Solar Cockroach Virbobot

*** The 1.5V solar cells and little nokia vibrating motors can no longer be found online.  I've written a new guide using new parts.***

I had a blast making bristlebots with my 4th grade science club a few weeks ago, so I started thinking up new ways to make simple vibrobots to give away as gifts.

I came up with this very simple Cockroach Virbobot. It only costs about $2.50 and 20 minutes of time to make. Super cute and super simple.

Step 1: Supplies

What you need.

Soldering Iron + solder
Hot glue gun
(A helping hand is nice as well)
Wire cutters or strong scissors

1.5V solar panel ($1)
Small DC Vibrating Motor (AKA Pager motor) ($1)
Two paper clips
Scrap wire (I used the ends from a couple of resistors i had cut down.  They can be anything.)

Super Cute Option: Googley eyes

I bought a pack of 10 solar panels off ebay for $10.  Great for a lot of projects.

I bought my motors from the online store Electric Goldmine for $1.10 each.  I like the ones they have because they trigger at only 0.5V, whereas most trigger at around 1.5V.  The lower trigger voltage you can get the better because it means that your roach will work under less sunlight.  If you do buy from them be SURE to get the motors with the blue casing, not the silver.  Silver ones suck for a variety of reasons.

If you don't want to buy these in bulk, I have a kit  and prebuilt ones for sale on my website.  It's a fun project you can do with kids or makes a great little gift you made yourself.

Comments

[Frowney001]

I have that exact same helping hand!

[blindpyro]

Me too, I don't think they vary much.

[lah.gofar]

hmm ..
ya really want right hand materials of manufacture is simple ..?

[mritunjay gupta]

your idea is simple and nice too . i like it but please tell me how will the vibrobot walk . my id ([e-mail])

[Jsquared24]

Would you be able to incorporate LEDS into this?

[JoshuaZimmerman]

You could. But you'd need a bigger solar cell. Red LEDs need at least 2.4V to operate, white need 3.6V.

Completely possible, with a bigger solar cell.

[Mic100]

I like smalls robots,i like it and I will make a similar :)

[ethiran]

can i use dc motor instead of vibrator?

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Well the project won't move unless you have a vibrating motor. Sure, you can put any motor on there as long as it meets the power requirements.

The whole "vibrating" thing is kind of important.

[ethiran]

Er,but can u turn a mini 4wd motor to a vibrating motor?

[Lego Manic]

lol, a 4.99 rating, so to help you, i will rate it 5*, very cool, come check out my stuff!

[Matrix-technician]

Wow! great "ible" for a simple vibrot. This has given me a few ideas. At your local Wal-mart, they are currently selling solar powered flashlights with a super-capacitor in them about the size of 2 quarters lined up in a row, a little larger than a calculator soalr pannel. Pretty small solar pannel, but very strong. I bought 4 of them for $2.36 a piece. I'm going to use these to make super small solar vibrots. 5 stars, Keep up the good work!

[JoshuaZimmerman]

That would be cool to see! You should hook up a super cap into your vibrobot.

For fun I made a two solar cell roach this past weekend. Worked in a little 3V .6F battery. Worked rather well. Charged up the battery nicely and was able to keep the motor going even in the shade.

Too bad I'm unable to find those nice little 1.5V solar cells. Everywhere online is sold out!

[ben_xman]

At solarbotics you can get some solar panels including some ultra small .5 volt ones. Use those cell-phone vibrating motors and these and you can have a really small one!

Here's the linky: http://solarbotics.com/products/scpd/

PS: careful with the leads, they can be fragile!

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Only problem is that most vibrating motors don't trigger until 1V. I was lucky to find a supply of ones that trigger at .5V. Sadly I can't find them any more.

I did find a much better solution. I found some slightly bigger solar cells, 2V at 50mA, which work wonderfully.

http://www.browndoggadgets.com/store/solar-cells/2v-50ma-solar-cell/

I'm putting together a newer version of my Solar Cockroach kit using those cells and some new motors. They move around a lot more than the old version.

[Matrix-technician]

Basically that's what i am planing to do. I am going to gut the flashlight and build a new body around it's electronics. If i can get my camera working i'll get up some pics.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

If you have a multimeter check the voltage coming out of those solar panels. Just to be on the safe side.

You also want to find some little vibrating motors that trigger at .5 or 1V, those work the best. Most are 1.5V, so you have to search.

I do remember reading that a lot of cheap "solar" lights you buy are fake. Several people reported buying them only to find that there was just a standard battery on the inside and the solar panel was fake. So test them out before you go to all the trouble of soldering and making.

[Matrix-technician]

This solar light works really well, It has a run time of about 8 hours before needing recharged. I took it apart and inside it contains a regulator and a voltage booster for charging the capacitor.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Then it's worth a try.

Also, save that capacitor! If it's as good as it sounds you can use it in all kinds of projects.

[ben_xman]

That is a really great BEAM design. Just a motor and a solar panel! (and some legs of course)

I wonder if the same technique could be used by having two of these attached to each other under water. With the engines facing opposite directions and solar panels at different angles it could find the light source. Or if you had one for every direction then it could find the light on any plane!

