"This makes it a great project for an introduction to 3D printing-students can be creative and design the 'body' of their robot (which would typically be a craft item, like a plastic bottle or cup) in a CAD program like Tinkercad, without worrying about exact dimensions for various moving parts. "This type of robot is very forgiving in that it doesn't require any complex, interlocking mechanical parts (like gears) to move around," explains Ben. As a "vibrobot," its primary function is simply to wobble around, powered by the vibrating motor. A student's first 3D models may not come out quite as expected (which happened at this event), but an Artbot-style robot is very flexible in terms of assembly. With the use of 3D design software, kids can take things a step further and create a body that matches their own creative vision.Īccording to Ben Finio, staff scientist for Science Buddies and instructor for the SoHa SMART workshop, an Artbot-style robotics activity is a great way to also get kids started exploring 3D printing.
This choice makes it easy to salvage a robot body from the kitchen (or local grocery store), and a plastic cup bot that shuffles about on toothbrush heads or marker legs can be fun to assemble and explore. An Artbot is often built using a common lightweight plastic cup for the body. With simple circuits and limited parts, Artbots and Bristlebots are excellent introductory robotics projects for students and may provide a stepping stone to more advanced robotics projects, like light-tracking, line-following, and solar-powered bots. The participants had a great time imagining what their robots might look like and then bringing their robot body ideas to life on the screen as 3D models.īefore the second week, the participants' designs were 3D printed so that they were ready to go when the students arrived for week 2. During the first of two weekly sessions, the makers dove into the world of 3D design using Autodesk® Tinkercad®, a 3D computer aided design (CAD) and modeling program that makes it easy for students to take first steps in 3D design. With the goal of building custom robots using 3D printed parts they designed themselves, a small group of students, ages 12 to 15, gathered at SoHa SMART. For students who love to design and build, the combination of 3D design and robotics offers an exciting blend of design and hands-on engineering. Design, creativity, and innovation are all important in robotics engineering. Robotics, in fact, isn't only about wires, sensors, and circuits.
Students attending a recent two-part 3D design and robotics workshop at SoHa SMART in New Jersey learned something very important about robotics-making a robot doesn't have to be a cookie-cutter process.
Above: Participants at a SoHa SMART workshop explored 3D design by designing their own custom bodies for their robots.
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