I’ll check that out, but
I’ll check that out, but cheap is going to be a necessity, since I won’t have much of a budget. I’d like to be able to let the kids keep their creations, so whatever I spend on bristlebots won’t be reusable.
I built this control console
I built this control console set piece for the Steampunk Worlds Fair.
I think I can modify this for a display with lots of cool stuff for the kids to experiment with.
I would put two cranks on the front, each connected to a gearmotor. A switch would connect the two motors together so that turning one crank makes the other rotate, and vice versa. If you put the switch in the other direction, turning the cranks generates electricity to power lights, buzzers, etc. I'd love to install a couple of panel voltmeters with this so that they can see how much electricity they are generating.
Yes. Brilliant.Step 1: Look
Yes. Brilliant.
- Step 1: Look up all those acryonyms so I can learn what they are.
- Step 2 - ?: Learn how to do all that stuff you just said.
- Step TBD: Implement.
I’m sure it would be super-cool, but it is currently over my head! Thanks for the suggestion.
Ah sorry, ROS is robot
Ah sorry, ROS is robot operating system (http://www.ros.org/wiki/). Openni is the open source driver for the Microsoft Kinect that allows you to use the 3D point cloud information from the Kinect (http://www.ros.org/wiki/openni_kinect). Nite is included in the openni_kinect package, this does skeleton tracking with the Kinect right out of the box.
All someone would have to do is download all this stuff (ros and openni_kinect) on a linux machine, hook up a kinect to the usb port, type a one line command into the command prompt, and the position (x,y,z) of a person’s hands are readily available, no code to write or anything. Then you would just need a little robotic arm (3 to 6 degrees of freedom), and feed the x,y,z info from the kinect to the inverse kinematics of the arm. Bingo bango you have a robotic arm that mimics people’s arms. The kinect costs $130, all the software is free, you just need a laptop a cheap servo arm (and what ever needed to drive it).
I realize it seems very involved, and probably not what you had in mind, but I just wanted to clear it up a little and point out it wouldn’t be expensive or extremely difficult.
Thanks for the explanation.
Thanks for the explanation. That really does sound pretty darn fun.
Last weekend we have seen an
Last weekend we have seen an easy to build robot kit at a science exhibition. No brain only a reflective sensor with transistors and resistors. The kids had real fun to build those little line followers and make a competition.
Build instructions can be found here (sorry all in german)
How about Play-doh 
That’s a great little robot
That’s a great little robot project, which I was able to read with Google translate.
I think I have most of what is needed on hand to build a prototype at least. Thanks for the idea!
That’s brilliant! I’ve got
That’s brilliant! I’ve got to do this with my kids. It’s a great idea for a children’s museum too. Thanks so much. This one is definitely IN!
Here’s a link to the Squishy Circuits website, which includes the TED video Geir linked, plus instructions and circuit examples.
I did try this with my son
I did try this with my son and it was pretty cool.
Sparkfun picked up on this TED Talk as well, and posted this article.
My kids have Play-Doh tools for shaping and cutting the dough, which will make it easy to create interesting shapes for the Squishy Circuits.
"go" bots
Earlier this year I facilitated three workshops for children on which they all made simple go-bots (when they are on, they just go, think bristebot/symet) solely out of the parts from old pagers. Their kits were a pager, coin cell battery, tape, and some loose wire. we also has other craft stuff on hand like pipe cleaners and colorful wire to add on for cooler features. At the beginnig of the workshop, I told everyone what these pagers were when they were useful, and then told them that they were now really eggs for robots, and using recycling, we were going to hatch them and make them into our very own creatures.
It was an easy project, inexpensive and fun for kids to use their rampant imaginations to make a bug of their own design. One or two adults can handle the soldering well as there is only the task of solder two leads onto the pager motor tabs. The rest of the construction can be done with hot glue, or quick tack.
Pics of results: http://www.reuseum.com/2011/01/big-brothers-big-sisters-bot-building-workshop-1-22-11/
Hope this helps!
That is full-on awesome!
That is full-on awesome! Thanks for this idea. You’ve got lots of other cool workshops posted on your site as well. It sounds like you are doing good work over there at reuseum!
If I go through with this, I may come to the reuseum store for the parts.
Certainly
Make sure and contact me directly and I’ll make sure and send some fun stuff we have lying around here.
-David
RE: bristlebots
I’ve been pretty stubborn about letting go of having some sort of cool robot that is low-cost but interesting. I’ve run down the bristlebot idea and decided a phototropic battery powered version is becoming reasonable. I’ve super simplified from the costly beast I made and am opting for this setup:
https://www.robotshop.com/letsmakerobots/node/12147
Two brushes, two motors, two diodes, two photo resistors. I believe a 3V Li+ coin cell would be sufficient. Connect the brushes with some cardstock that can be “arty-ed” up to look like a critter of some kind. I’d solder the leads onto the motors before hand. Hold the whole creation together with good-ole doublesided tape. I’ve got the cost looking something like:
motors: $2
battery: $1/$0 (I can have my employer supply them as an unknown “corporate donation”)
CdS cells: $2
Tape and body materials: <$1
Toothbrushes: ???
I know they give away toothbrushes at dentists but would they be cool with me grabbing a handfull now and again? It’s possible. In case they don’t I’m curious to hear if anyone knows of cheap, plentiful toothbrush sources.
The closer I can get to keeping these guys around $5 the greater the chance of being able to send them home with their builders. I really dig that idea.
I like it. Droping the solar
I like it. Droping the solar cell saves some cost and makes the whole thing less fragile and easier to balance. It is more interesting than just a one motor/one brush bot, since it can follow light. I guess I’d need a bunch on cheap LED flashlights on hand as well, so the kids can play with the bots.
I found websites that sell packs of toothbrushes, which are pretty cheap. I’ve heard that you want one of the newer style brushes that have the bristles at an angle, rather than an old fashioned one with the bristles at 90 degress to the brush. Any thoughts on that? How particular do I need to be about the brushes?
What a nice project you are
What a nice project you are working on! And a bunch of cool ideas also! BTW How big is your budget for this event?
Somewhere between 0 and a
Somewhere between 0 and a few hundred dollars.
A site I have seen before
http://highschoolrobots.com/default.aspx
They walk you through construction and avoid a good bit of the cost of a SHR.
I just received the pager
I just received the pager motor and battery combo I ordered from Electronic Goldmine. The motor is soooo tiny; it is smaller than other pager motors I have seen. The battery that comes with it dwarfs it, but still fits OK on a toothbrush head.
I tested it out on a quickly built bristlebot, and it works fine. I think this is the winning combo. I think I will add pipe-cleaner legs for better stability and direction control, and some googly eyes for personality.
The pagers you sent arrived
The pagers you sent arrived and I play tested two of them with my kids. My daughter Anna (aged 4) was interested for a while, and glued some “eyes” and a mouth onto the case. Then she decided to paint it, which came out nice.
My son William (aged 7), is really into robots. He designed feet, eyes, an antenna and solar panel. He was quite proud of his creation, and the fact that he desoldered components from the circuit boards to use in the design.
I’ll try to post pictures of both soon.