Where do you get the Dobot handshaking wires?

Where do you get the Dobot handshaking wires?

Question:

I’m teaching CIM for the first time in a few years and am a bit rusty. I’m getting ready to start using the Dobots. I don’t remember this 4 wire piece that goes into the breadboard. I know I have a lot of 3 pronged ones from vex. Do you know what it’s called and where I can get one? I know that you can use any wire and make it work, even the 3 wire version used with the lynx, but these make it so easy to use…

Answer:

Well, good news and bad news! Good news: these wires are 700 mm Molex or Dupont, female to female, connectors and are commonly used for building 3D printers and making stepper motor connections. They do make it very easy, and sometimes the colors are different too. Also, if you’re an eighth grader, any other color wire probably won’t work, right? Right Mr. Hurd?!?! They used to be very easy to find….

700 mm Molex or Dupont, female to female, connectors

Bad news: We seem to have made them so popular with the Dobots, that they are getting pretty scarce and hard to find. Just so you know, I did a search on Amazon and found…. NONE! If Amazon doesn’t have them, who does, right? The other bad news is that most of these are inexpensive and come straight from China. We all know how that’s playing out with our President now don’t we?!?! Write him a thank you for the price increase on the Dobots as well.

Real Answer:

So I did some research, and the only place I could find them was AliExpress… a seedy website that allows you to buy stuff for manufacturing inexpensively through China. I decided to use a gift card and a burner email and try to order them and see what happens. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised.

On AliExpress, I ordered these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32639944807.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.7baa4c4dJYVEWJ I made sure to choose 4 pin and 70 cm for length. At the time, they were about $3.40 for a lot of 10, so I ordered 100… and the total came to $37.31 out the door… that’s 37 cents apiece! This place is notorious for long waits too…. and luckily for me, I ordered on Feb 11, and I received them Feb 25! BONUS!

Sidenote

I know for a fact that my district will not order through this company, and I doubt yours will either… just wanted to see if it actually worked. Neither do I condone the use of seedy websites to buy things from questionable sources, or use burner emails and sketchy practices to acquire stuff I need, but when you need a few 4 pin 70cm, Dupont, F to F, connector, what is one to do?!?

Good luck on your quest for connectors, and if you find a vendor that schools can use that is a reputable source, please let us know!

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CHRIS HURD

JIM HANSON



Chris and Jim CIM
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