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Erector was discontinued before Mindstorms were launched, and were not programmable. Mecanno brand has programmable robots, but not the range of sensors that M

by lupire 4y ago

Erector was discontinued before Mindstorms were launched, and were not programmable. Mecanno brand has programmable robots, but not the range of sensors that Mindstorms had.

kragen 4y ago
You can still buy them secondhand.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  I don't know about Mecano, but the Erector sets online are in pretty sad condition, unsurprising since they're >50 years old now. Sometimes I'll get from ebay one of the battered metal boxes they came in. They make nice nostalgic decorations.
  - DalekBaldwin 4y ago
    The most easily available Meccano-compatible system still in production is the Swiss brand Stokys: https://www.stokys.ch/de-ch/home/ https://www.stokys.ch/de-ch/home/ The web site and order system is in German, but I've been able to talk to their friendly customer service in English. Then there's the matter of shipping outside of Europe... but it's still much easier than scraping parts together from vintage Meccano vendors with circa-1995-style web sites. I remember having some Erector sets as a kid in the '90s (they had merged with Meccano long before, and the choice of which brand to appear on which set seems to have been random since then), but these days the official Meccano/Erector selection is almost non-existent -- there are maybe a dozen small self-contained model vehicle kits, and you can't order generic kits or parts in bulk. It is rather sad -- these brands were once used for serious engineering prototyping and scientific work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser#Use_of_Meccano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser#Use_of_M...
    - kragen 4y ago
      Here in Argentina, Meccano-branded sets are still being made, but Meknex may be a better option: https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-855738684-meknex-k100-set-construc-metalico-x261-piezas-tipo-meccano-_JM https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-855738684-meknex-k1... The official Meccano-brand sets here in Argentina are indeed very limited.

by lupire 4y ago

Erector was discontinued before Mindstorms were launched, and were not programmable. Mecanno brand has programmable robots, but not the range of sensors that Mindstorms had.

kragen 4y ago

You can still buy them secondhand.

WalterBright 4y ago
I don't know about Mecano, but the Erector sets online are in pretty sad condition, unsurprising since they're >50 years old now. Sometimes I'll get from ebay one of the battered metal boxes they came in. They make nice nostalgic decorations.
- DalekBaldwin 4y ago
  The most easily available Meccano-compatible system still in production is the Swiss brand Stokys: https://www.stokys.ch/de-ch/home/ https://www.stokys.ch/de-ch/home/ The web site and order system is in German, but I've been able to talk to their friendly customer service in English. Then there's the matter of shipping outside of Europe... but it's still much easier than scraping parts together from vintage Meccano vendors with circa-1995-style web sites. I remember having some Erector sets as a kid in the '90s (they had merged with Meccano long before, and the choice of which brand to appear on which set seems to have been random since then), but these days the official Meccano/Erector selection is almost non-existent -- there are maybe a dozen small self-contained model vehicle kits, and you can't order generic kits or parts in bulk. It is rather sad -- these brands were once used for serious engineering prototyping and scientific work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser#Use_of_Meccano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser#Use_of_M...
  - kragen 4y ago
    Here in Argentina, Meccano-branded sets are still being made, but Meknex may be a better option: https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-855738684-meknex-k100-set-construc-metalico-x261-piezas-tipo-meccano-_JM https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-855738684-meknex-k1... The official Meccano-brand sets here in Argentina are indeed very limited.