Learn These Lessons to Turn Your Junk Into a Junkbot
Lonesoulsurfer built this Junkbot looks a bit like a mechanical four-legged spider and it is a great source of inspiration.
Have you ever driven through a small town and passed a junkyard with some kind of artistic creation out front welded together from a bunch of scrap, then wished you could make something like that yourself? I’m not sure why I’m even asking, because of course you have. But sadly, most people lack the equipment, space, and surplus of old car parts to craft such things. You can, however, do the same thing on a smaller scale. To find out how, check out Lonesoulsurfer’s Junkbot tutorial to learn some valuable lessons.
Lonesoulsurfer’s Junkbot looks a bit like a mechanical four-legged spider, but also like some kind of alien contraption from a ‘50s sci-fi movie. It doesn’t actually walk, but it does have a Cylon-style LED effect thing going on across its “face.”
The key here, however, is that you probably aren’t going to be replicating the exact Junkbot built by Lonesoulsurfer. If you wanted to, you’d have to find the exact same vintage Ronson electric shaver that he used for the body and the same folding umbrella he used for the legs.
Instead, you should use this as inspiration to build your own Junkbot according to your own vision and using the random old crap you find in your own parents’ basement. Lonesoulsurfer provides a detailed log with information on exactly how he built his Junkbot and you can learn a lot by reading through that. For instance, that umbrella’s framework is perfect for making lightweight metal linkages and there are instructions on how to modify their geometry to suit your needs.
This is mostly about salvaging and upcycling for creative purposes, but there are a few new components on this Junkbot that are necessary for that Cylon effect. Lonesoulsurfer designed a custom PCB for that and it relies on basic components like a 555 timer and a decade counter — no microcontroller necessary! It gets its power from an old mobile phone battery and there is a USB-C charging module paired with that.
Lonesoulsurfer’s creativity and talent are well above average. But if you can learn the right lessons from his guide, you might be able to build something just as awesome as his Junkbot.
