Variety of actuators Grab Bag

Development Boards Arduino
1

Hi All,

I am new to Arduino - but have had a love of getting into robotics for some time and my wife finally capitulated and got me a starter kit. :smiley:

I know I am going to have things I want to build in the long run, but in general, I am like a cook in a used kitchen. I prefer to look at a bunch of components and decide - “what can I build with this stuff?” However, the starter kit only comes with two actuators - a dc motor and a stepping motor and just a few sensros.

I know its pretty easy to find some grab bags of capacitors and resisters. I have many of them. I also have some LED’s from past lives. But I can’t plan ahead on what motors I am going to need, and there are so many types out there. Every board I look at tells people they can’t suggest a motor without knowing what you want to move - load, rpm, reliability etc…

I guess I am looking for a grab bag with a variety of motors that I can get relatively cheaply. i am not looking for high performance motors that won’t ever fail. I can get those after I have some experience under my belt and want to improve of my models. For now, I want to learn what I can do with different motors, experiment and see what the world can do.

So I am looking for more of just a “variety grab bag”. Same thing with sensors. I just want some random relaitvely inexpensive grab bag of unknown actuators and sensors that I can get and lay out in front of me and stare at for a bit so my mind can figure out how to put it together. :mrgreen:

Any idea where I can find these at a reasonable price?

2

Best bet is looking for the many surplus online stores. Many of these have grap bags of stuff. they also tend to carry high quality surplus motor. gearmotors and lots of other neat stuff to play with.

As for learn about building robots check the articles and tutorials here:

http://www.societyofrobots.com/

Lots of great starting info and even a motor calculator.

Another online store that has good stuff for robots is:

http://www.pololu.com

3

Ask around for some junk printers and CD players. They are considered trash by most, they are easy to get, and they are packed with all kinds of electromechanical goodies. Cassette players have some great parts too, but they can be hard to come by.