Let's wiggle and jiggle!
Build a robot and watch as it spins and wiggles around on a piece of paper, making interesting designs.
How to Prepare:
Collect the following items before you begin:
- Disposable cup
- Electrical tape
- 3 markers + 1 for drawing!
- 2 “AAA” battery holders
- 2 “AAA” batteries
- 1.5-3V DC motor
- Clothespin
- Popsicle stick
- Googly eyes (optional)
Build Your Wiggle Bot!
Step 1: Start with taping the three markers along the inside of the cup as legs. Make sure they are equally spread out so the cup can balance on them!
Step 2: Attach the battery pack to the DC motor by wrapping the wire around the leads on the motor.
Step 3: Now that the battery pack is attached to the motor, tape the battery pack and the motor onto the top of the disposable cup slightly off-centre.
Step 4: At this point, you could turn on the motor by placing the batteries into the holder.
💡Activity Hack! The more off balance your motor is, the more your wiggle pot will wiggle!
Step 5: Tape the popsicle stick to the clothespin and then tape them to the motor. use the clamp of the clothespin to attach it to the motor.
Step 6: Give your wiggle bot a face! You can glue on googly eyes and draw a mouth using a marker.
Step 7: Now’s the time to make your wiggle bot wiggle! Remove the marker caps, plug in the batteries and place it on a piece of paper. Watch as it wiggles and spins!
Wiggle Bot Complete! Congratulations!
How It Works
All robots require a power source and one or more motors. As your robot is dancing on its piece of paper, the motor inside is hard at work converting electrical energy that powers the robot to mechanical energy that allows the robot to, well, dance!
Want to make your robot even more off-balanced? What would happen if the legs were not all the same length? What if the motor was attached at an angle or sideways? What if more legs were taped? It’s all in the experimentation!
This activity is inspired by: