How to Build a Simple Vibrobot

Ok, welcome to my first Instructable! I thought I would make it something simple, and I just made some cute little vibrobots so why not do it about them?

Video:

The cross shaped one would have moved so much more, but the battery is running out. I'm sure both of them would move much, much more if they were smaller.

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Step 1: Items

Ok, so to build these cute critters you will need...

- Wire
- Foam Tape
- Vibrating Motor / Motor with an offset weight (a small one)
- Long nosed pliers
- Soldering iron and lead solder
- Watch battery (whatever size you want)
- And some normal sticky tape/cellotape/Scotch tape

- Optional: Braided wire, to wrap the cross-style bot on the join

You could add other cool stuff to them, like googly eyes/antennae etc.

Garth48 says: Jul 15, 2012. 7:16 AM

I haven't read through other vibrobot instructables, but I was wondering...couldn't you get this motor out of a used, disposable, vibrating toothbrush? I smashed open one of my kid's toothbrushes a few months ago, and that's exactly what was inside. I think it was a kid's Colgate vibrating brush.

tclemmo (author) in reply to Garth48Jul 16, 2012. 5:17 AM

I tried doing this myself, without much success; the toothbrush contained a motor with a very long shaft and a gear at the end, but no actual vibration motor. I don't know if your toothbrush has the sort of thing I used, but my model didn't.

Garth48 in reply to tclemmoAug 6, 2012. 9:24 AM

The child's vibrating toothbrush I broke open is disposable. The motor itself seems to be just the same size as the one in the picture, perhaps even smaller. It all depends on what brush you get, I guess. However, after breaking open the brush and getting to the motor, I also harvested some LEDs--red and green. Don't know why I'd want to throw that stuff away.

Phoghat in reply to Garth48Jul 15, 2012. 8:04 AM

If you did, you would need to make the bot bigger, as that kind of motor is much larger than the pager motors usually used. Alternately, you can buy the motors quite cheeply at http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/131-pagermotor

CartridgeJames says: Aug 1, 2012. 7:31 AM

Wow, I'm really getting into robots at the moment, I think the Vibrobot is the perfect place to start! It's fascinating how one can create such a simple yet complex machine...I really need to get started on making my own.

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sunshiine says: Jul 24, 2012. 10:38 AM

Very nice, thanks for sharing.
sunshiine

Bill WW says: Jul 16, 2012. 12:57 AM

Nice project, thanks!
How did you spec the vibrating motor you got on Ebay?

Bill WW in reply to Bill WWJul 16, 2012. 5:50 PM

Tclemmo, thanks for the Ebay clip, just what we need. And so the battery cell will be 1.5 volt.

tclemmo (author) in reply to Bill WWJul 16, 2012. 5:24 AM

Taken from Ebay:

"You are bidding on 10 NEW PCS of of 1.5V DC Pager Motor from Japan. Each motor weighs 3 grams and measuring 23mm (length) x 8mm (diameter). Please note, the part that you receive may have different body marking from the picture shown, but the mechanical and electrical specifications are the same."

Here is the link to the same motors:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10-Pager-Motor-vibrator-Bristle-Beam-VibRobots-robot-/160834272651?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2572783d8b

ynze says: Jul 15, 2012. 8:03 AM

Looks great! Can you post a video to show how it moves?

tclemmo (author) in reply to ynzeJul 16, 2012. 6:08 AM

Done!
The cross shaped one would have moved so much more, but the battery is running out. I'm sure both of them would move much, much more if they were smaller.

ynze in reply to tclemmoJul 16, 2012. 7:41 AM

Well, that's a call for a try-and-find-out making session :-)

I've built a zillion bristle bots using dish brushes and motors unbalanced by wire connectors (a bit like masynmachien's version: http://www.instructables.com/id/Artist-bristlebot/). Their way of moving can be altered in lots of ways: cutting away hairs from the brush, adding a tail (a copper wire into the cable connector), moving the battery to front or back, etc.).

Thanks for the vid! Makes your I'ble even better.