BIOBug / BEP Contest

Dave Hrynkiw
December 3, 2001

Think you're good at modifying toys? Got a toaster with legs? A cat with wheels? A self-pruning Chia-Pet? Well, do we have a contest for YOU:

Mark Tilden has confirmed with us that he's willing to donate two complete sets of Wowwee/Hasbro BIOBugs (4, one of each type) to the top two hacks/modifications to be published to the Internet. Mark had a heavy hand in designing the BIOBugs, and intentionally made them very receptive to custom modifications. What does that mean? YOU decide.

Given that Mark is an aficionado of truly bizarre/innovative devices and hacks, I suggest you DO NOT limit yourself to just serious technical hacks. Amusement and twisted humour counts too! Or, go the other way, and try for serious technical hacks. Figure out the I/O pins; interface a secondary processor, add additional functionality.

Existing hacks recently witnessed thus far include:

  • A general BIOBug vivisection
  • Adding a waist motor to a Predator
  • Adding a "flapping wing shell" to a Blue bug when it's agitated (in fight mode)
  • Stilt legs on a yellow bug

Get your BIOBug, hack it by February 28th, 2002 (gives you plenty of time after getting one from the dog as a Christmas Gift), email us your URL with the hack, and we'll see how it goes!

What's this got to do with Solarbotics & the BEP? Simple. If you use any of the BEP modules in your hack, and it wins (judged by Mr. Tilden), we'll give you a $200 credit for anything at Solarbotics.

Questions? None? Good. Get to work!

MORE POSTS

February 9, 2011
Interesting Mini-sumo build

This mini-sumo design by Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin features our wheels, and one of our favourite building materials, Sintra. We can't laser-cut sintra (PVC=bad stuff when burned), but milling it works well, as this builder shows. The asymmetric motor layout works, as proven by this contest-winning design (scroll to the bottom of the page).

September 18, 2003
New Wheels

Remember those bad-boy wheels you saw on Strongbad? Well, they're now available! But be warned - we don't have the sleeve to fix the 2mm shaft to 1/8" hole diameter gap, so you'll have to improvise something yourself. Otherwise, your robot will have a bit of a lope to its roll!

January 5, 2021
Creality Parts are IN, and Filament stat...

As great Creality Printers generally are, it's still a hassle to get parts and pieces to fix or enhance your printer. This explains why we were quite thrilled to see some BIG boxes come in from Creality the other day, containing: Replacement Ender-3 24V Hot Ends CR Series Inductive Leveling Kits BL-Touch Kits Ender-3 1.1.5 […]

April 24, 2015
The Arc Reactor Project

We needed all our superpowers for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this past weekend, so we decided to create our version of Arc Reactor for the team to wear at the show in order to augment the intelligence and add superhuman-level multitasking and learning capabilities (imagination is key at the Comic Expo).

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.

Copyright © 2024 Solarbotics Ltd. All Rights Reserved
cart