We are now selling the motor and encoder portion of three of our metal gearmotors, without a gearbox. The pinion gear on the output shaft works with the gearboxes on the corresponding products, so these can be used as replacement motors or encoders.

Motor with 48 CPR Encoder for 25D mm Metal Gearmotors (No Gearbox)

HP Motor with 48 CPR Encoder for 25D mm HP Metal Gearmotors (No Gearbox)

Motor with 64 CPR Encoder for 37D mm Metal Gearmotors (No Gearbox)

You can now buy the ARM mbed NXP LPC1768 Development Board for just $49, a reduction of $10. We also lowered the price of the m3pi Robot + mbed NXP LPC1768 Development Board Combo by $10, to $189.95.

From the product page:

The mbed NXP LPC1768 is an easy-to-use MCU development board designed for rapid prototyping. At its heart is a powerful 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor running at 96 MHz with 512 KB flash and 32 KB RAM, which makes it far more capable than popular 8-bit prototyping alternatives. A comprehensive firmware library and plenty of sample code help you get your program up and running quickly, and a free online IDE and C++ compiler means that no software installation is required. Downloading programs is as simple as using a USB flash drive (no external programmer is necessary).

ARM mbed NXP LPC1768 development board with included USB cable and documentation.

Pololu m3pi robot controlled by an ARM mbed development board.

In this video, Brian Douglas uses our MinIMU-9 and Zumo Robot to show how to build a control system model for a robotic car without first knowing all of the different internal workings of the car.

Brian hosts a YouTube channel where he uploads various control system videos that are intended to supplement first year classroom instruction. You might also be interested in some of his other videos: This video demonstrates closed loop control of a robotic car, and the videos in this playlist explain how to use a gyro with MATLAB/Simulink and Arduino.

Featured link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th0acX5omRM

Related products

	Zumo Shield for Arduino
	Zumo Robot Kit for Arduino (No Motors)
	Zumo Robot for Arduino (Assembled with 75:1 HP Motors)

We released our new company blog to the public this week. The Pololu Blog is the main place to find news and announcements about Pololu including new products, price changes and sales, community projects, video releases, and more.

Pololu president Jan Malášek’s blog, Engage Your Brain, which used to occupy this part of the site, is also now part of the Pololu Blog.

Still can’t get enough Pololu? You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We have just released a joystick app for the Wixel that allows you to turn a Wixel connected to a computer into a USB joystick, with the Wixel’s analog and digital inputs representing joystick axes and buttons. The app and its documentation can be found in the Wixel User’s Guide, and its source code has been added to the Wixel SDK.

We’ll soon be publishing a sample project that shows you how to use a Wixel running this app to convert a retro joystick into a USB device, so stay tuned!

Update (12 September 2013): The Wixel USB Joystick sample project is now available.

Related post: Sample project: Wixel USB Joystick

As part of our continuing efforts to make better quality products at lower prices, we have dropped the prices on some of our smallest dual motor driver carriers and made the first quantity price breaks at just five units for an even better deal! We hope this will make them more compelling alternatives to old motor drivers like the L293D or SN754410.

Our DRV8835 carrier has dropped from $5.95 to $4.49.

Our DRV8833 carrier has dropped from $6.95 to $4.95.

And finally, our TB6612FNG carrier has dropped from $8.45 to $4.95. This especially steep price reduction is made possible in part by upgrading the TB6612FNG carrier to use a new reverse protection circuit and all ceramic capacitors (which also allow for a lower profile). The new version of the board is pictured to the left, but we are still transitioning from the old version, so you might receive either one until we complete the transition. For pictures of the original board and details on the status of the transition, please visit the product page.

Our universal mounting hubs are now available in versions with mounting holes sized for M3 screws (not included). These aluminum hubs allow you to mount custom wheels and mechanisms to 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm shafts. Each set of two hubs includes the required set screws and an Allen wrench for securing the hubs to motor shafts.

We have released a new machined aluminum bracket that lets you securely mount our 37D mm metal gearmotors to your project. The bracket has six holes on its face that line up with the 37D gearbox’s mounting holes, and it has three tapped holes on the bottom. Nine M3 screws are included for securing the bracket to the motor and mounting surface.

Our new QTR-3A and QTR-3RC reflectance sensor arrays pack three IR emitter and receiver (phototransistor) pairs onto a board measuring just 1.25″ × 0.3″ (32 mm × 8 mm). With the sensors mounted on a 0.375″ pitch, these sensor arrays are great for sensing 3/4″ black electrical tape when used as minimal detectors on line-following robots!

Two versions of these sensor modules are available: the QTR-3A provides three analog voltage outputs, while the QTR-3RC provides three digital pulse signals that can be read with digital I/O lines.

The SparkFun Starter Kit for RedBoard is an easy way to get started building entertaining and educational circuits with SparkFun’s RedBoard, an Arduino clone that is compatible with the Uno R3. The kit includes a RedBoard along with various types of sensors and indicators. A downloadable guide features example projects to introduce you to the world of embedded electronics.