s of this page or responsible for its content.
Made in Canada © 2002
J CM I nVent ur es 1 ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com

The CYBUG bio-mech robots are a new, exciting type of educational kit.
It combines elements of electronics, robotics, mechanics, and biology in a
unique and interesting form. Its instructional, very easy to build, and
fun
to modify and customize.
ique characteristics of each!

The CYBUG act as members of a new robotic ecosystem which
parallels nature in a unique and fascinating manner while educat-
ing its owners in fundamentals of electronics, robotics, biology,
and control systems.


This booklet will provide you with all types of interesting and educa-
tional activities you can perform with your CY-
BUG robots!
Made in Canada © 2002
Bio-mec h r obot s
ht t p:/ / w w w .j c min ven t ur es.c om J CM I nVent ur es 2
ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com

Attach a felt marker to the rear of a CYBUG robot and allow it to draw
pictures and patterns on a large sheet of paper ( I use flip-chart
sheets! ) These pictures are behaviour signatures which show how
the robot explores and interacts with its environment.

Dif f er ent colour ed f elt mar ker s could be used on dif f er ent mem-
ber s of your colony t o ident if y t heir unique at t it udes!

Dar ker colour s and lines can be cr eat ed by using a small paint -br ush
r at her t han a mar ker t ip!
CYBUG Art!
Youll need a Cybug Scarab,
QueenAnt or Solarfly, some felt mark-
ers, and a large sheet of blank paper.

Optionally, you could get a paintbrush
and dark ink or paint. ( Colourful, but
messy! )
QueenAnt Curves!
Scarab Script! J CM I nVent ur es 3 ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com
How about training your CYBUG Scarab or QueenAnt to do some
simple chores around the house? Turn it loose with a section of a
swiffer disposable cloth dragging behind it. Youd be amazed
how much debris this combination can pick up. You could use a tis-
sue as well, but the nature of the swiffer makes it a great choice!

The ideal scenar io would be a CYBUG
scar ab wit h a hunger boar d r unning
back and f or t h bet ween a f eeding st a-
t ion and t he dar k nooks and cr annies of
your kit chen, hauling dust bunnies as it
goes!

The QueenAnt wit h pr ogr ammable
module can be pr ogr ammed t o per f or m
even mor e complex cleaning behavior s.
CYBUG Floorsweepers
Youll need a Cybug Scarab
or QueenAnt and a refillable
Swiffer disposable cloth
or paper towel.

J CM I nVent ur es 4
ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com

CYBUG Feeding Station
The CYBUG Scarab, Solarfly,
and QueenAnt all have provisions
for adding a pair of guitar string
feeder antennae and a guitar
string ground wiper for provid-
ing external power to your robots!
These take the form of unused
pads on the circuit board.

A feeding station is easily created by
creating a pair of parallel conductive
surfaces for the robots to crawl be-
tween:
x
one surface on the floor which is connected to the negative side of your
power source.
x
the other about 8 cm above the ground to which you attach the +9V power
supply.

The images on this page illustrate two ways to prepare a feeding station The top
image uses sheets of aluminum foil to provide the electrical connection. They are
mounted in an upside-down plastic basket with the front side cut open.

The bottom image has a sheet of aluminum foil for the ground also, but the top con-
ductor is connected to a fanned-out array of steel guitar strings radiating from a stiff
copper support rod which holds the array about 8cm above the ground surface. This
is a good feeder if you like a better view of your CYBUG.

The 9V battery is simply connected to the feeder: - to ground surface, +9V to the
supporting rod.


When the CYBUG lifeform crawls between these
two plates the current will flow down the feeder
antennae and into the robots energy storage
element ( ni-cad battery or capacitor ). Very sim-
ple!

To get your CYBUG to venture into the feeding
station you must place it at or near a very bright
light source which will attract the robot inside.

You may have to clean the antennae and ground
wiper of your robot occasionally as oxide builds up on the wire, reducing current
flow! J CM I nVent ur es 5 ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com
Battling CYBUGs
In nature, creatures must continually battle for prime real-estate something
which can offer food, shelter, and protection.

