Cyber Monday Redbox Robot

Bring one of our classic red boxes to life! We know that starting a robotics hobby can be expensive, so we wanted to put together the most economical robot kit possible. But don't let the price (and cardboard construction) fool you, the Arduino compatible SparkFun RedStick and included Ultrasonic Sensor make this a smart and versatile robot! Use the box that the kit comes in as your chassis, add motors to the front, add an LED to the back to act as a caster, and you've got a great platform for getting started with robotics.

Check out the Assembly Guide below for step-by-step instructions on putting it all together as well as example code to bring your new robot buddy to life! The guide will be released when the kit is available for purchase.

  • 1x SparkFun RedStick
  • 1x SparkFun Motor Driver - Dual TB6612FNG (1A)
  • 1x Hook-up Wire - White (22 AWG)
  • 1x Breadboard - Self-Adhesive (White)
  • 2x Break Away Headers - Straight
  • 3x 1500 mAh Alkaline Battery - AA
  • 1x Battery Holder 3xAA with Cover and Switch
  • 1x Mini Speaker - PC Mount 12mm 2.048kHz
  • 1x Ultrasonic Sensor - HC-SR04
  • 1x Hobby Gearmotor - 200 RPM (Pair)
  • 1x Wheel - 65mm (Rubber Tire, Pair)
  • 1x Super Bright LED - Red 10mm
  • 1x Double Sided Tape (to attach motors to the box)

Cyber Monday Redbox Robot Product Help and Resources

Red Box Robot Hookup Guide

November 23, 2016

Turn an iconic SparkFun red box into an obstacle-avoiding robot.

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Customer Reviews

4 out of 5

Based on 4 ratings:

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2 of 2 found this helpful:

Glad I Got It When the Getting Was Good!

This was a fantastic deal, especially for someone who is just getting started with Arduino.

It also gave me a reason to learn how to solder, which is easier than I imagined it would be.

The kit itself had all of the necessary parts to get my 'bot up and running. The documentation was clear, and I was able to get the 'bot moving on the first try. The sample codes were enough for me to get an idea of what each line means, and I just ordered more parts to build another.

Here's a short vid of the 'bot in action, https://youtu.be/_1xbTw24q9g

2 of 2 found this helpful:

Love that it was all in one kit

For someone who hasn't dabbled in robotics much, it was nice to have everything in one kit. My only complaint is the box became weak and tore where the motors mounted after a few days of heavy use. I didn't expect the box to live too long.

0 of 2 found this helpful:

Very Disappointed

I ordered 4 of these Redbox Robots for Christmas gifts. Was shocked to see no assembly instructions inside -- just a slip of paper with a URL. But that URL went to a 404 error page. One of my 4 boxes didn't even have that slip of paper. Once I finally found the instructions after searching the website, it required way more soldering than anticipated. When I bought the kit, the video showed a breadboard with no soldering. Soldering wasn't mentioned in the description. That soldering was required eliminated this as a gift possibility for most of the people I had in mind. I ended up donating these to a local high school. Hopefully they can use the parts. Very shoddy documentation and a misleading product description/video. Terrible experience.

Hi, I'm sorry about the issues. We generally do not include printed directions with the majority of our products. The proper link to the tutorial is here - https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/redbox-robot-hookup-guide?_ga=1.54666216.2143888710.1482273413

As for the soldering, I do apologize that was not made clear that soldering is required. I have a request made to have that clarified to avoid further issue.

I will be contacting you directly as I hope we can help you with this issue.

Awesome First Robot Build

This was truly an excellent start in building a robot. The parts were easily assembled; instructions excellent. I love that the box is the body of the robot! Thanks for putting together a great kit that was not intimidating to do. The RedStick is amazing and I went back and ordered 2 more including the other Redbox robot parts so my kids build their own robots (as the kit was sold out by then!). Hope more projects like this are in the works.