Lacking creativity today? Why not let the Watercolor Bot do the job for you? This little robot, which was designed in cooperation with 12-year-old Sylvia Todd, looks very much like an Etch-a-Sketch, but it’s much more awesome than that.
Evil Mad Scientist Labs teamed up with this 12-year-old prodigy to create the Watercolor Bot, a robot that’s very much into art. This interesting device requires a computer connection that is realized via USB. On the computer, the RoboPaint software acts as an interface for the robot. In the video that you can watch at the end of this post, the Watercolor Bot is connected to Mac computers, but I’m pretty sure that a Windows version of the RoboPaint software will also be available.
Below is Sylvia Todd, the star of Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show in a t-shirt which I wouldn’t mind at all if it became the uniform of kids from all over the world.
Probably one of the best things about Watercolor Bot is that, unlike printers, it works with common paper and watercolor paints. Hence, besides the price of the product itself, parent’s won’t have to spend enormous amounts of money so that their kids can use the watercolor-painting robot.
The watercolor-painting robot features two motors that are attached to a sturdy frame. The cords control the position of the brush in such a manner that some might argue that this is in fact nothing more than a printer.
Watercolor Bot is currently featured on Kickstarter, where it has already received $20K+ more than the initial goal of $50,000. If you want to secure this device for you, it is necessary to back the project with at least $295. The early birds had the chance to get it for less, but those spots are since gone.
Check out the following video to see the Watercolor Bot in action:
While some people are ecstatic about this device, other claim that it’s a killer of creativity. Instead of encouraging kids to do the paintings themselves, people are buying them robots to do the work for them. That is just bad parenting, as children should be taught to paint. Some even pointed out that such a robot would be very counterproductive, and would only be good for making the same painting again and again, which is meaningless for art. Maybe Sylvia should invest her time and creativity in something a bit more innovative.
If you liked this post, please check the painting typewriter and light painting with LED helicopter.
