Fans of the arduino or anyone interested in making cool stuff, might want to take a look at these great USB hardware gadgets (called phidgets) offered by Trossen Robotics.  

Note: Actually I just realized that the company which produces phidgets is at phidgets.com. Apparently they’re located in Calgary, Alberta, so much closer to home for Canadian readers of the blog.

All of it works via USB connections and they offer things like servo controllers:

Switches and relays:

Accelerometers:

RFID readers:

…and of course sharks with laser beams on their heads (shark not included):

The company claims you don’t need to be a hardware whiz to get started either:

the complexity is managed behind an easy to use and robust Application Programming Interface (API). Applications can be developed quickly in any Microsoft .NET language, Flash, Visual Basic, VBA (Microsoft Access and Excel), LabView, Java, C, C++, and more!

Now we’re talking. And of course relevant to readers of this blog, they also seem to do a reasonable job of community building for customers, including a great project contest (which features everything from flying ufos, and a laser harp, to a creepy looking animated elvis).

Has anyone tried any of these products before? Is it easy to use? How’s the latency with USB? What other similar products have you tried (or heard of) are making the hardware/PC interface easier?