Bigtrak Junior

Product Information

The US and UK/European versions were noticeably different. The US version was moulded in gray plastic and labelled "BIG TRAK", while the UK version was white and labelled "bigtrak" with a different keypad.

The encoder is simple, consisting of an infrared emitter (LED) and an infrared detector (photodiode) The higher resistance of the 32-ohm speaker reduces the total current, but because it receives a greater share of the voltage relative to the fixed 18-ohm resistor, In 2010, BIG TRAK was relaunched in the form of a slightly modified replica (cosmetically very similar to the original UK bigtrak), produced under licence by Zeon Ltd. There is also a small dedicated Internet community who have reverse engineered the BIG TRAK and the Texas Instruments TMS1000 microcontroller inside it.

Recommendations

Not only is interest and availability in the Big Trak limited today, but datasheets are virtually non-existent for the obsolete parts contained within. It served no real purpose other than novelty but many people became addicted to improving their Big Trak programming to the point where they could get Big Trak to circumnavigate their homes. The PCB does not include a silkscreen (printed layer), so the component numbers are not listed anywhere.

Games magazine included Big Trak in their "Top 100 Games of 1981", finding it a "great challenge is to program Big Trak to run through an obstacle course, without pacing off the distances". [15] See also [ edit ]

Various output electronics (expansion plug, speaker, motors, and light bulb) are located at the extremities connected via wires.