Bristlebots: the electronic toothbrush robot

Robots are cool!

You have to admit it. Robots are cool! So here is a fun project to do for you and the kids. Easy to make, no solding needed and just great fun for that quality time with them.

We’ll start with the toothbrush. The best toothbrush is the one that has more-or-less angled bristles. But you can also use a regulary one and just push down on it, hard…they will bend a little and the will roughly stay that way. If the bristles have a different lengt, just take the scissors and cut the bristles all the same length.

Cut off the handle of the toothbrush but leave a little platform for the robotics.

Next up is the vibration motor. You can get it online here or you can disassemble a smartphone you have lying around. It’s the same motor. If your ordering your little motor, make sure that there are wires attached to it. That makes it a little easier to assemble.

As a power source you can use a lithium coin cell battery, 1,5 V or 3 V.

Cut of a small piece of double sided tape an stick it on top of the toothbrush. Tis will be used to hold the motor in place. Attach the motor to the foam tape. Make sure the rotating weight doesn’t stick to the tape of the bristlebot will not bristle. 🙂

Push one of the wires down on the sticky tape and on top of that, stick the cell battery with the negative side facing down. Keep the other wire in the air. Make sure the battery contacts with the motor wire that is already on the tape, so don’t push the wire to deep into the tape.

Now ad the pipe cleaner legs for stability of your robot. You may want to bend them a little.

To finish up you bristlebot, add the googly eyes!

Now to get your bristlebot up and running and ready for action just bend the left over wire so it connects to the side of the battery. It should take off immediatly!

Let’s race!