One of our goals has been to develop the” high tech” side of the local maker community. The most common complaint we hear from many of our local customers that they don’t know of anyone else in their area with similar interests to them. Of course, from our side we see quite a different picture and we want to start getting people to “know their neighbors” and give them a place to ask questions, bounce ideas, and collaborate – so we now have a community forum. Feel free to drop in and say hello!

http://www.bc-robotics.com/bcrforums/

We have a couple of great new products from Adafruit industries! The Pi Case: probably one of the nicest low cost Raspberry Pi Cases, The Mini Li-Po / Li-Ion charger: the smallest charger we have available, and a bunch more!

In addition, we also have a couple new bits and pieces including a very strong Rare Earth Magnet, Force Sensitive Resistor, 2.54mm Terminal blocks, and a very cost effective Project Enclosure.

For the full list of what’s new check out the New Products page!

The Raspberry Pi Camera

As both models of the Raspberry Pi have been big sellers at BC Robotics we are planning to bring in the camera as well! If you would like to be notified once the Pi Camera is in stock please sign up on the product page. We are not currently taking orders as we do not have a firm date on delivery.

Holiday Weekend

Just a reminder that this weekend is a holiday weekend in British Columbia – BC Robotics will not be shipping Monday as it is Victoria Day – A holiday dedicated to packing up soaking wet camping equipment in the rain! All orders placed after Friday at 1:00 PM will ship the following Tuesday morning!

We are happy to announce BC Robotics is now an authorized SpikenzieLabs distributor. SpikenzieLabs is very well known for their Solder : Time watch kits, Arduino shields, and other stand alone electronics kits. This week we are introducing 3 of their great products into our inventory:

The Calculator Kit - a great project for those looking to build their own calculator. This kit is easy to build and a very stylish addition to any Maker’s desk!

The Solder : Time Kit - build your very own digital wrist watch!

LCD Interface with Display - I2C and TTL 16×2 LCD complete with acrylic stand!

As many have noticed – the Raspberry Pi Model A is now in stock. While this product has been available to the European market for quite a while – we finally were shipped our first batch last week! For those unfamiliar, the Model A is a “lean” version of the Raspberry Pi as it only draws about 1/3 the power of the Model B! The overall profile of the Pi is much slimmer as well since there is no Ethernet connection onboard. A great alternative to the Model B when power consumption is a concern or no hardwired network connection is required! For more information on this please visit the Raspberry Pi Model A product page.

We also have a few other great products including the Adafruit Ultimate GPS board – an all in one shield for the Arduino platform. This board is pre-assembled and includes the GPS module, battery backup, microSD slot, and a prototyping area. Check out this board and other recently added items here!

This week we are happy to announce the arrival of 2 additional colors of the “Flowing Effect USB cables” – Aqua/Green and Indigo/Purple. The speed of the flowing effect on is dependent on the amount of current being drawn by the connected device. Therefore when used to charge a cell phone you will notice it produces a much faster effect than a low power device such as a Raspberry Pi idling along!  A fun way to have a visual representation of the power consumption of any USB micro device!

Also in stock is a low cost VESA mount for the Raspberry Pi. Designed to fit the 75mm and 100mm VESA mountings found on the back of most monitors,  this device allows for a clean installation of a Raspberry Pi in a protected, yet easily accessible location. More information is available on the product page!

Holiday Weekend

As this coming weekend is Easter BC Robotics shipping cutoff will be Thursday, March 28 at 2:00 PM PST. All orders placed beyond the cutoff will resume shipping Tuesday morning!

Yes, that is right! We have these back in stock and ready to ship! These cables contain a thin filament of blue electroluminescent wire and an inverter. When a device is plugged in (such as a cell phone) and drawing power the cable will indicate current by creating a flowing effect. Once the charging is complete and the current draw is reduced the flowing will slow to a stop - a far more interesting way to charge your phone!

For more information check them out Here

New Chat System

As some may have noticed, we have implemented a new live support chat system. We are still in the process of working a few bugs out of the system but feel free to give it a shot! The support window should be available on the bottom right side of the website and can also be accessed through the Contact Page.

If you do encounter a bug please be sure to let us know at support@bc-robotics.com

Today is the first anniversary of the Raspberry Pi! A year ago we had a very brief glimpse of just how popular this device would grow to be. The first 10,000 units sold out in just a few moments and since then over 1 million units have been released into the wild. To this date manufactures have been unable to keep up with demand! A great first year!

This coming year we will be seeing a Raspberry Pi Camera add-on board which promises to bring 1080p video recording to the Pi at a very reasonable price!  In addition to the camera, the Raspberry Pi “Model A”,  which has already been released in Europe, should be available in the next few months to us North Americans! The Model A features 256MB RAM and will sell at an even lower price than the current model. The makings of another great year!

Haven’t got a Pi? Well we have them in stock and ready to ship so pick up a Raspberry Pi today!

Website upgrades

This week we started an ambitious project of upgrading each of product pages within our online catalog. Additional information and photos as well as links and downloads will be added to each of the products over the coming days!

Any bugs can be forwarded to us at support@bc-robotics.com

From the physics of it all to building circuits that respond to their environment – the Discover Electronics Kit is a great place to learn the basics of electronics! The kit includes over 130 components, visual instructions and links to helpful online videos!

Just as it seemed the Pi foundation was starting to catch up with demand for the Pi , it seems the demand has jumped again! Our next batch is scheduled to arrive in the 5 – 10 business days for those waiting to get their hands on more Pi.

OpenSource Nanaimo

A few weeks ago we were approached by a group within Nanaimo looking to open the city’s first MakerSpace – OpenSouce Nanaimo. This community workshop (MakerSpace) will providing an environment for builders, tinkerers and makers of all skill levels to create, share and learn!

Currently the project is in the funding phase so if you would like to help make this facility a reality please visit their Indiegogo Campaign. Also, be sure to visit their Facebook page for the latest information on the project!