Super Awesome Sylvia, along with Windell and Lenore from Evil Mad Scientist, are teaming up to bring a watercolor painting robot to Kickstarter.
With two motors driving cables to move the head in the x and y directions, the WaterColorBot uses standard watercolor paint and paper to create 9" x 12" works of art.
This Kickstarter campaign will fund the initial production run of the bots and hopefully give the project worldwide exposure. The robot is already fully developed and has been shown off at Maker Faire. It also won a silver medal at Robo Games 2013 and starred in the announcement video for the 2013 White House Science Fair.
WaterColorBot comes pre-loaded with a few pictures. Users can also create their own two dimensional pictures on a computer and download those to the machine. The technology follows an Etch-a-Sketch, a large-scale plotter, or Evil Mad Scientist's Egg-Bot kit already in production. That said, the application feels fresh and looks to be something that can pull in heavy media attention and massive financial support over the next month of Kickstarter funding.
Evil Mad Scientist/WaterColorBot.com
The potential for using the WaterColorBot in STEM education is huge. Robotics, mathematics, manufacturing, science and art education could all benefit greatly from having an artistic robot in the classroom for projects and inspiration. As an educator, it's easy to see how this would engage students of any age.
The relatively low cost to purchase ($295) and keep stocked with supplies should be a plus for cash-strapped school districts.
Evil Mad Scientist/WaterColorBot.com