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Kids Project: Build a Bristlebot That Moves without Electricity - Low Tech/No Tech from Scientific American

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Don’t have the motors and batteries necessary to create individual bristlebots? You can still give your students a way to try out bristlebots by reversing the typical arrangement. Instead of making the bristlebots vibrate — vibrate the floor. This idea reminds me of the old football games that used a vibrating play field to move the little football player models around the board. You could do the same thing building a simple vibrating floor using just one motor instead of motors for each bristle bot.

This is a great low tech/no tech project to do with your kids so that they can have fun with the concept, even if you are short on supplies and/or time.

Build a Bristlebot That Moves without Electricity

Bristlebot lowtech

Bristlebots are a fun and popular type of robot made from the head of a toothbrush, a small watch battery and a tiny vibrating motor like the kind found in electric toothbrushes. Although these electronic parts can be hard to find around the house, you can still build bristlebots if you make a simple vibrating table instead. This project will show you how to do it—no electronic parts required!

Read the entire article on Scientific American

Find more bristlebot info and parts on Amazon.com

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