Parallax sells these as a basic kit, which includes only the aluminum panels and motors/wheels.
The controller was a BS2 borrowed from my BoeBot, a pair of HB-25s and some sensors. The HB-25s were overkill, but it's what i had.
Right now, it's undergoing some major surgery. Motors that came with it, I find, are geared way too high for indoors. After one of them blew itself to bits, replacements are Pololu 37Dmm gearmotors that bolted right up to the stock plates. The original Banebot axle adapters are also pretty much stripped out, so some Pololu adapters and 90x10mm wheels are going in. For a motor controller, I'm pulling out the HB-25s for a possible bigger bot and using a dual MC33926. And finally on battery, pulled out the VEX 7.2v nimh and using a 12v 5Ah SLA that'll be tucked in back. Those omni wheels on its tail seem to steer better with some weight on them, so a good place for a big chunk of battery. Not decided yet on controller, either Arduino or Propeller. The rest of the parts should be in later this week, so the little guy should hopefully be a bit more reliable.
Looking real good so far! Few questions about your shop area, actually, lol. Where’d you get that vise in the background, and how do you like the dremel drill press adapter?
The vise is a Panavise 305PV-ND from Digikey. They still have free shipping with a $200 order, even the steel base which I also use with their smaller Jr model. I bought it from their Canadian site, but I’m assuming you’ll want their American prices:
For me, the dremel stand is not really a gotta-have and use it everyday kinda tool like the vise, but more of a nice-to-have convenience. The base gives it a small footprint on the bench while the stand keeps your noisy buzzing dremel high enough so if you’re using the extension, you can concentrate on your work and not the tool. And the drill guide is still stable enough even with the plastic body. We’re not talking CNC precision, but good enough for PCBs and aluminum. It won’t replace a 10"+ drill press, but for light duty work which I find is the majority of stuff I do and cleaning up your bench, works great.
If you’ve got neither, I’d start with the vise as you’ll probably use that more often then go to the stand.
