Robot Book: Build & Control 20 Electric Gizmos, Moving Machines, and Hacked Toys
many electronic projects I highly recommend buying a soldering kit with a stand Another great accessory for soldering is a Third Hand to hold your piece in place A Third Hand is available at any electronics or hobby store This great device has at least three bendable arms and usually a magnifying glass You can clip any piece you are working on onto the arms This gives you two free hands your hands to hold the solder and the sol dering gun Make sure you get permission from an adult before soldering But again almost all of the bots in this book can be built without using a soldering iron WHERE TO GET PARTS This book focuses on simple robots but you'll still need parts to make your robots get up and go Com mercial robot kits are available from LEGO K NEX and other sources but building simple bots using parts you may already have is more exciting Never throw out toys computer parts or even lead cell phones or toothbrushes without scavenging parts first Remember to get adult permission and help before you start taking anything apart Save any gears motors pulleys belts wheels switches lights and battery holders Also keep any wire you find Create a robot junk box for all the cool parts you Scavenge Electronic toys that no longer work are great
sources for parts A few of the projects in this book use repurposed old toys for bots You can also find cheap toys at thrift stores that cost less than two or three dollars each As you take them apart think about creative uses for their parts Even if your toy doesn't match the one shown in a project you can use it to create your own robot and give it an original name like Jessica's Dazzling Dino Bot or Max the Motor Bot PARTS OF A ROBOT Moving robots need a source of motion and to create motion they need a motor The first several projects in this bookvibration bots and walking bots are powered by simple small motors Electric motors are found in many common devices Dead cell phones are a great source of very small vibration motors Small hobby motors are found in battery operated cars An old computer CD drive has a motor that eas ily can be powered by a 9V battery Disposable vibrat ing toothbrushes also have motors and many toys have wind up motors Of course you can always buy motors at electronics stores or hobby stores Having a motor to power your robot is essential but you also have to get the motion to the ground to make your robot move That means your robot will sometimes need some type of wheels or legs Old toys are a great source for wheels but you can also buy wheels from hobby and craft stores Most vibra
tion bots or vibrots don't even need legs making them easy and cheap to build You also need wire to build a robot Keep any wire you find in broken electronics You can also buy a spool of wire at a hobby electronics or hardware store Another good investment is a set of wire strip pers Wire strippers allow you to easily strip the pro tective insulation of wires you are trying to join Wire strippers are available at electronics hardware and dollar stores Switches can help you easily control the electric circuits that power your robots A simple switch breaks the flow of electricity and gives you more con trol over your device Switches are found in many types of toys and most electronics You can also buy switches at electrical supply stores but it is more fun to repurpose old stuff Plus you can save money and help the environment by reusing objects Of course the easiest way to turn a toy on and off is to discon nect the battery Many of the bots in this book can be turned off that way Higher end robots also contain sensors to help them think You can build robots that sense light and dark and robots that sense obstacles and turn Eventually all robotic engineers turn to computer programs to guide their robots I will leave that for you to investigate independently after you've com pleted the beginner projects from this
MWZN VIBRATION BOTS THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES OH CREATING BOTS powered by vibrating motors Everything from cell phone vibrators to dead toothbrushes to hobby motors will be used to power these easy to build