To emulate this behavior with your CYBUG, set your robots to behave photo-
tropically ( attracted to light ). Next, draw a 20cm diameter circle on a sheet of
white paper ( I use a sheet from an old flip-chart! ) and place it under a bright
light source suspended a small distance above the paper.

Let your CYBUGs explore the area. The dominant CYBUG will be the one
which can maintain control of that area for the longest time!

Try to modify your CYBUGs physical features to give it a competitive advan-
tage! Attaching pipe-cleaner legs or body armor may cause the other robots
touch sensors to activate at a greater distance, scaring it away!

To make the contest more interesting, build a feeding station at the brightest
area and watch the CYBUGs become more aggressive as they feed ( espe-
cially the SolarFlys! ) J CM I nVent ur es 6
ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com

CYBUG Fashions
To protect its internal organs and improve inter-species recogni-
tion living creatures adorn themselves with all fashion of skins,
fur, horns, tusks, and other external features!

You CYBUG may seem a little exposed
to the elements itself! Try to improve
the aesthetics of your CYBUG by add-
ing similar features!

Use materials like
Pipe cleaners
Colored fun fur
Colored tape
Beads
Ping-pong balls
Colored yarn

If you attach these to your CYBUG
with hot glue make certain that the
glue doesnt touch any electrical
component or moving part of your
robot!

Using some of the unused solder
pads on the edges of your CYBUG,
try creating a framework of semi-
circular wire hoops with copper or
brass wire Attach a fun-fur pelt
to the hoops using hot glue. J CM I nVent ur es 7 ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com
Heres another way of doing the
Power Plant Flip the base as-
sembly upside down and make it
into a cool rotating robot head! This
cool mod was courtesy of Jim Mul-
lins!
Heres a QueenAnt with pipe-
cleaner legs and fun fur
body Like the Scarab, wire
hoops were added to the
abdomen portion of the bot to
add a little depth!
This Solar f ly has been en-
hanced wit h color f ul t ape
and paper -clip legs! Again, A
J im Mullins pr oduct ion!
Two Scarab shown are souped
up with thick pipe cleaner legs
and tufts of fun-fur. They are
cornering another scarab with a
1/2 plastic bubble found in
hobby stores. J CM I nVent ur es 8
ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com

Aqua-CYBUG
How about making a float-a-vore? Carefully fabricate a
buoyant platform for your CYBUG Scarab, SolarFly, or QueenAnt from
hard styrene foam such as that used in insulation or packing material.
This platform must be buoyant enough to keep the fully loaded CYBUG
circuit board and motor totally out of the water and nicely balanced so the
robot does not tip into the drink!

You may try to attach the CYBUG to the platform with elastic bands. It is
recommended that you wrap the circuit board and motors as much as pos-
sible with plastic wrap or place the robot in some type of plastic bag to pre-
vent water from splashing on the circuit board. You may want to bend the
feelers to point straight forward so they can touch obstacles in the robots
path.

Remove the small disk wheels and replace them with a paddle formed by
folding a piece of electrical tape or similar water-repellent tape around the
shaft of the motor. The paddle must be in such a position that it contacts
the water ( without getting the motor wet ).

Disconnectthe motor mounts from the circuit board and adjust the motors
so they are parallel to the water, without touching the water .

( Careful if you soak your motor try to flush it and dry it quickly to pre-
vent damage! You might shoot a little WD-40 into the motor to displace
the water )

Carefully place the robot in
the water, turn it on, and
watch him go!

( Use at your own risk
we havent seen any CY-
BUGs wrecked by water
damage, but there is a
chance yours might be
the first if your robot
takes a dive! ) J CM I nVent ur es 9 ht t p:/ / www.j cminvent ur es.com
Line following Cybugs
The QueenAnt eyes are sensitive when
properly ad-
justed and can easily follow a dark line
in good lighting
conditions.

Point the QueenAnt eyes downward
over the front
of the QueenAnts head and on either
side of
the line.

Hold the robot still and power him up. While the
eyes are facing the background surface colour adjust the
potentiometer on the front of the robot until the LED ( on the
back of the drone board is on the edge of changing from red
to green.

Now turn the robot loose over the dark line and watch it go!

This b