We are looking to add a new member to the team. If you would love to get paid to build robots read on.

If you have a place to share this post, by all means, please do! Help us spread the word and help give someone their dream job.

Job Title:  Roboticist Apprentice Extraordinaire

Where? Chicago far west suburbs (Downers Grove, 60515) (With future relocation to Chicago)
How much? 25K to 35K depending on experience and fit
When? We hope to hire the right fit before end of February 2012
Relocate? We are happy to consider the right applicant from outside Chicagoland. We cannot cover all the relocation costs, but for the right rock star we will help out. Also, expect a trial work period before moving permanently to see if we like each other.

Trossen Robotics is looking to add another member to the team. The optimal applicant will be able to handle very very long hours, extremely sarcastic work environments, have a diverse skill set (IE: customer service skills are as good as engineering skills), readily tackle challenging projects, and be able to hold their own in Halo Firefight.

Was GLaDOS of little challenge to you? Do you have a lot of FINISHED electronics and/or mechanical projects that you built lying around your house? Can you be in the zone with Tool/Puscifer/NIN/Ministry/insert-other-awesome-industrial-genius-here blaring on the sound system? Did school bore you because your mind is so brilliant that you were smarter than all your teachers? How many things have you ripped apart, just because you just had to know how it ticked? Does your narwhal bacon at midnight? Are you willing to burn the midnight oil to get projects done? Not because you were told to, but because you can’t sleep until you see it working. Do you want to feel like the work you do is having an impact outside your cubical? Do you not want to work in a cubicle? Good, we don’t have them.

Not-the-most-fun-grunt-things-you-will-have-to-do-part-of-the-time-just-like-the-rest-of-the-team – Help in the warehouse, restock inventory, pack orders, help build kits and count things, process RMAs, answer the same question on the phone with a friendly voice 843 times a year, sing for superiors on command… okay not really.

Main-duties-we-need-lots-of-help-in-right-now – product entry, writing product pages, product photography, project/product videos, blogging, project write-ups, code examples, production runs on laser CNC machine (yes, you can wear a lab coat and be a REAL laser scientist), running community contests, participating in said community, build demo kits and robots, creating product manuals, customer service (talking to customers about robots, answering product related questions), tech support, and in general being an awesome team player.

The-awesome-stuff-you-can’t-believe-you-get-paid-to-do-that-you-will-get-to-do-if-you-get-your-daily-chores-done – assist in mechanical design and programming on robotics products and kits, create & build fun DIY projects and robots, be a part of the product development and prototyping discussion, build giant killer 6-legged robots armed with paintball guns (we’re already half-way there), come up with great ideas to generate PR and viral videos, and did we mention robots? You get to build robots. That is awesome, in case you were wondering.

You will probably be put through the ringer and made fun of a lot in your first six months, but the bright side is that then you will get to make fun of and ridicule the next person we hire. That is how it works. The other bright side is that you will get to be paid to build robots, learn engineering, programming, marketing, community building, laser science, warehouse management (Meaning putting stuff in boxes and closing them. With tape. Repeatedly.), and be proud to be a part of building a great new company.

Seriously, we rock and roll while we work, and we have a good time, BUT we have a very fast paced environment here and we all work very hard. We get a lot done fast because we love what we do and we want to be the best at it. We are very well known in the community and are expanding our offerings rapidly.

We really would like to find someone who is already familiar with the DIY Arduino community and has already done some Arduino projects, but we are flexible. If you don’t know Arduino, then you should at least know programming in C++, python, or processing etc. Must be self reliant and not only be able to do projects unsupervised, we expect you to come back with ideas on how to improve things. We expect the right candidate to be constantly learning and improving their own skill set. A large part of the job will be doing product page write ups, manuals, project write ups, etc. So you will need to know how to write very well and quickly about technical subjects. This is a deal breaker if you can’t. Please be ready to show us something that proves you can communicate in print.

Exact definition of the position is to be determined. We would rather find brilliant hard working innovators and mold the right position around them than to predefine something rigid. Please send resume with cover letter to jobs@trossenrobotics.com. Yes, we are serious about the cover letter. If you can’t take the time to write one and let us know this really hits your passion buttons, then you really shouldn’t be taking a shot at it. Plus, there was that whole thing above about the job being largely about writing stuff. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
The Trossen Robotics Team

Download the full job description here as PDF

Our friend Will Lyon from over at thebestcasescenario.com is a master Computer Mod Designer. If you don’t believe me you can check out his latest project called Maximum Security. This badboy looks like he was yanked off the Nebuchadnezzar from the Matrix.

