SolarboticsSKU: RB-Sbo-61
Manufacturer #:
K HM2 - R
3 reviews
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Description
Herbie the Mousebot: Red
Loves to chase flashlight beams
Battery power: 9-volt
Requires tools and soldering
The Herbie the Mousebot (Red) is a 9-volt battery-powered light-following robot that loves to chase flashlight beams. This little robot is so quick, you have to run to keep up to it.
The Solarbotics Herbie the Mousebot has been enhanced with functional whisker and tail sensors, so it doesn't get stuck in corners or under obstacles while chasing around. If there are several Herbies in the same area, they can be even configured to chase each other.
It comes as a build-it-yourself kit that does not use any microprocessors or programming, all the parts and some excellent documentation will be supplied to put it together. The instructions contain many pictures and simple descriptions to make the building process easy and fun, especially for beginners. Free phone/email technical support to help you to complete your project will be provided.
The Solarbotics Herbie the Mousebot originally invented by Randy Sargent. It was built from spare parts as an entry for a robot competition. It is such an elegant, clever design using very few parts, it's been featured as a construction project in "MAKE" Magazine.
A portion of each sale is donated to the "KISS Institute for Practical Robotics", a not-for-profit organization that uses educational robotics programs to actively engage students in science, technology, engineering, math and project management. This is an organization Randy (Herbie's "Dad") is involved with.
No joke our cat would give 6 stars. This kit is well thought out and simple to assemble, especially if you are not new to soldering. The only challenge is the whiskers. They are actually momentary switches which activate Reverse motion and MUST have clearance around the 2 holes in the PCB in order for the little bot to operate properly. Our cat is usually blasé with any toy but goes nuts over Herbie.
E
Elaine
Clever - but HARD
As of this writing, Herbie the Robot is my least favorite child. My son (age 11) and I have been building him (on our second try now, after having successfully completed 2 other soldering projects) and we got to the last step and realized we had installed an incorrect part at the start of our project. We're now trying to correct the mistake, but it's going to require at least one replacement part. This is an intermediate project, in my book. On the plus side, the directions are written so my son can understand (even though we did goof on installing similar looking parts!) and we're looking forward to the fun. If you don't have a fair amount of soldering and electrical experience, I'd stay away.
Y
Yvette
great fun
It was fun putting this together, This is the first time that we have tried to do something as this. We want to try and built another one and have them chase each other.
