To wrap up this round of distributor introductions, I would like to welcome the following new Pololu distributors in Asia:

NTREX, Inc. – Devicemart is an online electronics store in Incheon, South Korea, with a huge selection of components, prototyping equipment, robotics kits, 3D printers, PC components, and industrial supplies. We are excited to see that their Pololu category now lists hundreds of our parts. Devicemart is now our fourth Korean distributor.

Suzaku Lab, Ltd. is an online store based in Nara, Japan, specializing in robotics parts. Joining two other Japanese distributors, Suzaku is carrying an extensive selection of Pololu motion control boards, including the Jrk, Simple Motor Controller, and TReX lines as well as most of our stepper and DC motor driver breakout boards.

Coprime Pte Ltd, an electronics shop in Singapore, is now carrying Pololu products. We have not visited, but from the Facebook pictures of their storefront, it seems like Pololu parts are being displayed alongside an exciting array of other hobby electronics boards and parts. Coprime is our fourth Singaporean distributor and our second (!) located in Sim Lim Tower.

Explore Labs is an open-source electronics company in Jodhpur, India that has been writing tutorials and selling and designing boards since around 2011 (they are growing and recently rebuilt their website, so some old content is unavailable). They publish their hardware designs on GitHub and sell them on their site along with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, the Intel Edison, kits from 3D Robotics, and now Pololu parts.

Tanna Educational Services, another new Indian distributor in Rajkot, Gujarat, offers training services on topics including embedded development and also sells microcontroller-related boards, kits, and components on their website. Their Pololu category contains various regulators and motor drivers, several sensors, the Wixel, our USB AVR Programmer, and more. Tanna and Explore Labs bring us to a total of five Indian distributors.

See the full list of over 200 distributors to find one in your area.

In celebration of Independence Day (July 4th), we are putting our entire catalog on sale at 10% to 25% off through the end of Monday, July 6. Note that we will be closed tomorrow, so orders will not ship until Monday, July 6.

For more information, including all the discount coupon codes, see the sale page.

Happy 4th of July!

We’re now selling the latest V5 versions of the RoboClaw 2x5A, 2x15A, and 2x30A dual motor controllers from Ion Motion Control. Like the previous V4 RoboClaws, they can drive a pair of brushed DC motors at voltages from 6 V to 34 V, but the 2x5A now has a USB serial interface (in addition to TTL serial, RC, and analog inputs) like its larger siblings, and the 2x15A and 2x30A have a new heat sink design that should improve cooling. We expect to have updated documentation for the new versions soon.

RoboClaw 2×7A or 2×5A dual motor controller (V5).

RoboClaw 2×15A, 2×30A, or 2×45A dual motor controller (V5).

We are excited about our new 0.1″ terminal blocks because they can typically be soldered to PCBs in place of standard 0.1″ male and female headers, offering alternative board-to-wire connection options that can be especially convenient in cases where you know you will be dealing with stripped, unterminated wires. For example, the following picture shows an 8-pin terminal block spanning the control connections of a VNH5019 motor driver carrier:

There are some low components (e.g. resistors and capacitors) near the motor driver’s 0.1″ holes, but the terminal block is able to comfortably sit on top of them. In cases where there is not sufficient clearance from tall, nearby components, it might be possible to use the terminal blocks on the bottom side of the PCB. The following picture is an example of this, with a 4-pin terminal block used for the motor and motor power connections of a DRV8801 motor driver carrier:

And in case these pictures are giving the illusion of large PCBs rather than tiny terminal blocks, we have for your viewing pleasure a picture of these terminal blocks in a 0.1″ prototyping board (Adafruit’s Perma-Proto prototyping PCB) next to some standard 0.1″ male header pins:

These terminal blocks cannot be combined into longer strips or placed side-by-side on a 0.1″ grid, so you will need to get the exact lengths required by your application. Fortunately, we have nine lengths to choose from, from two pins through ten pins!

We now have a shorter (20 mm) 12 mm Hex Wheel Adapter for 6 mm Shaft as an alternative to our original 35 mm extended version. These adapters work well with our 37D mm metal gearmotors, allowing you to use them with many common hobby RC wheels.

12mm Hex Wheel Adapter for 6mm Shaft connecting a Wild Thumper Wheel to a 37D mm Metal Gearmotor.

For our full selection of these adapters, see our hex wheel adapter category.

We have two exciting new DC motor driver carriers to introduce, one for ROHM’s BD65496MUV and one for Maxim’s MAX14870:

BD65496MUV Single Brushed DC Motor Driver Carrier, labeled top view.

MAX14870 Single Brushed DC Motor Driver Carrier, labeled top view.

These drivers each offer wide operating voltage ranges, with the BD65496MUV operating from as low as 2 V up to 16 V and the MAX14870 operating from 4.5 V all the way up to 36 V. They can each supply over an amp to a single, bidirectional brushed DC motor. These are the highest-performing integrated motor drivers we know of short of substantially larger units such as the MC33926 and VNH5019. For more information on these drivers, click on the related products below:

Most electronics projects (and many Pololu products) require soldering. That’s why we’re excited to offer a soldering station and other accessories that we can wholeheartedly recommend! We are now carrying Hakko soldering and desoldering tools and Hakko hand tools (cutters and pliers). We use Hakko tools in our own manufacturing, and we believe they offer a great mix of reliability, performance, and price. Continued…

Continuing with our belated new distributor introductions, we are happy to welcome these six new Pololu distributors in South America:

Baú da Eletrônica is a new Pololu distributor in São Paulo, Brazil. Check out their Pololu category for the 3pi Robot, Zumo, and more.

BUILDBOT, also in São Paulo, is now carrying the 3pi and Zumo as well as a variety of Pololu sensors, relay modules, and mechanical parts.

