Where Can I Buy Cheap Parts To Build A Basic Robot?

Question

I Want To Build A Robot... I Have Looked At Lego And A Couple Of Other Things But They Don't Have What I'm Looking For. I Need A Circuit Board And A Lot Of Other Stuff. I.E. Sensors, Motors, Camera, Battery, Bluetooth Communications... Etc. So If Any One Can Tell Me Where i Can Get This Stuff From, Please Do

Answer 1

it depends a bit on what you are trying to achieve. i'm assuming you are trying to learn about robotics and may have interest in programing them. the parts you list could add up to quite a nice experience.

while you can get some of the parts cheap by scavenging you still need a control board (for motors and sensors) and software system to program it

So lego might be a good option. Another option is the MIT handyboard - this is a more professional version of a lego type system - with many sensors and options (plus you can still use lego as a physical basis for the robot).
the mit handboard is available mail order for a pretty reasonalbe price - plus the motors etc are available. the store at the link below in hong kong sells other cool kits as well.

Answer 2

The best place is to buy printers/vcrs/etc. at a thrift store. You can get nice stepper motors and drives out of printers, nice IR sensors out of VCRS. Basic discrete components can be found in tv sets, vcrs, radios. Why buy new stuff when you can get what you need from old appliances? There's no reason to buy new unless it is a hard to find item or you have to have medical or military level of reliability, something a hobbyist obviously couldn't so anyway (the QC infrastructure alone is more than you can handle).

If you insist on buying new, get it out of Jameco, they are the most reasonably priced people. Also, you can try All Electronics or Gateway Electornics (not the computer people).

Answer 3

I work for an industry in robot ix, first thing you need to do is revise your search by category because electronics is a wide range of sensors and circuits, parts are generally fabricated though design and not specific so thinking about what you would want to accomplish is another way of searching (electronic manufacturing) would be where I would start but robotics is design

Answer 4

There is a good way to get some robot parts cheap. Just go out there and buy some far eastern toy like a remote controlled car or an interactive toy pet. Just disassemble the parts and you'll be surprised what you can find in there.

Answer 5

Get aftermarket race plastics... instead of spending $2,000 and up, you will get an entire kit for $500 plus paint. pass on your supplier and ask them approximately after industry race plastic... Oh, you additionally can would desire to establish your individual aftermarket blinkers too besides the shown fact that thats trouble-free and which you're able to have your option from a team of one-of-a-variety kinds..

Answer 6

If you know exactly what you want, place a request on e-bay for all or portions of the parts you are looking for.

Answer 7

digikey.com they sell everything there and pretty much always on the cheap