TinyBots- CuppyBot

It's finally time! The second TinyBot has arrived. CuppyBot is just as simple and fun to make as BrushyBot. You may notice that there are many similarities between the two. However, I think CuppyBot is much better to modify and build off of. You can add legs, add more motors, and change the size of the cup. It's also similar to an ArtBot, and in fact you could make it into one. By the way, just mention if you'd like instructions for that! Anyway, all you need is a cup, a vibration motor (a toothbrush one works), and tape. Ready? Let's go.

PS. So sorry for the long wait! Many new TinyBots will be coming out over the summer, I'll have loads more time.

Materials

The materials list is pretty short, but here goes:

A small cup (I re-used a plastic shot-size cup, but a small foam or paper cup should work too.)
A vibration motor (Mine came from an electric toothbrush. It already had leads. If yours isn't like mine, you'll need to solder or tape some leads on.)
Some duct tape, double-sided foam tape, sticky Velcro, etc. I used sticky Velcro. (Adhesive.)

Optional: Pipe cleaners

Tools-wise:
Pliers (if you need to extract your motor from a toothbrush. Refer to BrushyBot's instructions if you need help!)
Wire strippers (to strip your motor leads)
Scissors (if you're adding pipe cleaners, and to cut your sticky Velcro if you're using it)
Optional: Soldering iron/solder (if you need to solder leads onto your motor)

And that's all! Let's get started.

A Note on Cups and Size of Motors

Just a note here- Be careful with the size proportions of your motor and cups. You don't want a dinky, flimsy paper cup with a huge vibromotor (see picture 1). You also don't want a nice, big foam cup with the smallest size of motor (see picture 2). What you want is a smallish cup with a smallish motor or a biggish cup with a biggish motor (see pictures 3 and 4). Otherwise, your cup will tip over or it just won't move.

Motor Time!

OK, let's get building! Take your cup and your motor. Put adhesive on the top of the cup (I'm using sticky back Velcro) and on one of the wide sides of the motor. If you have a round motor (I know, that's normal for vibration motors), then just put it anywhere on the cylinder part. Then stick the two together. If you're using sticky Velcro, make sure you put hook on the cup and loop on the motor (or vice versa)! It won't work with two hooks or two loops.

Another good option for the adhesive would be carpet tape. It's double sided and as sticky as duct tape! Used it on a sweeping robot recently, worked well. I was fighting with another robot (don't ask) with something stuck to the tape. The other robot tried to pull it off and nearly flipped over!

Add the Battery!

Now you need to add the battery. It's pretty simple- just use the adhesive to stick the battery to the cup. Make sure the leads can touch each side of the battery, as pictured. The battery should be standing on the thin side!

OPTIONAL: Pipe Cleaner Upgrade

If you want it to stand on legs and experiment with what this does to the steering, how it affects the balance, etc., all you need to do is tape three pieces of pipe cleaner (I'm told these are also called fuzzy sticks.) to the cup, pretty much evenly spaced. You could also try straws, popsicle sticks, or, well, sticks! 'Ible coming soon on how to make the famous ArtyBot upgrade, it's a bit more complicated if you want it to work right.

All Done!

So now you're done with your second TinyBot, or possibly your millionth, depending on how addicted you got to making BrushyBots. What should you do now? Experiment! Make your own bot. BrushyBot and CuppyBot use a similar motion, but you can try to make yours move any way you want it to. Watch out for lots of new 'ibles over the summer. As a preview, the name of the next TinyBot will be...

WheelieBot.

Think of that what you may, but be on the lookout for that sometime this month!

PS: Check out the Snowplow Upgrade Instructable for pictures of the components.