Chipmaker Coherent: 21st Century Robotics

Now in first grade, Amalie had a great assignment a few weeks ago -- build a robot, using recyclable materials. We try to do our part in recycling -- plastics (type 1 and 2, all that Austin collects at present, but this is supposed to expand to all types by the end of the year), glass, cans, paper and cardboard, even home electronics. There's always something each week over which to pick.

Amie was not especially enthused until I mentioned that she can build any type of robot. It need not be humanoid -- in fact, it could look like WALL·E, the star of this past summer's Pixar animated film. At that notion, the penny dropped, and Amalie was highly engaged to do the robot project.

Amie and Val rummaged our current recyclables and picked out several boxes, cardboard tubes, cans, pieces of plastic, and also some chunks of styrofoam (which we cannot recycle, alas). Val scrubbed everything clean, Amie made a conceptual sketch, and I bought some duct tape to lend that silvery-gray, robotic sheen to the construct. I then cobbled together most of the little robot, using two different cardboard tubes to let his head rotate. Amie and Val added the arms. (The picture below doesn't show the tank treads, which were built with soup and soda cans.)

We took it in to school on Friday, as requested, and the other kids were impressed with it (and immediately discovered that WALL·E's head could be removed -- fortunately without damage). All the robots were cute, but I think Amalie's WALL·E was the coolest.

Check it out: