Take me to the Steps
I’m made of green plastic and I’m super fantastic… my name is CIRKO!

When I was nine years old, I saw it in the window of the corner hardware store… Mazinger Z. It was awesome and opened a whole new world for me.

I’ve had and made a lot of robots since then – including CIRKO!

Before you get started making this robot, you should take a look at Mopsey the Monsterbot. Many of the same tools, components, and techniques are used here.

When you’re ready, hit-up this repository for all the parts you need to 3D print the parts.

https://github.com/rwinscot/CIRKO

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Project Steps

Autodesk

My first rule of robotics, is that each robot must be awesome. It should have a name, character, and should be fun to play with. You know, for kids.

To make that happen, you’ll need Computer Aided Drawing (CAD) software to breathe life into your ideas. I like Tinkercad… it’s very intuitive and easy to use.

Green not for you? There are more options these days than you can imagine!

Adhesive

You can use hot glue, epoxy, or the permanent adhesive of your choice for the eyes, ear cap, logo, and for mounting servos. Any kind that is good for filling gaps will do nicely.

I’ve already created a set of eyes out of NeoPixels similar to Mopsey the Monsterbot. If you need a little help hooking them up, the Adafruit NeoPixel Uber Guide is a great resource.

Assembly

My second rule is that robots shouldn’t be expensive. I’ve selected common components to help keep cost down.

In fact, if you made Mopsey the Monsterbot, you should have enough parts left over to make CIRKO.

I’ve used a little Beacon 3 in 1 glue on the shoulder cap and antenna. The antenna is just a short length of scrap PLA filament.

Arduino

Every good robot needs a brain – Arduino will work a treat!

Did you see the software and circuit diagrams in the Github repository?

Amazing

My third rule… is that robots should inspire!

There are some really exciting modules out there… including ones that can speak to you! Like the GinSing Speech Synthesizer from GinSing Sound.

What next?

You could add an Ethernet shield and have your robot read incoming tweets or Facebook posts. Maybe monitor your garden or track commits to your Github repository?

It’s up to you!