WaterColorBot: A Robot For Children's art

The WaterColorBot painter

WaterColorBot's 12 year-old inventor Sylvia Todd

Robots are spreading their legs in almost every field starting from FluxCrawler Robot to Nuclear Inspection Robot to An Edutainment Robot and also in other fields. The WaterColorBot is a robot created by 12-year-old Sylvia Todd and Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories that creates physical watercolor paintings using digital vector artwork. The robot can create virtually identical paintings from the same digital file.

Sylvia Todd, of Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show fame has created it to enter the RoboGames competition (where she won silver). 

Most of the WaterColorBot is made from carved plywood that lasts for years of use. It is made in the USA. It just need a set of standard watercolors, a small paintbrush, and a sheet of paper. The center carriage can accommodate any brush up to 0.325 in (8.3 mm) in diameter, and the printable area is designed for a 9 x 12 in (22.9 x 30.5 cm) sheet of watercolor paper or smaller.

WaterColorBot is made from carved plywood that need a set of standard watercolors, a small paintbrush, and a sheet of paper

The center carriage can accommodate any brush up to 0.325 in (8.3 mm) in diameter

The WaterColorBot works like a pen plotter, with two motors moving the paintbrush along the X-Y axis, while a carriage with a servo moves it up and down as needed. The bot doesn't have a creative mind of its own. It can either take vector artwork and paint it, or follow along as you sketch in real time. The WaterColorBot dips its brush in water, swirl it in a watercolor compartment to coat it in paint, and clean it in a separate water dish. It can even determine if it needs to refill the brush with more paint.

WaterColorBot can either take vector artwork and paint it, or follow along as you sketch in real time

 The WaterColorBot is not as complicated as the e-David painter robot, making it a friendly kit for makers young and old. Some assembly is required.

Sylvia Todd, the WaterColorBot's young inventor has demonstrated the device to small children at several exhibitions and has even shown it to the President of the United States, but now EMSL wants to bring the device to the public. Both Sylvia and ESML hope their invention will serve as a helpful educational tool to get kids interested in both art and robotics. They also plan to release the bot's API so other programmers can develop new software for it.

Sylvia Todd, the WaterColorBot's young inventor has demonstrated the device to small children at several exhibitions and has even shown it to the President of the United States

ESML has launched a Kickstarter campaign to begin mass production. Anyone who contributes at least US$295 will receive everything needed to get started, including the self-assembly kit, a set of Crayola water colors, a brush and some paper. The kits are expected to ship in December.

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Write by: RC - Friday, July 19, 2013