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Artist bristlebot

Artist bristlebot
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These are pictures from a workshop I organised at school for the occasion of my daughter’s birthday party. The children (aged 9 to 12) each built a bristlebot out of a dishwasher brush after sawing off the handle. Some testing beforehand revealed that the shown attachment of the motor provides a strong propulsion and allows for some control of the curvature of the trajectory by shifting the motor a little to the left or right.

The motor and a battery holder with a pre-soldered switch were attached with double side tape. Soldering the leads to the motor was done with small groups of children, under close supervision. In the meanwhile the others were asked to make a drawing of the kind of world these bristlebots might inhabit. The motor gets a tie-wrap for extra fixation and a 2-pole connecting block makes an easy-mount off-balance weight.

We put out some large pieces of paper on plastic sheets, with wooden strips as a “fence”. Then, with the bristles dipped in a saucer with gouache, we let the bots lose on the paper to create their own paintings:

10 comments
Oct 19, 2011. 3:18 AMynze says:
Masynmachien, I used your Artist Bristlebots for a workshop in Groningen. Everyone had a great time, and the kids made great bristlebots. Have a look at the pics and video, if you like.


Thanks for sharing!

Ynze
Apr 26, 2011. 5:57 PMilpug says:
this is almost like the drunken robots i saw on this site a while ago. Those were cool, but seemed a bit pointless. these however, take the random-movement propulsion idea to a great new level. Thinking from a street artist's point of view, i might like to make some of these, fit them with an on-board paint supply, and let them loose in choice spots. ideas ideas ideas... good job.
Apr 4, 2011. 12:09 PMewilhelm says:
Where are the drawings of the world the bristlebots might inhabit? Those sound fascinating!
Apr 4, 2011. 1:50 PMthepelton says:
Could you use Velcro strips?
Apr 3, 2011. 11:29 AMkarlpinturr says:
Nice..!

But that main purple one almost looks like it knows what it's doing...

And then, in the pull-out shot, they start to look like cockroaches...
Apr 3, 2011. 8:43 AMbuvra says:
nice work:)
Apr 3, 2011. 3:43 AMKiteman says:
I love it!

They look quite organic.

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Author:masynmachien(land, sea, air and space)
My main hobby is developing creative workshops for children. Since several years now I have been organising those, mainly voluntary at the school my daughter is attending. My workshops most often invo...
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