Code Kitty is a volunteer run, donation funded non-profit whose mission is to help make STEM skills accessible to all learners. We do this by making very-low-cost 3D printed kitty robot kits. You can get one of our kits as part of our workshops, buy one separately, or 3D print the robot yourself.

Here we will walk you through assembling the robot. Don't worry.. you can do it!

Step 1: Start With the Base

Take out the Base (the part with the motors, battery pack, and funny C shaped thing sticking off the back). Set it on the table in front of you so that the C shaped part is pointing toward you (and the front side where it says "Code Kitty" is facing away from you).

Step 2: Snap the Marble Into Place

Take the marble out of the small clear plastic bag, and snap it up into the bottom of the C shaped part on the Base. It should click into place and rotate freely (though sometimes it's sort of stiff at first.. if you care about how smoothly it rolls, you can roll it back and forth a bunch to loosen it up).

Step 3: Add the Face

Take out the Face (it looks like a kitty face), and snap it into the slot opposite the marble you just put in. The face picture should be facing out toward the front (toward the side of the Base that says Code Kitty on it).

Step 4: Start Adding the Wheels

The wheels are the trickiest part of the whole design. We came up with this design while trying to figure out how to let kids easily add wheels to the robot without using tools. Basically, the wheel consists of a wheel and a "hubcap" that screw together.

You attach the wheel to the robot by (making sure the hubcap is unscrewed partway), putting the white servo horn (on the servo motor on your BASE) through the rectangular hole on the back of the wheel.

Once the wheel is over the servo horn, twist the wheel ninety degrees (you should feel it sort of settle into a slot inside the wheel), then screw in the hubcap tightly to lock it down.

Step 5: Attach the Other Wheel

You are going to repeat step 4 except on the other side and on the other wheel.

Step 6: Attach and Wire Your Tail

Now you are going to position your kitty so that the marble is facing towards you. You are then going to lay out your tail as shown in the pictures above. To connect the power, (carefully) take the red and black wire (with the white end), and put in the white end in the black box at the bottom edge of your tail. Make sure the tab on the white box is facing UP otherwise it will not fit. Next you are going to attach the (brown, red, and yellow) motor wires to the black, red, and white wires by CROSSING them as shown above and sticking the smaller black end inside of the bigger black end. Make sure that the black and the brown wires are on the SAME SIDE. Repeat this with both sets of wires.

Step 7: Snap in Your Tail

Make sure you move the wires so they don't get caught, and then snap your tail in on the opposite side from your head, making sure that your black circuit board is facing the front of your robot.