FILIPEFLOP is yet another new distributor in Brazil (bringing the total to eight), located in the city of Florianópolis. Make sure to check out their blog, which is full of useful-looking tutorials.

IMPORTRONIC, a robotics and electronics store in Quito, Ecuador, now features a Pololu category with a selection of our popular motors and servos.

Paruro.pe, in Lima, Peru, carries a large selection of electronics parts. Search for Pololu on their site to find our 3pi and Zumo, Arduino and Raspberry motor drivers, the Arduino-compatible A-Star Mini, and more.

Eneka is a new distributor with an interesting history. The store was founded by four brothers as a radio assembler/installer in Paris, France, and moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1936 due to the deteriorating situation in Europe. Since then, they have become a distributor of electronics equipment and components, and they recently started adding robotics to their product line. Our first distributor in Uruguay, Eneka carries a number of Pololu parts including voltage regulators, sensors, motors, and wheels.

See the full list of over 200 distributors to find one in your area.

A contact at Mexican distributor Cosas de Ingeniería wrote to let us know about a contest he is helping organize in Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico. The Mexican Mechatronics Asociation (Asociación Mexicana de Mecatronica A.C.) will be hosting the 14th National Congress of Mechatronics (14º Congreso Nacional de Mecatrónica) 2nd Robotics Competition on October 15th through 17th this year. The three-day event will host several robotic competitions:

• Autonomous Vehicle Competition (based on the Sparkfun Autonomous Vehicle Competition)
• Insect Robot Race (insectoid robots try to be the first to travel 2 m over obstacles and uneven surfaces)
• Mini-Sumo Competition (autonomous robots, similar to the one pictured above and our Zumo robots, fight to stay in a designated area)
• Line Following Competition (autonomous robots follow a line-marked course as quickly as they can)

To keep up with the latest news about this competition, see the RoboticaAMM Facebook page, which also has dozens of pictures from the last competition.

We are excited to introduce new versions of our high-power micro metal gearmotors with long-life carbon brushes in place of the standard precious metal brushes:

Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB long-life carbon brushes (left) next to Micro Metal Gearmotor HP precious metal brushes (right).

So far, we only offer these on motors with HP windings, so the brushes being a lot more robust can just move the failure point if you try to push the motors too hard. However, if you use them at around 6 V and keep the continuous load under around 20% of the stall torque, the carbon brushes allow the HPCB motors to last several times longer than HP versions with precious metal brushes.

With the addition of this new HPCB motor variant in ten different gear ratios (10:1 through 1000:1), our selection of popular micro metal gearmotors now spans more than fifty options, giving you control over the motor winding, gearbox, and shaft arrangement:

Motor Type	Stall Current @ 6 V	No-Load Speed @ 6 V	Approximate Stall Torque @ 6 V	Single-Shaft (Gearbox Only)	Dual-Shaft (Gearbox & Motor)
high-power, carbon brushes (HPCB)	1600 mA	3000 RPM	4 oz-in	10:1 HPCB
		1000 RPM	9 oz-in	30:1 HPCB
		625 RPM	15 oz-in	50:1 HPCB
		400 RPM	22 oz-in	75:1 HPCB
		320 RPM	30 oz-in	100:1 HPCB
		200 RPM	40 oz-in	150:1 HPCB
		140 RPM	50 oz-in	210:1 HPCB
		120 RPM	60 oz-in	250:1 HPCB
		100 RPM	70 oz-in	298:1 HPCB
		32 RPM	125 oz-in	1000:1 HPCB
high-power (HP) (same specs as HPCB above)	1600 mA	6000 RPM	2 oz-in	5:1 HP
		3000 RPM	4 oz-in	10:1 HP	10:1 HP dual-shaft
		1000 RPM	9 oz-in	30:1 HP	30:1 HP dual-shaft
		625 RPM	15 oz-in	50:1 HP	50:1 HP dual-shaft
		400 RPM	22 oz-in	75:1 HP	75:1 HP dual-shaft
		320 RPM	30 oz-in	100:1 HP	100:1 HP dual-shaft
		200 RPM	40 oz-in	150:1 HP	150:1 HP dual-shaft
		140 RPM	50 oz-in	210:1 HP
		120 RPM	60 oz-in	250:1 HP
		100 RPM	70 oz-in	298:1 HP	298:1 HP dual-shaft
		32 RPM	125 oz-in	1000:1 HP	1000:1 HP dual-shaft
medium-power (MP)	700 mA	2200 RPM	3 oz-in	10:1 MP	10:1 MP dual-shaft
		730 RPM	8 oz-in	30:1 MP
		420 RPM	13 oz-in	50:1 MP
		290 RPM	17 oz-in	75:1 MP	75:1 MP dual-shaft
		220 RPM	19 oz-in	100:1 MP	100:1 MP dual-shaft
		150 RPM	24 oz-in	150:1 MP
		75 RPM	46 oz-in	298:1 MP
		25 RPM	80 oz-in	1000:1 MP	1000:1 MP dual-shaft
low-power	360 mA	2500 RPM	1 oz-in	5:1
		1300 RPM	2 oz-in	10:1
		440 RPM	4 oz-in	30:1	30:1 dual-shaft
		250 RPM	7 oz-in	50:1	50:1 dual-shaft
		170 RPM	9 oz-in	75:1
		120 RPM	12 oz-in	100:1	100:1 dual-shaft
		85 RPM	17 oz-in	150:1
		60 RPM	27 oz-in	210:1
		50 RPM	32 oz-in	250:1
		45 RPM	40 oz-in	298:1	298:1 dual-shaft
		14 RPM	70 oz-in	1000:1	1000:1 dual-shaft