cell phone on you instead.

    If you like this robot, buy from the source company who designed it, not from a mediocre ratshack like Radio Shack.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+0Is anything with mythbusters in the title going to get dug? How is this interesting?
  • Roger, on 10/12/2007, -32/+1I love the Mythbusters, but FUTURAMA!!!!

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