Remote-controlled Robot Toy From Air Freshener Parts

limpy_the_robot

[jcopro] is pretty fond of Glade automatic air fresheners. Using a pair of them, he built a simple remote-controlled toy which he shared with us over the weekend. You may remember that he built a remote shutter release system for his camera using these air fresheners, which we featured a few weeks ago.

Instead of throwing away the shell of the air fresheners after gutting them for motors and gears, he decided to use the excess plastic as a robot chassis. Using a pair of pencils for legs, he constructed his robot, “Limpy.” He removed a pair of motors and control board from an old toy, mounting it to his creation with a few strips of electrical tape.

He admits that he’s reluctant to even call the toy a robot, but he had fun building it, and suggests that it would make a great beginner project. We agree – it would make a great project for kids, especially if you are looking to reuse an old remote-controlled toy they no longer play with.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7HSlRRgJbE&w=470]

6 thoughts on “Remote-controlled Robot Toy From Air Freshener Parts

    1. The machanism does not go fully round, the last gear is just a 90° segment, designed to press the button and release it. I wondered myself, why they did not design just a cam mechanism, which would not need reversing the motor – only one transistor instead of the H-bridge.

  1. @Mike Nathan – thanks for listing my hack! Funny, I saw this one – http://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/fertilizing-a-planted-aquarium-using-air-freshener-hardware/ – on hackaday a while ago and saw a ton of uses for these devices. So thanks HAD for the ideas!

    @All – Btw, I’m ashamed I know this, but the automatic version seem to now come with a coupon for a couple bucks off of the sense-and-spray version if anyone finds that useful.

    @Sean – Maybe there could be a robot fighting league using only parts from Glade.

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