Making simple robots : explore cutting-edge robotics with everyday stuff

Making Simple Robots is based on one idea: Anybody can build a robot! That includes kids, school teachers, parents, and non-engineers. If you can knit, sew, or fold a flat piece of paper into a box, you can build a no-tech robotic part. If you can use a hot glue gun, you can learn to solder basic electronics into a low-tech robot that reacts to its environment. And if you can figure out how to use the apps on your smart phone, you can learn enough programming to communicate with a simple robot.



Written in language that non-engineers can understand, Making Simple Robots helps beginners move beyond basic craft skills and materials to the latest products and tools being used by artists and inventors. Find out how to animate folded paper origami, design a versatile robot wheel-leg for 3D printing, or program a rag doll to blink its cyborg eye. Each project includes step-by-step directions as well as clear diagrams and photographs. And every chapter offers suggestions for modifying and expanding the projects, so that you can return to the projects again and again as your skill set grows.

• Preface p. vii
• Introduction p. xv
• 1 Robots Made from Interesting Materials p. 1
• Project Make Actuated Paper p. 4
• What IT Does p. 4
• Where it Came From p. 4
• How It Works p. 7
• Making the Project p. 8
• Project Parameter p. 8
• What You Need to Know p. 9
• Project: Make an inflatable Robot p. 22
• What it Does p. 22
• Where it Came From p. 23
• How it Works p. 24
• Making the Project p. 25
• Project Parameters p. 25
• What You Need to Know p. 26
• 2 Robots That Get Around p. 33
• Project: Make a Compressible Tensegrity Robot p. 36
• What if Does p. 36
• Where It Came From p. 36
• How it Works p. 38
• Making the Project p. 39
• Project Parameters p. 40
• What You Need to Know p. 40
• Gather Your Materials p. 40
• Directions p. 41
• Project: Design a Wheel-Leg Hybrid p. 48
• What it Does p. 48
• Where it Came From p. 48
• How It Works p. 49
• How Does a 3D Printer Work? p. 50
• Making the Project p. 53
• Project Parameters p. 53
• What You Need to Know p. 54
• Gather You Materials p. 54
• Directions p. 54
• 3 Unevolved Robots p. 73
• Project: Make a Swarm of Gliding Vibrobots p. 77
• What is a Vibrobot? p. 77
• What it Does p. 77
• Where H Came From p. 77
• How It Works p. 78
• Making the Project p. 78
• Project Parameters p. 78
• What You Need to Know p. 79
• Project: Make a Souped-Up Solar BEAM Wobblebot p. 83
• What Is a BEAM Robot? p. 83
• What It Does p. 83
• Where It Came From p. 83
• How it Works p. 84
• Making The Project p. 84
• Project Parameters p. 85
• 4 Robot Friends and Helpers p. 105
• Project: Make a Chattel Program p. 107
• What is a Chatbot? p. 107
• What It Does p. 107
• Where It Came Prom p. 107
• How it Works p. 108
• Making the Project p. 110
• Protect Parameters p. 112
• What You Need to Know p. 112
• Gather Your Materials p. 112
• Project: Picture Yourself in the Uncanny Valley p. 124
• What Is She Uncanny Valley? p. 124
• What it Does p. 124
• Where It Came from p. 124
• How It Works p. 126
• Making the Project p. 127
• Project Parameters p. 127
• What You Need to Know p. 127
• Gather Your Materials p. 128
• 5 Fun, Artsy Robots p. 135
• Project: Make a littleBits Plotter p. 136
• What Is a Plotter? p. 136
• What It Does p. 137
• Where It Came From p. 137
• How It Works p. 139
• Making the Project p. 140
• Project: Make FiberBot, on E-Textle Arduino Robot p. 153
• What Are E-Textlles? p. 153
• What It Does p. 154
• Where It Came from p. 154
• How It Works p. 155
• Making the Project p. 156
• Afterword: What I Learned Writing This Book p. 191
• Index p. 195