Project Updates:

LED-Scope Kit with Basic Electronics - 7/16/10
After testing with several students, the text of Part 1, Basic Electronics is in its final revison
HXB27e Full Parts Kit and SMD-PB3 Practice Kit - 1/12/10
Both kits are Now Available. HXB27e can be purchased with a stock Hexbug.

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HXB27e Full Parts Kit being readied for release - 10/6/09
To make it easier for others to build an upgraded Hexbug, a kit of all parts will soon be available. As an option, an unmodified Hexbug can be purchased with the kit.
SMD-PB3 almost ready for release - 10/6/09
After several comments about how 'challenging' surface mount assembly can be, I searched for an existing SMD kit to recommend for practice. I didn’t find anything suitable, so I designed one. Eight circuit modules that can be separated or kept whole, 168 components, 20 blinky LEDs.
New Material - 10/6/09
After several months of developing new ideas, its time to update the website.
HXB27e PC board ready for release - 3/7/09
Finished testing the new HXB27e PC boards and modifications. Create new documentation and revise WebPages.
IR receiver module added to a stock Hexbug - 3/2/09
Reverse engineered the Hexbug reverse-turn trigger, and documented how to graft in a low voltage TSOP34838 IR receiver module.
Revised Hexbug-upgrade PC board will soon be available - 2/27/09
The new board has all the original circuit functions, though the component placement had to change, with new additions:
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 Accepts both SOP and DIP packaged PIC microcontroller packages
IR receiver module mounts on PC board
Improved ADC Vref configuration
Two LEDs looks more like eyes and provide directional detection to brightest light source.

New personality routine - 2/27/09
Personality-2 has been written and tested; Documentation almost completed.

Hexbug Parts List ERROR correction- 11/18/08
The voltage reference chip's part number should be ZXRE4041EFTA, not ZXR4041. The parts list has been corrected. Special thanks to John Stanley for finding this.

Slave Flash - Success! - 11/10/08
It turns out to be a fairly simple problem. The new circuit is simpler than expected. Web update this week, then more pictures!!

Slave Flash - The plot Thickens . . . - 11/8/08
After putting together two slave flash units, testing, documenting and photographing, I took a quick picture of the 'flash' as a final test and for the article. Big surprise- they flash, but nothing shows up in the picture. They don't work with my digital camera. :-< My guess was that the slave was firing after the camera took the picture. After much testing and modifications to reduce the latency timing- they still don't work. However, an internet search revealed some new information. From www.srelectronics.com:
"Ordinary slave units will not work with most digital cameras because these cameras use a very rapid series of pre-flashes (we're not talking about red-eye reduction). The pre-flashes are used to set the white balance of the camera's image sensor chip - not the exposure. A typical slave unit will fire on the pre-flash it senses while the digital camera captures the image on the last flash. Thus, the extra light from the slave does not show up in the digital camera photo."
So much for a simple, quick and useful project. But the gauntlet has been thrown, so back to the drawing board. . . or rather SPICE simulator and CAD/CAM.

Updated Hexbug Parts Placement .pdf on Downloads page -10/27/08
New detailed, color coded diagram. Much easier to follow.

Basic Hardware -10/23/08
The first chapter of Basic Hardware is up; other sections are partly compiled.

Slave Flash - 10/15/08
I need to take better pictures; I need better lighting. A bunch of halogen shop lights just doesn't give the right color to things. And it's a fire hazard, not to mention an obstical cource. !!?!! Surplus flash units are real cheap. With the addition of a photodiode, an SCR, and a few resistors, caps, and transistors, I should be able to put together five or six slave flash units for under $20! That should solve it. OK... another project.

Hexbug -10/9/08
Wire IR Receiver module to LCD Development board to develop software.

Project Icons - 10/2/08
I got tired of searching my screen to find the Hexbug folder, or the WALL-E folder, or the Other Project folder, so I made some Project Specific Icons. It makes it soooo much easier to find them. I’ll be making them available for others who are following these projects with their own versions.

WALL-E hack - 10/1/08
Quick look inside R/C WALL-E and U-Command WALL-E - The small, cable controlled R/C WALL-E is the best choice for modification. All the ‘Cosmetic stuff is done, just give it a brain:
Cost, about $15 vs. $50 for the large U-Command WALL-E Desk-top size
Enough room inside for AAA batteries plus micro servos
Same drive configuration as Hexbug- Forward Straight, Reverse Turn, so early version could use a modified Hexbug board if the MOSFETs can handle the motor's current. The large U-Command WALL-E drive is very similar: One motor- Forward Straight, Reverse Spin.
Note-
As projects are completed, I will be removing these notes from the page.
IR receiver module mounts on PC board
Improved ADC Vref configuration
Two LEDs looks more like eyes and provide directional detection to brightest light source.
New personality routine -
Personality-2 has been written and tested; Documentation almost completed
  Taking Ideas into Reality
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