As a child I was very into gadgets and machines and robots. The idea of experimenting with machines to create art was always something I tinkered with. – Reggie Watts
From Gigolo Joe to EVE to Optimus Prime and even the uptight C-3P0, books and movies have been making us fall for robots for over a century. It’s nearly impossible to imagine a future without them – which is what makes them such a forward thinking and cool gift! Check out our list below of rad robotics products from Adafruit and beyond.
Available at Adafruit!
iRobot Create® 2 Programmable Robot: iRobot Create 2 is a mobile robot platform built from remanufactured Roomba robots and designed for use by educators, developers and high-school and college-age students. Program or build your own projects or start with our sample projects provided online. Create 2 is ready to go, right out of the box, so there is no need to assemble the drive system or worry about low-level code.(read more)
Parallax BOEBot Robot for Arduino Kit: 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. (read more)
Wheel for Micro Continuous Rotation FS90R Servo: We’re keepin’ it wheel with this one!
Need a great drive solution for your little robotic friends? This black plastic Micro Continuos Rotation Servo Wheel is equipped with a silicone tire and a press-fit design to make connecting to your FS90R Micro Servo super quick and easy. Make cute robots today with a couple of these wheels!(read more)
Hummingbird Duo Premium Robotics Kit: The Hummingbird Duo Premium Robotics Kit is a spin-off product of Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE lab. Hummingbird is designed to enable engineering and robotics activities for ages 12 and up that involve the making of robots, kinetic sculptures, and animatronics built out of a combination of kit parts and crafting materials. (read more)
ADABOT “Make Robot Friend” Poster: Here at Adafruit, we envision a future where robots, humans, cyborgs, replicants, cylons, and all other types of artificial intelligence and electro-human hybrids will live in absolute harmony. While we love a great fictional dystopia, we certainly wouldn’t want to live in one.
That’s why we made this glossy, beautiful poster that’s designed by artist Bruce Yan. It features a smiling ADABOT holding hands with two human friends. Along the top reads the simplest robotics maxim we could think of – “Make Robot Friend – Not Robot Enemy.” (read more)
Zumo Robot for Arduino – v1.2: The Pololu Zumo robot is an Arduino-controllable tracked robot platform that is less than 10 cm × 10 cm—small enough to qualify for Mini Sumo. It includes two micro metal gearmotors coupled to a pair of silicone tracks, a stainless steel bulldozer-style blade, an array of six infrared reflectance sensors for line following or edge detection, a 3-axis accelerometer / 3-axis magnetometer / 3-axis gyroscope, and a buzzer for simple sounds and music. Just add 4 AA batteries and an Arduino (or compatible controller) and you are ready to push! No soldering or assembly is required. (read more)
Available Elsewhere!
Ozobot Bit 2.0: We love the educational philosophy behind Ozobot. It’s also just like super teeny tiny and really cute…
From Ozobot:
Expand your child’s horizons with the help of Ozobot Bit – the tiny tinker robot. There is no end to the possibilities, as your child creates a different landscape of adventures, games and coding with Ozobot Bit. Imagine, a learning toy that opens the doors of computer science, STEM education, robotics and coding, making your child one step ahead of the learning curve in school and in life.
Read more here and purchase here!
Botvac 85 Robot Vacuum: As a pet owner/lover who doubles as a hater of cat hair on my everything, I would love to get this as a gift this holiday season (hint, hint!).
From neato on the Botvac 85:
Features a combo brush that is uniquely designed to pick up pet hair—and is quieter, too, especially on hard floors like wood and tile. Patented laser-guided technology scans and maps the room, plans, and methodically cleans, automatically moving from room to room. 50% larger brush, bigger-is-better dirt bin, extra large filter, and precise edge cleaning brush pick up more dirt and debris. Schedule daily cleanings or push a button for instant multi-room or spot cleaning. Automatically goes back to charge base, then returns to where it left off.
Read more here!
Starter Robot Kit from Makeblock: If you’re shopping for someone who’s looking to dive into robotics and pick up some of the essential skills, we suggest checking out this starter kit.
This Kit is a great choice for learning robotics, electronics and Arduino programming. It contains mechanical parts and electronic modules for you to start exploring the robot world, it can be used to build a robot tank or a three-wheel robot car.
Read more here!
We’re excited for the Holiday Season here at Adafruit, and we can’t wait to share that excitement with you! Stay tuned into the blog where you will find new, handpicked gift guides five days a week from November 9th through December 24th, 2015 alongside holiday themed tutorials and builds!
Free Deals
Adafruit offers exciting deals and free items when you shop with us. As of October 13th, 2015 we are currently offering:
- Adafruit Perma-Proto Half-sized Breadboard PCB – Single for order $99 or more
- Adafruit Trinket – Mini Microcontroller – 5V Logic for orders $149 or more
- Adafruit Pro Trinket – 5V 16MHz for order $249 or more
Adafruit Holiday Deadlines 2015
Here are your 2015 shipping deadlines for ordering from Adafruit. Please review our shipping section if you have specific questions on how and where we ship worldwide for this holiday season.
The Adafruit Shipping Department works hard to get your orders out as quickly as we can, but once they’re in the hands of our carriers they’re out of our control.
Carriers have been struggling to keep up with the sharp rise in online orders. UPS, FedEX, and USPS all experienced delivery delays over the last few years.
So all the Adafruit Shippers say: Please be sure you get your gifts early! Order as soon as you can! Once you place your order we’ll ship like the wind!
UPS ground (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 11, 2015 – There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive by December 24.
UPS 3-day (USA orders): Place orders by Thursday 11am ET – December 17, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS 2-day (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 18, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS overnight (USA orders): Place orders by Monday 11am ET – December 21, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
Please note: We do not offer Saturday or Sunday service for UPS or USPS.
Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, Christmas, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, New Year’s Day, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
United States Postal Service, First Class and Priority (USA orders): Place orders by Friday– December 11, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2015 or sooner.
USPS First class mail international (International orders)): Place orders by Friday – November 20, 2015. Can take up to 30 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/25/2015 or sooner, but not a trackable service and cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/24/2015.
USPS Express mail international(International orders): Place orders by Friday – December 5, 2015. Can take up to 15 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2014 or sooner.
Gift Certificates are always available at any time.
When in doubt contact us!
