Hello everyone! I think it's time to break my long silence...having a full time job this summer means not being able to devote nearly enough time to making things, I'm afraid, and this blog has suffered for it. But never fear, I go back to school soon, and will surely have lots more when I get back. For now, I've got a little robotic bug that I made today (it's a pretty easy project if you're looking for something to do in one day or less.)
Before I begin, I should say that I took the electronics behind this little guy from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories' Bristlebot instructions. The gist behind it is that if you take a vibrating pager motor and a battery, and attach them to the top of a toothbrush head, the vibrations will cause the toothbrush to move forward. It's a great project for people who aren't really technologically inclined but still love the idea of building a little robot for themselves. As for me, I just like the idea of having robot pests, especially self-sustaining ones (which is why the next time I do a project like this, I'd like to try working with solar panelling.) The cockroach-like movements of the little bristlebots appealed to me, so I built a paper bug around mine to give him a little more personality. So here he is!
When you open his little paper wings, you can see the battery and little red wire that connects to the motor.
And here's a view of the bottom, so you can see how his "feet" look (pardon my painty hand):
And of course, how could I post pictures without a video? So here he is in motion; now if only the video could get the detail that the pictures can!
P.S. If you haven't forgotten about the sneak-preview of the doll that I posted last time, don't worry! I haven't abandoned that project, I've just been busy with other things. He'll be on here soon!
Before I begin, I should say that I took the electronics behind this little guy from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories' Bristlebot instructions. The gist behind it is that if you take a vibrating pager motor and a battery, and attach them to the top of a toothbrush head, the vibrations will cause the toothbrush to move forward. It's a great project for people who aren't really technologically inclined but still love the idea of building a little robot for themselves. As for me, I just like the idea of having robot pests, especially self-sustaining ones (which is why the next time I do a project like this, I'd like to try working with solar panelling.) The cockroach-like movements of the little bristlebots appealed to me, so I built a paper bug around mine to give him a little more personality. So here he is!
When you open his little paper wings, you can see the battery and little red wire that connects to the motor.
And here's a view of the bottom, so you can see how his "feet" look (pardon my painty hand):
And of course, how could I post pictures without a video? So here he is in motion; now if only the video could get the detail that the pictures can!
P.S. If you haven't forgotten about the sneak-preview of the doll that I posted last time, don't worry! I haven't abandoned that project, I've just been busy with other things. He'll be on here soon!
