Logic gates are just plain awesome!!! They are esspecially used in Beam robots and applications that are to simple for microcontrollers. Here are some positives:
some types low power
some types fast
simple
easy to use
great for beginers
dosen’t need code
many types avalible
many packages avalible
Here are some negitives:
can’t get complex
dosen’t have computing power
some get destoyed easily by static
Here is a site that deals with logic gates for BEAM robots: http://solarbotics.net/
I think logic gates are cool, but not so much cheaper that it would makes sense to sell them at SFE. The point where you would use 7600 ICs instead of MCUs in the sub $2 is a bit niche, and SFE is more of a high level shop as I understand it.
That said a neat little logic gate grab bag could be very cool, I certainly would’t complain if it showed up.
Also if you have a hankering for simple gates, go buy little big planet 2, seriously. I want to teach a logic class with this as the tool. Its got AND, OR, XOR, NOT and SELECT (think of it like a non coded multiplexer with a sequence advance) gates, and its also super cute.
Thank’s souplogic.