On 7/5/2022 7:43 AM, Allan Zieser wrote:
From: "John R. Hogerhuis" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [M100] Robotics projects with the M100
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Radio Shack sold a toy robotic arm that enthusiasts interfaced to a
color computer at least. Not sure about the model ts.
Anyone remember the name of the toy?
-- John.
The Armatron was sold in the 80’s through RadioShack and Tomy. I
believe that Tomy manufactured it. You could create an interface board
to attach to a model 100 it only had two controls so it would not take
a lot of connections probably four and a ground to operate it. You can
get them online starting at thirty bucks for a broken one.
* Allan Z
Just to clarify, while the original toy was called the Armatron
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armatron), the original unit could not be
interfaced easily. Later, there was a "Mobile Armatron" that was
controlled via a wired remote, and that one looks like it could be
easily interfaced with any computer system, M100 included.
I know firsthand, since I saw the original Armatron at RS, added it to a
Christmas List, received it, and only then determined there was no easy
way to interface. The original ran off a single motor with gears and
levers to handle all 6 axes of motion. There was an article in Radio
Electronics where someone did interface, but it essentially required
ripping out lots of the innards and adding in multiple motors:
https://archive.org/details/radio_electronics_1985-05
So, if you want to buy an Armatron to do this, make sure you get the
mobile version.
Jim
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