[misc.misc] Looking for Heath Robot equivalent

hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) (11/23/88)

My apologies for the broad cross-posting.  There's no robotics group
(maybe there should be?) and nothing else that comes very close.  These
groups seem to cover the range of what I'm trying to do.

I'm currently working on a project that requires a fairly sophisticated
robot arm.  Up 'til now it was going to be built around the Heath/Zenith
Hero 2000 robot.  Unfortunately, H/Z has taken the Hero 2000 off the
market due to a design flaw and won't even give me a likely date when it
will be available again, if ever.

So, now I need another robot.  It should approximate the manipulative
capabilities of the Hero 2000.  I don't need the sonar ranging or similar
frills, but I do need to interface it to a Unix box through an RS-232
port.  An on-board computer is a plus (the Hero 2000 was vaguely PC
compatible).  Ideally, it should cost about the same as the Hero 2000, but
I can go somewhat higher if need be. $100K industrial robots and joystick
operated toys need not apply.

I've tried the Edmund Scientific Catalog.  They haven't got anything even
close.  Any leads or pointers to someone who sells what I'm looking for
will be greatly appreciated.

Please reply by e-mail.

Many thanks.

-- 
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com)  Illegitimati Nil
Citicorp(+)TTI                                                 Carborundum
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (213) 452-9191, x2483
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