Introduction: Ikea ROBOT

By Technisch Speelgoed
About: I'm a social-worker, working with 12 - 23 year-olds. I used to be a printer. In 2018 I opened a small makerspace (www.imdib.nl) in my house, where I have lasercutters, 3d-printers, Arduino's, Mindstorms and ot…

Inspired by a Kickstarter project, I couldn't walk past the spare-parts box at my local Ikea. So I took a bag and filled it with hardware parts. (mostly kitchen cabinet hinges) A big bag filled costed just 1,50 Euro.

Back home, I can't find the Kickstarter anymore. It somehow disappeared from the site, so I can't link to it. The idea was to build a robot from just hardware parts you can find at your homedepo. The guy who sold them on Kickstarter made really cool, big, robots. Mine is a lot smaller, but it is still really fun to do!

This robot will make a really nice gift that is easy, cheap and fun to make, for someone that already has everything.

Step 1: You Will Need

Parts

  • All the hinges and other metal parts you can fit in a bag at Ikea (or you find your hardware somewhere else)
  • M3, M4 and M5 nuts and bolts (or whatever size fits het holes in your parts)

Tools

  • screwdrivers
  • spanners

I used mostly kitchen-cabinet hinges.

Step 2: Sort Your Parts

To find out whether I have all the parts I need, I first put all the parts I want to use on the table. I design my robot according to the parts I have. My first attempt looks a bit like a stick-figure.

Step 3: Put Your Robot Together

Now it is time te screw it all together.

I gave myself the "rule" that I'm not allowed to drill or cut the parts, so I need to use the holes that are already in the parts.

The only thing I added to the bag from the Ikea, are some nuts and bolts.

You must take in account that the robot must be able to stand, so balance is important. When you make your robot four (or more) legged, this will be easier, but I wanted a two legged robot.

Step 4: New Design

My first design wasn't very stable, so I took it apart again. I did like the face, so I recycled that part.

I gave my new design bigger feet and a shorter body to make it stand better.

The result is really great, and it is a lot of fun to build. Because I didn't cut or drill the parts, I can change and redo things whenever I feel like it. The robot is posable through the hinges.

This project costed me only 1,50 Euro for the Ikea parts, and 18 bolts and nuts.

Have fun!