OT: Where to buy "kinematic parts" (LEGO Mindstorms or Arduino?)

hi all,

i am trying to find a source for "parts" or some kind of kit that would allow for the construction of "kinematic" demonstrations of various types of movement. rotation, sliding etc, etc.

i took a look at Arduino (GH plugin) and at LEGO Mindstorms and I have not quite found anything.

anyone have any ideas for something like this?

TIA

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stan Vinokur on December 15, 2011 at 1:57pm

haha - aka electronics. - if you dont want lego? you have to get the real thing. adafruit is a good website that sells this kind of stuff dumbed down for interaction designers...

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chertok on December 15, 2011 at 2:24pm

hi stan. very nice. thank you!

Permalink Reply by Jacek Jaskólski on December 15, 2011 at 2:10pm

I think the most popular items for making kinematic stuff are motors (servos, stepper motors, ...).
Then there's the question of extending/developing mechanisms that translate the rotating motion to other types of motions (using gear wheels, gear strips and bands, for example).

parts/electronics: sparkfun.com / e-bay / electronics store&service / model shop / old toys / junkyard ;-)
control: arduino + firefly + grasshopper (since we're here on the forum, otherwise arduino + processing)

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chertok on December 15, 2011 at 2:26pm

hi. thanks.

so - - if i am looking for something as dumb as just linking a series of sticks together to see what kind of motion may or may not be possible with that type of "linkage" am I starting in a particular area of these sites? anyone know?

Permalink Reply by Brian Harms on December 16, 2011 at 12:29am

Maybe if we had an idea of what you are Trying to do we could be of more help. Maybe you could upload an image or sketch of something youd like to do/make.

Permalink Reply by Scott Davidson on December 15, 2011 at 2:40pm

I have been working on Lego teams this fall.

One of the best place to get large sets of parts is Lego Education. The have well balanced base sets for robotics: http://education.lego.com/default.aspx?domainredir=www.legoeducatio...

Mindstorms use the technic parts. Getting one of the new kits is actually a great way to get a balance of parts. The new technics kits are amazing: http://technic.lego.com/en-us/Products/default.aspx#8069 . These kits work directly with Mindstorms

For individual parts I have been buying from Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Technic-/156604/i.html?_catref=1&_trksi...

I especially find the parts at ilego useful. He seems to focus on robotics and I can get exactly what I need. Buying individual parts can become expensive: http://stores.ebay.com/ile9os

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chertok on December 16, 2011 at 12:06pm

Hi Scott.

Sounds very interesting. Thanks very much for the help here.

Looks like the iLegos site is coming closest to my needs here.

In answer to Brian (thanks) - in the short term I am looking for something that will allow me to connect a series of rods in some configuration to determine what kind of "kinematic" movement the various configurations will allow. For instance here is an example of linkages "in the plane": http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/linkages/

However, I'd really like to find a connection that would let me connect up a series of rods such as is in this hyperboloid in the illustration and demonstrate the kinematic action of these in 3D space.

Thanks for the help.

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