In the Maker Shed: OLLO Action kit

Recently the Maker Shed started to carry OLLO kits. What are OLLO kits? OLLO is a reconfigurable construction set for beginner robot enthusiasts. Think of them as a cross between LEGO and Erector sets. I made one of the projects from the OLLO Action kit and learned a few things along the way.

Before you start building the kit, it’s really helpful to assemble a bunch of the “rivets”. In the picture above you can see the little pin that sits inside the groove of the rivet. I went ahead and made all the rivets, and then started building the dino-bot. It made the build a lot easier since I didn’t have to stop and make more at each step.

The parts simply snap together via the little rivet system. It’s a really strong connection and it allows for hinged movement when only (1) rivet is used.

When building the robot dinosaur be sure to keep the main drive wheels slightly away from the motor housing. This will make the walking a lot smoother. You can see the black axel and drive wheels in the picture above. Yes, the one of the robo-rear-end, sorry!

I had a great time with my kids building the dino-bot. Once you get familiar with the riveting system, it goes together fairly quickly. Looks like it’s time to move onto the next build in the kit…but which one? I guess I’ll let the kids decided.