Designer: Randy Sarafan Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Category: DIY / Hack / Mod Award: Notable

Simple Bots

Simple Bots are a series of robot tutorials posted online with the intent of making robotics accessible to all.

Simple Bots were created to enable anyone with the inclination to get started in basic robotics and mechanical engineering. My goal was to make the bots simple enough that anyone within reason could understand them, locate the parts and reproduce them. In this way, Simple Bots could serve as a stepping stone into more complicated engineering projects as it introduces many of the fundamentals in a simple hands-on way. With the increasing cultural dialogue about giving children a more solid understanding of science and engineering, the need for quality introductory material is increasingly valuable. It is one thing to talk about teaching science and engineering to children and another thing entirely to teach it to them. Unfortunately, most parents don't have a background in science and engineering and most of the learning material about it is difficult and convoluted. The nice thing about Simple Bots is that it makes it easy enough for both the parents and the children to easily follow and learn in a hands-on manner.

Core77: What's the latest news or development with your project?

I have decided to turn it into an eBook and am nearly done. I have completed 18 new Simple Bots, and hope to see it available online by the end of the year.

What is 1 quick anecdote about your project?

The first bot I completed was Rolly Bot. I showed it to my friends who were mildly impressed, but not entirely convinced. So, I set out to win them over. Next I made Walker Bot our of the old telephone and again showed it to my friends. After that, no one doubted this was a good idea. From there, I kept going.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.