CRAFT SUPPLIES
If you don’t have any of these materials on hand, try substituting
what you’ve got!
• 9 paper straws
• 3 pipe cleaners
• Twist-tie wire (comes in rolls for gardening)
• Masking tape
• 4 pony beads (or other large, lightweight beads with big holes)
• Embroidery yarn (cotton)
• Paperboard (flat cardboard with at least one rough side)
• Optional: supplies to make a “face” for the robot, such as corrugated
cardboard, extra pipe cleaners, and googly eyes
• Pencil (for marking lengths and poking holes — a ball point pen or
bamboo skewer are good for holes too)
• Scissors
INSTRUCTIONS FOR BUILDING THE BODY AND CONNECTING
THE ELECTRONICS
To make the body, including a hole for the servo motor:
1. Take two straws and cut them in half. Arrange the straws side by side,
with the cut edges facing out.
• Place two more straws on either side of the cut straws, lining up the
ends.
• Spread the cut halves apart to leave a gap of about 3/4 inch (2
centimeters). Take the servo and test that it can fit in the gap snugly
(Figure
A
)
.
• Wrap masking tape around all four straws at the edge of the gap in
the middle and at the ends. Keep the straws flat, like a raft.
2. To attach the servo motor to the body:
• Turn the servo upside down and insert it into the gap in the middle
of the body. The “shoulders” of the servo should be sitting on the
straws. The cable for the servo faces the front of the body (so you
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have the option to attach
the micro:bit to the robot’s
“face”)
(Figure
B
)
.
• Use masking tape to hold
the servo in place.
3. To start the legs and feet:
• Take three straws. Insert
pipe cleaners inside each
straw, with the ends sticking
out of the straws evenly
(Figure
C
)
.
• With a pencil or pen, make
marks 2 1/2 inches (6
centimeters) from each end
of the straw (or however
long you want the legs to
be). Take something with a
flat edge, like round-tipped
scissors, a flat screwdriver,
or the end of a spoon. Press
down at the marks to bend
the straw and make the legs
pop up
(Figure
D
)
. Make
sure to bend each side of the
straw in the same direction
A
B
C
D
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so that the legs face the same way.
• Curve the ends of the pipe cleaners around to make feet
(Figure
E
)
.
4. To finish the legs:
• Take three more straws. Make a mark in the middle of each straw.
• Cut three pieces of twist tie wire about 8 inches (20 centimeters)
long. Set one piece of wire aside for now.
• On two of the straws, wrap a piece of wire tightly around the middle
of the straw, leaving a couple inches of wire loose at each end. Twist
the ends of the wire together to tighten up the wrapped part of the
wire so it can’t slide up and down the straw
(Figure
F
)
.
• Take one set of legs and hold it next to one of the straws with the
wire. The feet should face towards the straw with the wire. Wrap
masking tape around both straws on either side of the wrapped wire
to hold the straws tightly together
(Figure
G
)
. Repeat with a second
set of legs.
• Take the third straw and tape the servo horn on in the middle. The
E
G
F
H
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servo should face up so it can attach to the servo. (Make sure not to
tape over the opening that fits over the servo shaft.) Then attach it to
the remaining set of legs
(Figure
H
)
.
5. To attach the middle legs to the body:
• Press the servo horn onto the servo shaft. Make sure the feet are
facing front. Test that the legs can pivot right and left by gently
holding onto it near the servo horn and turning it like a dial.
• To make sure the servo shaft is pointing the right way:
• Gently turn the legs as far to the right as they will go. The legs
should be facing all the way to the right as well. If they are not,
pull the servo horn and the legs off, and put them back on in the
correct position.
• Then gently turn the legs, still connected to the servo motor, so
they face the front.
• You may want to remove the middle legs while you attach the
front and back legs. If you do, just pop them back on, facing
front.
6. To attach the front and rear legs to the body:
• At the back end of the body, use the point of a pencil to make a hole
for the wire between the middle two straws.
• Insert the wires of the rear legs up through the hole. Make sure the
feet face the front of the body
(Figure
I
)
! (The servo cable will also
face the front.)
• Spread the wires to the
sides, pulling the legs up
close to the underside of the
body. Make sure the legs can
pivot right and left.
• Bend the wires back towards
each other. Where they
meet, bend the wires again
so they are pointing up. This
I
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will make a little tab on each side to help keep the wires from sliding
back down through the hole.
• Slide a bead over the ends of the wires and press it down as far as
it will go. Bend the remaining wire around the sides of the bead to
hold it in place. Don’t trim any extra wire yet
(Figure
J
)
.
• Repeat with the front legs at the front end of the robot. Again, make
sure the feet face front. Also make sure the legs can turn smoothly
to the right and left.
• Make sure the robot can stand on its own six feet before going on.
The middle legs may be a little longer than the front and back legs.
You can adjust this by changing the angle of the legs, or make the
pipe cleaner feet higher or lower. Don’t worry too much — you can
adjust the length of the legs again later if needed
(Figure
K
)
.
IMPORTANT: For this step, make sure the legs always face front
and line up parallel to each other!
7. Next, attach the string or yarn to make the front legs move.
• To hold the string, insert your scissors into the end of each straw
and cut two little slots in the sides
(Figure
L
)
.
• Cut four pieces of yarn about 14 inches (35 centimeters) long. Two
will cross in the front, and two will go along the sides. Tie a knot in
one end of each piece of yarn, about 1/2 inch (1 centimeter) from the
end
(Figure
M
)
.
J K
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