
Makey Vibrobot
30-45 min
Ages 8-13
What Will You Learn?
A vibrobot is a tiny robot powered by a vibrating motor, like the type found in cell phones. Let’s make a paper vibrobot that we can modify and customize.
This project is a sample from our Circuit Scouts Kit, available in the Maker Shed. There are also a guidebook and online educator’s curriculum available for free.
Build Your Vibrobot Paper Model
Step 1
Color your vibrobot template as desired. Assemble the paper template.
Step 2
Cut along the solid lines. Fold along the dotted lines.
Step 3
Glue or tape the tabs into place.
Step 4
Give it personality! Cut out Makey and add him to the front of the bot, or design your own bot.


Add Your Motor
Step 1
Stick the disc motor to the back of your paper bot, near the bottom.
Step 2
Connect the red wire to the positive side (+) of a battery with Maker Tape.
Step 3
Use a loop of invisible tape to attach the battery to the back of the robot near the top with the positive side face down.
Step 4
Connect the blue wire to the negative side of the battery with Maker Tape.
What's Next?
Take what you’ve learned and make your creation better. How can you improve on your vibrobot? Use these ideas as inspiration to create your own version of a vibrobot.
Origami Circuits (Motor Based Projects)
Robot Buddies (vibrobots with lights)
Have more time and looking for a challenge?
Try creating an origami circuit that moves, like this Origami Ladybug VibroBot or Origami Spider Vibrobot.
Need more inspiration? Visit our Maker Camp Projects Gallery for more ideas.
Learn more about how disc motors work too!


Materials:
- Project Book
- Coin Cell Batteries
- Maker Tape
- Pager Disc Motor
- Invisible tape or foam tape
- Scissors
- Buttons, paper chips, drinking straws, etc. (optional)
- Assorted craft supplies (optional)
- Scrap cardboard (optional)
- Stick glue (optional)
- Vibrobot Template
- Student Handout
See More Projects in these topics:
Arts & Crafts Electronics Engineering Paper Crafts STEM or STEAMSee More Projects from these themes:
Art/Craft Studio The Depot (Airport/Space Station/ Racetrack) The Shop (Makerspace)Maker Camp
Maker Camp Project Standards
Based on NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)
National Core Arts Standards
The National Core Arts Standards are a process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school. These standards provide goals for Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts with cross-cutting anchors in Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting through art. The Anchor Standards include:- Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
- Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
- Refine and complete artistic work.
- Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
- Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
- Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
- Perceive and analyze artistic work.
- Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
- Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
- Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
- Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards. Learn more.Forces and Motion
- 3-PS2-3. Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.
- HS-PS4-5. Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.
CCSS (Common Core State Standards)
The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA).Measurement & Data
- Grades K-2
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.1 Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.2 Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.1 Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.2 Measure the length of an object twice, using length units of different lengths for the two measurements; describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.3 Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.4 Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference in terms of a standard length unit.
- Grades 3-5
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.C.5 Recognize angles as geometric shapes that are formed wherever two rays share a common endpoint, and understand concepts of angle measurement.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.C.3 Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.
Ratios & Proportional Relationships
- Middle School
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.1 Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths, areas and other quantities measured in like or different units.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2 Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
National Core Arts Standards
The National Core Arts Standards are a process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school. Also see Standards with cross-cutting anchors in Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting through art for Visual Arts.ISTE Standards (International Society for Technology in Education)
The ISTE Standards provide the competencies for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age, providing a comprehensive roadmap for the effective use of technology in schools worldwide.1.1 Empowered Learner
- Summary: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
- 1.1.a Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
- 1.1.b Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
- 1.1.c Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
- 1.1.d Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
1.2 Digital Citizen
- Summary: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
- 1.2.a Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
- 1.2.b Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.
- 1.2.c Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
- 1.2.d Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security and are aware of data-collection technology used to track their navigation online.
1.3 Knowledge Constructor
- Summary: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
- 1.3.a Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
- 1.3.b Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
- 1.3.c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
- 1.3.d Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
1.4 Innovative Designer
- Summary: Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
- 1.4.a Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
- 1.4.b Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
- 1.4.c Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
- 1.4.d Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
1.5 Computational Thinker
- Summary: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
- 1.5.a Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
- 1.5.b Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
- 1.5.c Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
- 1.5.d Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
NGSS MS.Engineering Design
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.- MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
- MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
- MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
NGSS 3-5.Engineering Design
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.- 3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
- 3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.