Silvia Todd is launching her first Kickstarter campaign at the age of 12 after designing a painting robot. To make her idea a reality, Silvia approached Lenore Edman and Windell Oskay at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories (EMSL), a Silicon Valley company that designs and produces specialized electronics and robotics kits. "I drew a few sketches of what I wanted my robot to look like and asked EMSL if I could come over to their shop for a week and make this bot,” Silvia explains in a blog post. The three then collaborated to create the WaterColorBot.
View: Kickstarter of the Week: 12 Year Old Designs Painting Robot
“When I got [to EMSL] I thought that I would start immediately making the base to my bot, but instead we worked in inkscape making detailed drawings,” Silvia adds. Creating the design in CAD, they were able to iterate quickly, and with access to a CNC router, laser cutters, and other tools, the first prototype was created in a week. However, even though the WaterColorBot is fairly similar to its original design, the fine tuning of individual components took several iterations. “We went through at least 20 iterations of the carriage that holds the brush,” says Edman.
To continue reading the full article, click here to visit our partner publication, PD&D.