phoenixgarage.org

This archive was created in an attempt to bring together several sources of information that have floated through time (and the internet) detailing how to interface the Tomy/Radio Shack Armatron (and Super Armatron) to a computer. I hope you enjoy this archive as much as I had compiling it!

The Tomy/Radio Shack Armatron Questions or Comments?

There are several options available today to the robotic arm experimenter; OWI has released two separate robotic arm kits (the OWI-007 Robotic Arm Trainer, and the OWI-535 Edge), one can build robot arms using the Lego Mindstorms kits, and various manufacturers have released arm kits based around more powerful and lightweight R/C servos.

Back in the 1980s, though, there weren't as many options for a low-cost robot arm. I imagine that ever since Tomy first released the Armatron, people have been thinking and scheming on how to connect the toy to their computers; it was a low cost robotic arm being sold at a time when most desktop robotic arm trainers generally cost many thousands of dollars.

In this archive you will find everything that I have collected over the past several years about interfacing the Armatron to a computer. This archive may form nothing more than an historical record, and/or provide some inspiration to those who wish to develop their own robot arm interfaces, but if that is all that it accomplishes, then it will be enough.

Good luck, thank you, and please enjoy the archive!