The project sports a liquid cooling system, LCD readout, RedBee RFID reader and self opening door powered by a Firgelli Linear Actuator. Checkout the project thread here and the video below. Nice job Will!

DSO Nano v2 Pocket Oscilloscope

We are making room for new stuff. We still have 8 of the V2 DSO Nano in stock. We’ve slashed the price on these wonderful pocket sized oscilloscopes. (Was 99.95 now 59.95) If you were wanting one of these for your workshop, now would be the time to grab one

SOLD OUT!

Phidget Temperature Sensor IR

Phidget Temperature Sensor IR

How hot is your baby? The 1045 is an intelligent non-contact temperature sensor with a 10° field of view and a USB interface for easy connection to your computer. It measures the temperature of objects placed within its cone of detection.

Phidget Analog 4-Output

Phidget Analog 4-Output

Gimme some juice! The PhidgetAnalog 4-Output Produces a voltage over -10V to +10V. This voltage will be asserted up to +-20mA. An error will be reported when this current is exceeded, and the voltage the customer is getting is no longer accurate. The voltage is produced with 12 bit resolution (4.8mV).

Phidgets Dual SSR Relay

Phidgets Dual SSR Relay

Double your pleasure. The SSR Board is safe to use with sensitive control devices like microprocessors, and will not damage a Phidget device or your PC. Optoisolation between the control inputs and outputs of the SSR in the form of a GaAs LED paired with a set of optically-controlled MOSFETs provides protection from output to input. An on-board 47V bidirectional transorb across the relay output protects the board from static electricity and surges from inductive loads.

Phidget Sound Sensor

Phidget Sound Sensor

Can you hear me now? (Really, what other quip did you think we would use here?)  The Phidget Sound Sensor can be used to detect sounds, and approximate how loud the sound is. The 1133 measures sound across a very wide range, with a frequency range of 100Hz to 8kHz and pressure level from 50dB to 100dB.

Phidgets MotorControl 1-Motor

Phidgets MotorControl 1-Motor

• Controls direction, velocity and acceleration of one DC Motor
• Requires external Power Supply (9 to 28VDC)
• Built-in 2 digital inputs, 2 analog inputs, 1 encoder input
• Protected against over-current, over-voltage, and over-temperature
• Connects directly to a computer’s USB Port

Phidgets USB Isolator

Phidgets USB Isolator

You aren’t a serious hacker/builder/maker until you have burned out a few USB ports. We’ve been there too many times to count. That sudden moment of, “Wait, what? Why did everything just stop working?” The USB Isolator is designed to protect your PC from harmful voltage that can flow from devices attached to your PC through the USB cable. The isolator is inserted between the Phidgets board and your PC.

Phidgets GPS

Phidgets GPS

Do you get lost often? Have your robots inherited this trait from their master? The Phidget GPS provides the longitude and latitude of the board’s position in signed decimal degree format. The position accuracy (best case) is 2.5m CEP (Circular Error of Probability).

The 1040 also provides altitude, heading and velocity as well as the time and date. It will also let you know when it has a satellite fix.

The PhidgetGPS has a 3V rechargeable lithium battery to provide “hot starts” by remembering its previous positions. With a live battery, the 1040 can perform a signal re-acquisition in less than 1 second. The battery provides up to 1 month of operation before having to be recharged. Recharging an empty battery takes 24 hours.

Here is where to find the Dynamixel Controllers.

And here is where to find the Dynamixel Servos.

That concludes this blog post. Cake will be served in the lunch room now.

3S LiPo Battery Monitor LED/Audio

Don’t let you robot die in the middle of battle. This is a simple to use 3S LiPo Battery Alarm. It utilizes multi-color LEDs and an audio alarm to give visual and auditory feedback on the current voltage level of your LiPO battery pack.

Phidgets FlexiForce Adapter

The Phidgets 1120 FlexiForce Adapter makes it easy to turn a Tekscan FlexiForce Force Sensor into an analog sensor. Phidgets even supply a round plastic disc of the right size for the sensing pad. Aren’t they nice?!

DSO Nano v2 Pocket Oscilloscope

An Oscilloscope that fits into you pocket?!?!?! What is this? The future? Yes. Yes it is.

Arduino Project Box

Don’t you hate it when your friends come over drunk and try to lick your Arduino projects? Us to. What is up with that? Here is an Arduino Project Box to protect your Arduino projects!