Motorized ArtBot Robot
Create your own ArtBot, a moving robot that buzzes, spins, and twirls to create cool, colorful patterns.
How We Did It
First, get together your supplies. You can get an inexpensive hobby motor and battery pack from your local electronics store. Put the batteries into the battery pack.
Tape your markers to the plastic cup. (Thinner markers are recommended. We tried thicker markers but they were too heavy and weighed ArtBot down.)
Hook the battery pack's wires to the hobby motor. It doesn't matter in which order you hook up the wire; just make sure there's only one wire on each small metal hole of the hobby motor. My five-year-old hooked the wires on, and then I helped her secure the wires.
Tape the battery pack to the top of the plastic cup. We added some googly eyes to give the ArtBot some life!
Add a glob of tape to the knob on the hobby motor. Turn on the motor to see whether the tape will stay on securely. It took us a few attempts before the glob of tape stayed on.
Uncap your markers, place your ArtBot on a large piece of paper, then turn your motor on by flicking the "on" switch on your battery pack. My five-year-old proudly named her robot buddy "Sally." Go Sally, go!