Now that all eight chapters of Robotics with the Board of Education Shield for Arduino  have been posted online, it’s time for me to prep the manuscript for a bound book. I’m hoping all the BOE Shield-Bots out there will join me in a hunt for typos and bugs, so I can fix them before they become paper-permanent and replicated.  If (okay, when!) you find any errors, email me (editor@parallax.com) and I’ll be most grateful.

Okay, so the BOE Shield-Bot’s hermit-crab-like “eyes” can’t really operate as OCRs, even with this magnifying glass. But, these infrared emitter/receiver pairs can let it avoid objects or drop-offs, and gauge close-range distance well enough to follow another ‘bot. And, with a Sony-programmable remote, you can have an IR Remote Controlled Shield-Bot (a bonus mini-project with code and video posted).

Thanks in advance for your bug-hunting help!

-Steph Lindsay

Here’s a video of the Parallax BOEBot in action! We also took this one minute exposure of the bot zooming around the table. Video on YouTube and Vimeo.

Parallax BOEBot Robot for Arduino Kit (Board of Education). We are very excited about this one! This kit brings the excellent design and tutorials of Parallax to the Arduino world. Make your Arduino the onboard brain of a mobile robot and learn robotics, electronics, and programming with this versatile kit and its accompanying step-by-step lessons. The Board of Education Shield plugs into your own Arduino (not included) and mounts on the popular Boe-Bot robot chassis.

With this kit and your own Arduino module, you can follow the Robotics with the Board of Education Shield for Arduino lessons with over 40 hands-on activities.

• Learning to program your robot’s Arduino Brain
• Calibrating the robot’s continuous rotation servo motors
• Using lights and speakers for status indicators
• Assembling the robot
• Preprogrammed navigation
• Using touch-switches to navigate by contact with objects
• Using phototransistors to navigate by light
• Using non-contact infrared sensors to measure distance and avoid or follow objects

The original Robotics with the Boe-Bot text for the BASIC Stamp microcontroller has enjoyed worldwide popularity with teachers and hobbyists, and has been translated into seven languages. Author Andy Lindsay revised his work for the Arduino community, and Parallax Inc. is making it available as a free, online tutorial at http://learn.parallax.com/ShieldRobot.

Kit Contents:

• Board of Education Shield PCB
• High-quality aluminum robot chassis, continuous rotation servos, and wheels
• Boe-Boost Module
• All the electronic components and sensors needed for the Robotics activities
• All the assembly hardware needed (nuts, screws standoffs)
• Parallax Screwdriver

Please note: Arduino + USB cable not included! We suggest picking up an Uno + USB cable to complete the kit if you don’t have one at home already.

Adafruit tested and approved!

In stock and shipping now!