This maker spotlight was brought to us through Maker Faire Rome. You’ll be able to find them and many more creative and exciting makers at Maker Faire Rome: The European Edition on October 18-20. Get your tickets now!
Who are you?
My name is Tino Werner. I’m from Graz/Austria, where I studied Telematics.
Where are you located?
After college, I moved to Germany and worked at KIT for nine years. I’m currently located in Leopoldshafen near Karlsruhe.
What is your day job?
Six years ago I decided to turn my hobby into a profession and started developing my own robot kits. So I’m an inventor and entrepreneur. I’m doing a lot of workshops for children, mainly at Maker Faires throughout Germany. If possible, my wife and my two children come with me. This year I’ll be at the Maker Faire in Rome – the biggest Maker Faire in Europe – for the first time.
What kinds of stuff do you make?
I make small analog robots. They’re designed as kits, so that children can use them to understand the world of electronics. The robots respond particularly perceptive to their surroundings, dodging objects, circling under light or shadows, and much more. This means learning about electronics becomes fun to explore! Even adults enjoy them.
How did you get started making stuff?
I loved creating autonomous machines as a child, using construction toys!
As a teenager I combined and replaced the toy parts with more robust materials.
What is something you’ve made that really stands out, that you’re proud of?
At the age of 18 I build a walking spider robot that moved, acted, and looked like a tarantula. The spider only had two motors for walking and three others to move the feelers and abdomen. Much later I constructed a miniaturized model and designed it as a soldering kit. Since I love making things as simple as possible, I used an analog yet variable control circuit.
What do you have on your horizon?
Years ago I patented the sensor system and the drive mechanism of my spider robot, but because of the extensive work time needed, I never finished the kit in order to sell it.
Currently, I’m working on a new prototype for a six-legged walking robot. It will be a kit where no soldering is necessary, yet it’ll be able to be digitally controlled as well as analog.
I’m also working on prototypes of a new kind of wheels that have no center and am hoping to bring these onto the market soon too.
What links would you like included?
My homepage, which has more detailed information about my robot kits and the possibility to order them.
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