MindKits have a range of robot / robotic kits & parts which include Arduino Duemilanove, RFID readers, breadboards, LCD parts and other basic electronics along with online robot tutorials.
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MindKits - The Arduino Specialists

Community. Fun. Learning.

 

We love keeping you stocked with all our awesome Arduino kit but MindKits shipping is closed for a week starting 11am Friday Sep 3rd. Don't worry, we're coming back and will be shipping again Saturday 11th.
(orders are still very welcome while shipping is closed)

 

Turn your bright ideas into something fun

We're here to make it easy for you to get started with robotics, Arduino and tinkering - because we love tinkering too.

  • We're tinkerers too and we'd love to help you find the right tools to get started with Arduino Duemilanove and robotics from Mindkits New Zealand.
  • Because we do this for passion as we're tinkerers too we understand how important it is to be able to ask questions and get quick and details answers. We really do pride ourselves on our service and willingness to help.
  • We Distribute the open-source physical computing platform called Arduino and an assortment of parts from Sparkfun.com. In fact we are official distributors for New Zealand from SparkFun and from the creators of the Arduino.
  • MindKits hold stock in New Zealand and can ship anywhere in the country and Australia cheaply, with great service and quickly.
  • We even ship orders over $99 for free in NZ too.
  • We pride ourselves on being a place for community and not just a place for great products and prices.


MindKits Accepts All Major Credit Cards and accepts payment via Direct Deposit of funds

Phwoar! New Stuff


Electronics and Robotics In The News

Secrets of the gecko foot help robot climb

Tim Carr - Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"The science behind gecko toes holds the answer to a dry adhesive that provides an ideal grip for robot feet. Stanford mechanical engineer Mark Cutkosky is using the new material, based on the structure of a gecko foot, to keep his robots climbing."

 

Extract from the PhysOrg Article:
The toe of a gecko's foot contains hundreds of flap-like ridges called lamellae. On each ridge are millions of hairs called setae, which are 10 times thinner than a human's. Under a microscope, you can see that each hair divides into smaller strands called spatulae, making it look like a bundle of split ends. These split ends are so tiny (a few hundred nanometers) that they interact with the molecules of the climbing surface.

 Read More Here

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Auckmageddon Gamers Weekend - Ok so no robots but it's a great weekend for all geek kind.

Tim Carr - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

So, it's pretty apparent that this isn't really anything to do with Arduino or electronics but there's a fair certainty that many of you will be keen to hear about Auckmageddon - A5, the gaming mega weekend (ok, I just coined that phrase but you get what I mean). If you enjoy playing a spot of virtual pixel splattering fun then this is a weekend you'd be advised not to miss.

There's a good chance the MindKits team will show up and set up an area to let you all have a tinker with some botsand kits so sing out if you'll be there and we'll be sure to keep an eye out.

Tim
MindKits Chief Ninja

Check out the details below...

Auckmageddon - A5

1 week left for registration and payments.  Fret not, we’ve arranged some last minute dog tag orders to be expedited from the manufacturing company, but we make no promises.  
You may end up getting a piece of cardboard on a chain that says “Slacker” instead.

Check the registration list to see how your mates are tracking:

http://auckmageddon.com/list-registrations.aspx


Tournaments


Several of the tournaments are looking pretty thin when it comes to registration, so if you’re planning to enter, make sure you’re all signed up.
The ones that are looking thin on the ground (ie. you have a good possibility of winning stuff!) are:

Counter Strike: Source 5v5
Counter Strike:1.6 5v5
Team Fortress 2: 6v6
BF:Bad Company 2 4v4
BF:Bad Company 2 8v8

Please make sure your clan is registered for the event at http://www.blitz.net.nz/clan/
Note: All your members must be registered and PAID before the 20th to be eligible.  
All teams that are not full at this time will be removed from the ladder.

Prizes

Alright, we know a lot of you have been chomping at the bit to know exactly what we’ve got lined up for grabs at A5, so here it is.  

We’ve got:
  • An Alienware M15x laptop
  • Cisco wireless access points
  • Cisco VoIP phones
  • Flip video cameras
  • Microsoft Sidewinder gaming hardware
  • PC Games
  • Xbox 360 Games
  • All sorts of PC hardware from Compulink
  • Dedicated server hosting for your clan
  • Packs for you to practice/hold your clan matches at the Blitz Cyber Gaming Arena
  • Bar tabs!
  • and a bunch more
Prizes aren’t just for the main tournaments, we will be giving away both spot prizes and other arbitrary awards during the event.

Cheers guys, and look forward to seeing you all there next week.


-Det, Garrian & The A5 team.
http://auckmageddon.com
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Bluetooth Enabled DIY Bathroom Scales

Tim Carr - Thursday, June 24, 2010

Quote from the site:

"Not exactly a keyboard, but I'd argue that a data logging scale is an input device... In any case, this is a project I did a while ago (~2

years ago). Start with a cheap bathroom scale from Ikea, then strip out all the hardware except for the load cells. Add in the following:"

Check out the source article here

 

 The scale then uploads the data to a website with the help of a PC

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New to Arduino and Robotics?

  • We offer MindKits as a tool for you to use to learn, gain support and to help others. Seriously, try us out!
  • If there's something specific you're after and we don't stock it, no problem, just let us know the SparkFun part number and when we do our order we're happy to remove all the complexity for you and bring it in.
  • Payment is easy even for international orders! We accept PayPal and credit card and are happy to arrange shipping ($10NZD shipping to Australia, India). Most of the time we're still cheaper than ordering from a local supplier in your country.
  • Ordering from New Zealand is easy too (tracked courier $4 ex gst NZ wide), we accept electronic transfers and all major credit cards.
    Send us a screen shot of your payment going through and we'll get your order out the door on the next courier too.