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Vibrobots

A simple, fun robot for the rest of us.

  • By Mark Frauenfelder
  • Category: Robotics
  • Time Required: 1 to 2 hours
  • Difficulty: Easy
Vibrobots

When my 3-year-old daughter dropped the $1 battery-powered fan I bought her, the plastic case cracked, ruining it. I promised her I’d make something even better using the fan’s motor. I’m a fan of Chico Bicalho’s wonderful windup toys, so I made a robot inspired by his designs. I call mine the Vibrobot, and you can make one in a couple of hours or less.

  • Hammer
  • Hot glue gun
  • Phillips screwdriver
  • Soldering iron
  • Wire cutter/stripper

Steps

Step #1: Prepare the candy tin.

NextVibrobots
  • Sand the paint off the tin, if you wish.
  • Punch 2 holes through the bottom of the tin, one on either end, using a hammer and a Phillips screwdriver. You’ll use these holes to attach the legs.
  • Punch a hole through the lid near one end. This hole is for routing the wires.

Step #2: Make the legs.

NextVibrobotsVibrobotsVibrobotsVibrobots
  • Snip off 2 long pieces of wire from a coat hanger and bend each into a V-shape.
  • Bend the tip of the V into a right angle, and then bend a little “foot” at each end.
  • Attach the legs to the holes in the tin using bolts, nuts, and metal washers.
  • Add a dollop of hot glue to each foot to give them rubber tips.

Step #3: Install the motor.

NextVibrobots
  • Push a paper clip through one of the plastic flat washers, and attach the washer to the spindle of the motor.
  • Solder 2 wires to the 1.5V battery, insert the battery in the candy tin, and thread both wires through the hole in the lid.
  • Solder one wire to a lead on the motor, and solder a third loose wire to the other motor lead.
  • Put 2 plastic flat washers between the motor and the candy tin, and secure the motor to the tin using a cable tie.

Step #4: Operate.

Vibrobots
  • To operate the Vibrobot, twist the loose battery wire and the loose motor wire together (you can also solder an alligator clip to one of the wires for a switch).
  • Experiment with the critter by gently bending the paper clip and legs into different shapes and observing the effects.
  • Watch a video at http://www.makezine.com/10/123_vibrobot.

Conclusion

This project originally appeared in MAKE Volume 10.

Related Posts on Make: Online:

Classroom Vibrobots

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/09...

How-to: BEAM Vibrobots

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07...

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