PaBo Bot: Paper Box Robots for Everyone

Abstract

Robot building is a fascinating hands-on learning activity, and we want to make it available to more people. Over the past year, we've been experimenting with making robot building more approachable. We presented the design and making of paper box robots PaBo Bot, a set of modular robots made with paper and everyday tools. To enable non-technical users to engage in robot building, we developed (1) a conductive sticker to support the rapid creation of controller circuits, and (2) a way to solder components using a toaster oven. We shared PaBo Bot methods and techniques by organizing hands-on workshops with novice robot builders. All participants successfully built the PaBo Bot. The results show that using our proposed techniques, people without technical backgrounds are able to participate and enjoy robot building.