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Robot Inspiration Series #8: Bionic Apparatus

One interesting kind of robots is bionic robots, or robots that humans can wear to gain extra capabilities. Some examples of these robots are my A27 Bionic Glove and Bionic Helmet.

So this week's inspiration is to build some sort of bionic apparatus that you wear and that gives you one or more extra capabilities. Some examples include extending grabber arms, night vision (or object detection at night), weapons, and decoders (make your own code, like a color code, and a robot that can read and decipher it). Some places to wear a robot include on your arm/wrist, in your pocket, on your leg, and on your back as a backpack.

A couple issues to consider when making a bionic apparatus are fit and weight. With solid, blocky LEGO building pieces, it can be pretty hard to make a robot that fits securely and, especially, comfortably. And by the way, even if the robot seems to have a comfortable fit, wear it around for 10 minutes and you might change your mind! :-) When trying to get the fit right, it can be helpful to use soft, flexible pieces such as tires and other rubber parts. String might also come in handy.

If your robot weighs too much (or if the weight isn't spread evenly throughout the robot), it can be awkward and uncomfortable to wear. Try to keep motors and NXT Bricks to a minimum. You might even be able to wear the NXT Brick separately, such as in your pocket.

-Jonathan

P.S. You can see other posts in the Robot Inspiration blog series here.

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