It’s not easy to find concrete examples of shipping costs for McMaster-Carr online, and they don’t tell you what an order is going to cost to ship until after it’s already shipped — and that can be a little scary especially if you’re ordering odd sized parts, even if they only charge their shipping cost. So here’s a real example of shipping costs for a small order with some long parts to NC, USA. The order was placed online and shipped the same day from their Atlanta, GA, USA location. It was ordered on December 29, and received in North Carolina on January 3.
For a reprap build, I ordered these items, which include three 3-foot steel rods, 200 nuts, 292 washers, and 200 machine screws. Shipping was only $6.52 for everything. That’s not bad at all…
Well, I discovered that Popsicle is a brand name, so I’m officially renaming this little guy “StickBot” so the Popsicle police don’t come after me. To be clear, this little bot has nothing to do with Popsicle brand ice pops, and never did. My appologies Popsicle; I hope you still let me eat your ice pops because life just would not be the same without them.
Now that I’ve come clean, here’s a video that show how to assemble StickBot’s right eye. It’s an analog 555 timer-based 1Hz oscillator that controls the right/left PWM servo signals generated by the left eye.
This is the latest version, powered directly by four 1.5V LR61 batteries (similar to AAAA batteries, and often found inside 9V batteries). As a result, it does away with the voltage regulator.
I’ve had a few people ask me if I have a kit for this little critter. I’m working on one geared toward kids — it’s a fun project to do with kids, and it seems like they really learn a lot from it.
The parts for this eye include:
555 Timer IC
1k ohm resistor
330k ohm resistor
2.2uF capacitor
About 9 inches of Cat 5 network cable, phone cord, or other similar wire
