The Retro-Bot a Paper Robot Friend to Charge Your Batteries

It's hard to think of Instructables without immediately bringing to mind its famous and unique mascot, the Maker Robot, that friendly yellow companion who welcomes us to this world of creation and knowledge shared by the instructables community.

And since Instructables is approaching its 20th anniversary, what better way to celebrate than by paying tribute to its mascot?

First of all, even though I did some research, I never found the real name of the Maker Robot, and although many came to mind, I couldn't give him a name. Robbie? Vinnie? Dan? Robert? Instry? Ronnie? Rocky? Maker? The truth is, the name isn't the most important thing; what matters is that it inspires you to create and share your creations.

1. Retro-Bot* Templates and prints.
2. X-acto.
3. Scissors.
4. Ruler.
5. Embosser.
6. Glue/Hot Glue.
7. Pencil.
8. Marker.
9. Cut Mat.
10. Panasonic BQ-CC17 battery charger.
11. AC Power Extension Cable Cord.

My general idea was to create a remake of the Instructables mascot character, the Maker Robot. Since they're approaching their 20th anniversary, I decided to redesign what the character would have looked like 20 years before his creation (2005). So, I based it on the design of robot toys from the 80s, taking care of every detail of the original design.

But don't take it the wrong way, I love the original character design, it's so disconnected from reality that it reminds me of the Acme brand style.

What you see below is just an interpretation of the character in the robot style of the 80s.

But that's not all. I wanted to give the robot a specific use, so I decided to solve a problem (a boredom problem, really).

How often do you get bored staring at the battery charger on the wall, waiting for it to finish charging? Why not give it a friendly and cool touch, a fun style that can serve as decoration in its room, making it completely forget that it's charging its batteries inside?

So, with this in mind and the redesign of the robot, I brought these two ambitions together to create the ultimate battery-charging friend.

Here you can download the templates, please note that they are in pdf format for printing in Letter size.

Check out the following steps to guide you through the cutting and post-processing process for the correct assembly of all the pieces.

Keep in mind that the robot's body parts are distributed in the templates, so pay close attention to each shape in each step so that you don't lose the assembly order later.

The first thing we will do is cut our pieces. Try to cut them in groups so as not to make a mess of pieces.

Cut the pieces you are going to work from the templates according to step

Then, with the help of an scoring tool, we will mark the tabs. In the case of a normal fold, we will mark them on the back of the piece, and if it is a valley fold, we will mark them on the front.

Use a soft cardboard to avoid damaging your table.

If you do not have an scoring tool, you can use an old pen without ink to trace the markings.

From this step on, I will show you the parts of the robot so that you become familiar with its shapes when assembling it.

Starting we find the parts of the head, which has a cube as its base, and although the assembly is quite intuitive, I recommend that you analyze each image before gluing it.

Next we find the torso pieces, remember that we must first cut and then mark the tabs with the scoring tool and then make the respective folds.

In the images we can see the part of the waist which will connect the legs with the torso.

In these pages we can see the arts of the legs, although we will also find the ears and some circular parts of the arms.

Here we can see the piece corresponding to the ear

then we can see the feet of our robot

And here we find the parts of the arms, in addition to the wheels characteristic of the original design which we will see later.

Also on this page we find the adjustment blocks (Gray Blocks) that will help us fix the battery charger in the internal part of our robot, later we will see its use

And last but not least the hands of our robot

Please note that on some pages there are specific details about the robot, so be aware and keep an eye open so as not to make a mistake when assembling it.

For cylindrical folds we will use a pencil or some cylindrical object and with our fingers we will gently give it the desired circular shape.

Now, group by group of pieces, start assembling each part of the retro-bot's body.

In the following images you will find each group ready to be assembled.

Apply glue to the tabs respectively and with the pressure of your fingers join the pieces together.

Do this slowly, take your time and also give the glue time to dry.

Now do the same with each piece

Use the scoring tool to apply light pressure to adjust the joints when gluing.

After finishing a piece, with the help of a black marker, we will hide the imperfections if there are any, to give it a more detailed finish.

When you have the base parts of each body part (the cube in the case of the head) and you have finished the detail parts like the eyes and ears, use the glue to mount them in their respective location.

In the specific case of the head, we will use a wooden stick which will cross the entire body and will function as a joint for the head and also give it structure.

Now do the same with each part of the body, Torso Waist, Legs, feet, Arms and Feet.

In this step I leave some key images, as indicated the design is quite intuitive, but if you have any questions let me know in the comments.

Now after having all the pieces assembled it is time to put them together.

And it's pretty easy, you know, you just have to follow the logic and put each part in its place.

Review the images in sequence to get an idea of ​​how to make the final assembly.

In the end, you will get your robot friend, who will give a retro touch to your room and will also serve to charge your batteries in style.

If you make this Retro-Bot, comment here to see your result.

Thank you for Watching this project.