Could this be inspired by common paramecium with eyespots? I've heard it's flagellum inspired modern day DC motors too!

[mr.noris]

you sell 3.5 volt solar panals on the site can you get a 3.7v or will a 4v solar panal work 4 my 3.7v phone

[JoshuaZimmerman]

When going with solar you always want to pick a panel, or cell, that is higher than the amount you need. Solar cells are rated in several ways. Usually showing the max voltage and current possible, meaning on a very sunny day at noon. Typically you'll get less than that number.

For example. Big solar panels you see on homes or businesses usually charge up large 12V batteries. The panels are set up with a max voltage of 18 or 21 volts so that even on cloudy days

If you need 3.7V to charge your phone then you'd want a solar cell larger than 4V. The 7V I have might work well.

Usually phones charge up at 5V (if it's USB then it's five). You may want to do some googling about your phone.

[javajunkie1976]

For anyone that doesn't know where to find solar panels: I found solar powered walkway lights at the 99cent only store. The panels measure about 2" square and charge a 3V lithium coin battery during the day. They also have a light sensor that shuts off the LED when the sun rises.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

The amount of current coming out of the solar cell also matters. I found some great solar cells on some 99 cent garden lights. High voltage but low current. While they were able to work with some of the motors I have, they didn't work with all of them.

Interesting that they use a 3V coin cell to charge up. All the garden lights I've torn apart use a single AA or AAA battery.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Holy wow! I love the fact that my little Solar Cockroach is on the front page again as part of the "build you first robot" collection!!! I still have heaps of parts for kits and parts to make them on my website, http:/www.browndoggadgets.com

I've also got a 2.0 version brewing in my head using larger panels and a stronger motor. More like a solar locus than anything.

[tim_n]

Excellent instructable, I wish electronics in the UK were as cheap as America - I'll forward this onto the Cub pack as it'd make a good project for them

[I luv Duct Tape]

anyone know where i can get one of those solar panels? i checked ebay but couldnt find anything.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

I ordered up the last of them from my usual dealer in Canada.  He was being bought out thanks to this instructable. 

I have them on my site as kits.  Buy them as a kit or shoot me a message.  We can work something out.

[I luv Duct Tape]

ok. im broke right now but maybe later we can work something out

[wncranger]

Very nice! Informative AND instructive, I like! Thank you!

[JoshuaZimmerman]

I do what I can.

[DELETED_explosionist]

(removed by author or community request)

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Well it does look like a cockroach, and a cute one at that. Maybe it's because you don't expect a cockroach to be cute that he is cute.

Plus what other insect scurries around when you shine light on it?

[himselfamily]

I loved this and I'll definitely be doing it next summer here at Sky Lodge Christian Camp. I'm always looking for cheap but cool projects, especially that would interests boys. Thanks.

[JoshuaZimmerman]

Message me if you want kits...

[bigrobbi]

I want to buy the solar panels but cant seem to find them anywhere. Pager motor i found easily (thanks) but no luck for the solar panels. Please help?

[JoshuaZimmerman]

You may be out of luck right now. I order from a guy in Canada who bulk orders massive amounts of stuff from China. About a week ago I emailed him to buy more panels and he said that over the past week (for some unknown reason... he he he) people had been buying up all his 1.5 volt solar panels. He said he would order more, but that could take a couple of months.

That being said I do have 100 1.5 volt solar panels showing up to my house this week for use with my Solar Cockroach kits that I sell on my website. That or message me and we can work something out.

http://www.browndoggadgets.com

[XxBiohazardxX]

good work!!
the bot it's...really.... very interesting
great for gifts =)

[profpat]

i like this! great stuff around your soho!

[warlock1935]

hey guys & girls, about burns - here's a trick I learned when I dumped a gallon of 200 degree water over my hand. I was loading my catering truck at the time, along with 50 other drivers, and they ran over and packed my hand with shaved ice (Catering trucks have lots of ice). It stopped hurting right away; they told me to keep it on ice all day.
Well, the coldness of the ice would start to hurt after awhile, so I'd take my hand out of the towel-wrapped ice. Then the burn would start to hurt, so I'd put it back, and it'd stop hurting ... but after awhile the cold would start to hurt...
That went on most of the day. By the end of the day, though, the burn stopped hurting permanently. It never did start up again, and that was the end of it - no blisters, no tenderness beyond the next day. It was weird.
A few months ago I was learning silver soldering and I passed a Map Gas torch over two of my fingers. OUCH! This time the burns were really bad and Extremely Painful!!
Luckily I remembered the lesson and grabbed a dish towel & wrapped it and some ice around it. It worked - the pain stopped almost immediately. I had to go through the same routine - pain from the ice - take the ice off. Then pain from the burn - put the ice back on. A few hours later, though, the pain from the burns stopped.
They were pretty bad - huge, thick blisters came up, it bled enough to form big scabs when the blistered skin came off; but it still didn't hurt, and much to my surprise, never got infected. There was a Hell of a lot of damage, too - I can still see some redness on one of my fingers, and it's been months - but everything works fine and I was only in pain for a few minutes total.