Milton Bradley Bigtrak/BIG TRAK

Summary

The Big Trak looks like a science fiction utility vehicle driving on a moon or asteroid.

Commands can be programmed with the numeric keypad on the roof, such as “go forward 2 units” or “turn by 90 degrees”. This also enables the blue headlight “Photon Beam” to be switched on. The memory is sufficient for a maximum of 16 commands, which are processed in turn. A 9 volt block for the microcontroller and 4 D batteries for the drive are necessary for power supply. The motor for movement only drives the middle axle.

The futuristic toy is available in different variants. In the US version “BIG TRAK” the label is “bigtrak” in the British version. The general popularity leads to unofficial replicas, especially in Russia. This includes “Lunokhod” (electronics IM-11) or, a little later, “Planetokhod”.

In 2010, the Big Trak will be released again under license from Zeon Ltd. with slight optical changes. In 2014, the Bigtrak Rover model followed.

A dedicated Internet community has reconstructed the Big Trak and the built-in Texas Instruments TMS1000 microcontroller using reverse engineering.

A trailer with programmable unloading was offered as an accessory. This describes the original product range; the electronic toys list shows which accessories belong to the collection.