SMART ROBOT
A. SAFETY MESSAGES
To Parents: Read all instructions before provide guidance to your children.
1. Please read through all instructions before you start.
2. Adult supervision and assistance are required at all times.
3. Intended for children of ages over 8.
4. This kit and its finished product contain small parts which may cause choking if misused. Keep away from
children under 3 years old.
5. To prevent possible short circuits, never touch the contacts inside the battery case with any metal.
B. USE OF THE BATTERY
C. CONTENTS
1 motor housing (with
switch and wires)
1 battery case cover
2 terminal caps
1 small axle
(with two cogs)
1 large axle (with
single cog)
1 metal weight
1 half sphere (with switch hole)
1 half sphere (without hole)
1 soft plastic ring
1 base
1 top cover
1 long screw (for securing the
connection tabs)
short screws
1. Requires one “AA”, 1.5V battery (not included).
2. For best results, always use a fresh battery.
3. Make sure you insert the battery with the correct polarities.
4. Remove the battery from Smart Robot when not in use.
5. Replace exhausted battery straight away to avoid possible damage to the kit.
6. A rechargeable battery must be removed from the kit before recharging.
7. Rechargeable battery should be recharged under adult supervision.
8. Do not attempt to recharge non-rechargeable battery.
9. Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc), or rechargeable (Ni-Cd) battery.
10. Make sure that the supply terminals are not short circuited.
1 motor housing cover
Also required but not included : 1 x ‘AA’ 1.5 volt battery, small crosshead screwdriver.
FUN MECHANIC SERIES
You will like the other great Fun Mechanic kits:
00-03270 Tin can robot
Millions of soda cans are being wasted daily. Help
recycle one of them and turn it to a cool robot which
walks in silly movement when it is turn on. It could be
turned to a robot monster too. Just cool.
00-03273 Bottle Catamaran
Construct a cool catamaran with this unique science
project. Watch your catamaran skin across the water
on its pop-bottle floats, purshed by its spinning
propeller.
1 motor (with wires and worm
gear attached)
F. TROUBLESHOOTING
If the motor does not run or move when it hits an obstacle:
• Check that you are using fresh batteries. Some rechargeable batteries may not be able to produce enough
electric current to keep the sphere turning when it hits an obstacle. It is recommended to use alkaline battery.
• Check that the battery is inserted the correct way round in the battery case.
• Remove the motor housing cover and check that all the connections between the wires are OK. Also check that
none of the connections between the wires are touching each other, as this will cause a short circuit.
• Check that the cogs are sufficiently lubricated.
• Check if the two half spheres are screwed too tight and white spindle of the motor is inserted into the square
hole completely. This will add friction to the inner mechanism when it is rotating.
If the motor keeps running when the switch is off:
• Remove the motor housing cover and check that none of the connections between the wires is touching another.
G. HOW IT WORKS
The gears slow the movement of motor, which makes the spindle turn more slowly than the motor. The motor, bat-
tery and weight are all on one side of the spindle that turns the sphere. This means that the centre of gravity of the
motor assembly is off to one side.
With the motor switched off, the sphere always comes to rest with the centre of gravity below the centre of the
sphere, directly above where the sphere touches the ground. If you roll the sphere to one side, it just rolls back
again.
When you switch the motor on, the motor assembly turns inside the sphere. So centre of gravity of the sphere moves
to one side. This makes the sphere roll because it is unstable. As the sphere rolls, the motor keeps turning the as-
sembly, so the sphere keeps rolling. The rubber ring grips the surface under the robot.
But how does the Robot Smart turn corners? The centre of gravity of the sphere is slightly to one side of the rub-
ber ring. This is why the sphere leans to one side. When the Smart Robot hits an object, the sphere cannot move
forwards. But because it leans to one side, it turns to one side. It keeps turning until it can move forwards again.
H. FUN FACTS
• Smart Robot moves using a rotating sphere inside its case. Most mobile robots run on wheels or tracks, and can
go over rough ground.
• Bipedal robots are robots that walk on two legs, like humans. They need clever mechanisms and computer technol-
ogy to walk without falling over. Some bipedal robots can even run and climb stairs.
• Robots that move around by themselves are called autonomous robots. They can’t normally see where they are
going. Instead, they have touch sensors that detect when they bump into something.
• Some autonomous robots build up an electronic map of their surroundings by remembering where they have
bumped into things. Then they can move along without bumping into things again.
• Automated guided vehicles (ATVs) are robots that work in factories, carrying things from one place to another. They
find their way by following lines drawn on the floor or underground cables.
I. QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
We treasure you as a customer and your satisfaction with this product is important to us. In case you have any
comments or questions, or you find any parts of this kit missing or defective, please do not hesitate to contact our
distributor in your country, whose address is printed on the package. You are also welcome to contact our market-
ing support team at Email: [email protected], Fax (852) 25911566, Tel (852) 28936241, Web site:
WWW.4M-IND.COM
• Robot vacuum cleaners move around a room, sucking up dust as they go. When they bump into an object, they
turn round. Gradually they clean the whole room. Robot lawn mowers cut grass in the same way.
• Each year robot soccer players play against each other in an international competition called the RoboCup.
©COPYRIGHT 2008 4M INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED.
41-03272/1 080624
