While the PilotTrak V2 is a huge improvement over the original PilotTrak, it is quite a bit bigger. There’s something about the cuteness of an absolutely tiny tank-like vehicle, and it’s nice to be able to pocket it and go anywhere. Solution? PilotTrak V2 Mini.

This version sacrifices a few features. There’s no secondary idler wheels, and there’s no servo tilt for the camera. The electronics are housed in the space freed up by the removal of the servo. While it’s a difficult build that requires de-pinned or micro receivers, it is not much larger than a standard TinyWhoop.

I’m probably going to add very fast (500rpm @ 3v) motors to make up for the lack of off-road ability.

Using my WiPi Modem (available from my site), I was able to get my Brother GeoBook, a low cost 386sx laptop from the late 90’s, online! Software availability is not great, as it only runs GEOS / GeoWorks Ensemble, but there is integrated TCP/IP support via a PPP connection, which my Modem supports.
The only useful applications on the GeoBook are Emailer (A very, very basic SMTP/Pop3 email client), Web Browser, and a fairly nice, though limited, IRC client. While not extremely useful in today’s age, it is able to get enough connectivity to post to my blog via the WordPress email post. The WiPi modem is also able to provide me with an SSH client via terminal emulator, so I regularly use the GeoBook to configure my webserver! This machine would definitely get a few strange looks if I ever started using it in a coffee shop 🙂