Introduction: DIY Robotics Plattform Using a Smartphone and Paper Circuits

About: I am a former game designer who teaches kids about electronics. In our workspace, we have a ton of materials and tools to tinker around with. However, I was always excited to make electronics more accessible t…

My passion is to create high-tech educational content using low-tech materials. Usually, I only use paper, conductive tape, and simple electronics. But for this project, I decided to spice things up by adding a smartphone to the equation to create a DIY robotics platform. My vision is to offer an affordable alternative to expensive robotic toys that can be used in households and classrooms around the world. By using a smartphone as the robot's brain my robotics platform does not rely on a microcontroller. This cuts down costs and also makes the platform more accessible for kids. For programming the robot, MIT App Inventor is used.

Building the platform can be done by the kids themselves and the platform is modular. So they can start with a basic robot and upgrade it step by step. That way kids will have a quick feeling of success and stay motivated. This Instructable wants to give you an overview of what is possible and how to start. The actual step-by-step instructions for each robot and upgrade are explained in two 15 minute long video tutorials.

Also, I have a website that has step-by-step instructions and additional templates to download:

https://www.voltpaperscissors.com/diyroboticsplattform


All content needed for this robotics platform is free and can be used/shared/edited under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0. So you are welcome to contribute to this with your ideas!

So let's start!

Supplies

As mentioned, this is a whole robotics platform. So there are different lists depending on what you want to do. Also, you need different templates for printing. Download them from my website, where you will find more information about the needed materials.

For the basic robot:

  • Two geared solar motor
  • Conductive tape with conductive adhesive
  • Two 3-volt button cells (CR2032)
  • A binder clip
  • Paper glue and hot glue
  • Transparent tape
  • Scissors
  • Bottlecap

Additional materials for the remote control upgrade:

  • Two additional button cells (CR2032)
  • Flexible red and black wire, 3 meters each
  • An additional binder clip

For the solar upgrade:

  • One or two solar cells

For the light-up antennae upgrade:

  • Two LEDs (i use white LEDs)
  • An additional button cell (CR2032)
  • An additional binder clip

Additional materials for the smartphone upgrade:

  • two photoresistors (aka light sensors)
  • two NPN transistors
  • More conductive tape
  • four (new) CR2032 button cells

Step 1: The Basic Robot (Overview)

In this video you will learn everything about the basic robot and its different upgrades. All steps are explained in detail.

Step 2: Making the Basic Robot

Download the basic robot templates from my website and follow the instructions from the video above. The template also has lots of helpful tips printed on it. So kids shouldn't have problems recreating the basic robot.


The basic robot will be the foundation for the smartphone robot later. The following upgrades are all optional (but fun).

Step 3: Remote Control (optional Upgrade)

Adding this wired remote control is an easy way to make this robot much more fun to play with.

The remote control holds the batteries and closes/opens the two circuits to the motors via flexible wires.

To start, download the template from my website and follow the instructions from the video above starting at minute 5:46.


Step 4: Solar Power (optional Upgrade)

Teach kids about sustainable energy with this upgrade!

The solar power upgrade simply changes the power supply at the remote control. Instead of button cells, it uses one or two small solar cells! To start with this upgrade, download the template from my website and follow the instructions in the video above starting at minute 8:15.

Step 5: Robot Body (optional Upgrade)

This robot's body simply looks cool. It is entirely made from paper and can be cut and glued together. It comes in a colored version and a white version for coloring. To start, download the template from my website and follow my instructions from the video above starting at minute 8:49.


Step 6: Light-Up Antennae (optional Upgrade)

With this upgrade, kids can make their robot light up in the dark. The light-up antennae use two LEDs and are attached to a small paper strip that connects the LEDs to another button cell. The strip slides into the robot's body or is attached to the robot's chassis. To start, download the template from my website and follow the instructions from the video above starting at minute 9:35.

Step 7: The Programmable Smartphone Robot (Overview)

This is also an upgrade to the basic robot. Kids simply exchange the paper circuit at the back of the robot and slide their smartphone in!

The smartphone is the robot's "brain" and you can use any smartphone, even old ones! For programming the robot I use MIT App Inventor, which is completely free to use and specifically designed to teach kids about programming.

Using a smartphone as the robot's brain adds a whole world of complexity to your robot.

The smartphone robot can:

  • drive around, of course.
  • show different facial expressions. Even animations are possible!
  • say anything you want with the text-to-speech module.
  • listen to voice commands with the integrated voice assistant.
  • can be remotely controlled by another smartphone.
  • can use the smartphone's compass, camera, flashlight, and much much more!

How it works:

The robot reads light values from the smartphone screen using a simple photoresistor-transistor circuit. That way, the smartphone can turn the robot's motors on and of by simply turning a part of the screen white/black. Super simple but powerful!

Step 8: Making the Smartphone Robot

To make the new circuit that turns the basic robot into a smartphone robot, download the template from my website and follow the instructions in the video above.

For testing the smartphone robot you can use the test video attached to this post, or you just start coding with MIT App Inventor right away!

Have fun!

Step 9: Introduction to Robotics Using MIT App Inventor (Part1/2)

In this video, you will learn all the basics you need to know to start programming your smartphone robot using MIT app inventor.

Step 10: There Is More to Come!

Currently, I am working on the second part of my introduction on how to use MIT App Inventor to program this little robot.

There is also a video planned on how to use speech recognition to make your robot listen to voice commands. Another video will teach you how to turn the robot into a remote-controlled IoT robot.

So stay tuned for more! Subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Pinterest.


Step 11: MakerBot - a Variation for Maker Spaces

When I brainstormed ideas for my robotics platform I had classrooms and private households in mind. Places where there aren't any tools available. Because of that, I decided to use only paper, simple electronics, and conductive tape. But I also made a version of the robot that uses standard maker materials like "yellow" DC motors, a breadboard, AA batteries, etc.

I uploaded a video explaining how to do that to my Patreon page (as exclusive content). If this is interesting to you consider supporting me on Patreon and join my small community there.

That's it! I am super excited about what you think about my robotics platform for kids!

Have fun!