we built a robot

every few weeks, the institute for discovery on the uw campus hosts a weekend open house for children to explore the sciences. it is always fun and captivating. last weekend it was fun, captivating, and incredibly crowded, because it was all robots. ROBOTS. robot-building children competing in competitive robot sports, adults building and sharing cool robot prototypes, lego robot building stations, art stations....there was so much to do and see. but our favorite area was the build-your-own robot out of tape, markers, a battery, a small motor, and a red solo cup (the favorite item of uw students, current and former).

david took the role of robot builder-in-charge, james was sous chef and motor-keeper, ramona was parts scavenger and gopher, and i was photographer. in a few steps (but without any clear directions, and in the midst of absolute anarchy), a doodle robot was born. it was so awesome. my first thought was to put a few small motors and copper wire on my shopping list. just think of all the cool things you could build with a small motor, a battery, and some copper wire.

first, we taped the markers to the solo cup.

then a tongue depressor was taped to the end of the solo cup to create a platform for the motor.

the motor was taped the end of the platform, the battery attached by wire, and finally a clothes pin (clutched in james' tiny hands at the very bottom of the photo) was clipped to the rotating end of the motor.

behold, a doodling robot.