Robot Kits, PCBs, and Brain Boards
Electronics Components, Test Equipment, and Surplus Parts
DigiKey
Large stock of electronics, easy to order, and reliable.
Mouser Electronics
Good selection getting better all the time. Many unique items. Some better prices.
Electronic Goldmine
Variety includes solar panels, switches, LEDs, and toy motors.
Electronix Express
The least expensive source of most electronic parts, multimeters, and soldering tools.
All Electronics
Overstock and salvaged items.
Future Electronics
Not easy to order from, but carries some unique parts.
Jameco Electronics
Lots of electronics. Some unique robot elements.
Circuit Specialists/WebTronics
Good selection of meters. Nice wireless camera.
B.G. Micro
Lots of interesting components, surplus items, small motors, and optics.
FindChips
Great site for locating a chip seller.
Construction Material, Metal, Plastic, and Shop Tools
McMaster-Carr
Huge selection of materials and tools with helpful selection information.
US Plastic
Low prices. Select "Sheet, Rod, Shapes" from pull-down menu.
MSC Industrial Supply / MSC Direct.com
Similar to McMaster-Carr. Everything you can think of.
Micro-Mark
Wide variety of small tools, including milling machines.
Brick Link
Market of sellers of Lego bricks. A great way to get bulk Lego or missing Lego pieces.
Fortal.biz
Sells chunks of Fortal aluminum (high-quality grade alloy) to hobbyists.
Little Machine Shop
Tools, parts, and kits for milling machines and lathes.
Manufacturers of Semiconductors, Microcontrollers, and Batteries
Atmel
Manufacturer of my current favorite microcontrollers, the AVR 8-bit RISC family.
AVR Freaks
An independent site for AVR developers.
ImageCraft
Development environment and C compiler for the AVR and other microcontrollers.
Texas Instruments
A wide variety of logic chips, interface chips, and voltage regulators.
International Rectifier
Some of my favorite power MOSFETs for H-bridges.
Fairchild
Good MOSFETs and diodes as well as logic and interface chips.
Freescale
My previous favorite microcontroller, the 68HC908.
Maxim / Dallas
Another good semiconductor manufacturer.
TAOS
Very cool light sensors! Some products are available at Mouser Electronics .
Ramtron
Excellent serial memory chips! Some products are available at Mouser Electronics .
Energizer
Specifications for the sizes, capacity, chemistry, and voltage of their power cells and batteries.
Duracell
Technical data for their batteries (alkaline, NiMH, NiCd, silver-oxide, AA, AAA, C, D, button cell, and so on).
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Fabrication -- From Prototype PCB to Multilayer PCB
ExpressPCB
Excellent quality. Good price on 3 prototype PCBs. Free PCB layout software.
Electric Motors, Gearmotors, Gearheads, and Encoders
Maxon
High-quality miniature DC motors. The cost of brand new motors are out of the price range of most hobbyists.
So, use this site to look up the motor specifications that are listed on eBay.
Faulhaber
Makers of fine quality gearmotors with company names of "MicroMo", "Mini-Motor", and "Faulhaber".
Portescap
Another manufacturer of excellent small motors. Sometimes the name is shortened to "escap".
Magazines and Books for Robots, Software, Machining, and DIY
Cool People, Builders, or Interesting Websites
Steve Hassenplug
Steve is a master Lego builder. His creations and devices often outshine machined competitors. A friendly, great guy.
Hack-A-Day
Constantly something new about reverse-engineering, hacking, or tweaking technology.
Society Of Robots
Site and member-authored tutorials on parts, techniques, and getting started with robots.
Let's Make Robots
Collection of member-authored blogs and articles regarding their robots, contests, or tips.
Instructables
User-generated articles across many topics, including electronics, art, and robots.
Dave Hylands
A well-respected robot builder and machinist. Lots of photographs and articles.
Taylor Deiaco
A gifted young man who has documented his hints and tips for people starting out.
Alphadrome
Vintage tin robots and space toys. I think the Robot Room mascot is a Nomura Zoomer Rachet.
Theodore Gray's Periodic Table
A physicists dream: an actual physical table containing chemical elements. Fascinating short stories and pictures.
Robot Clubs and Schools