Par Robot! Part Toothbrush? Invasion of the Bristlebots (Klutz) [Spiral-bound]

Pat Murphy (Editor), Scientists of Klutz Labs (Editor)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Klutz

Invasion of the Bristlebots comes with two mini-robots — basically motorized toothbrush heads. These guys zoom around like caffeinated cockroaches, spinning, skittering, and bouncing off walls. Resistance is futile. The book bristles with ideas for robot games and activities: race robots against each other, use the included punch-out walls to construct a bristlebot maze, stage a robot sumo-wrestling match. You can even customize your Bots with the provided wire legs, feelers, and beady eyes.

With grateful acknowledgement to Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Comes With: 2 brush heads, 2 robotivators, clip, wire, beads

• Create wonderful things • Be good • Have fun

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Spiral-bound: 40 pages
• Publisher: Klutz; Spi edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591746434
• ISBN-13: 978-1591746430
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 10.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Building robots, June 20, 2009

By 

C. Towles (Winston-Salem, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Par Robot! Part Toothbrush? Invasion of the Bristlebots (Klutz) (Spiral-bound)

At first only one of the bristlebots worked. After trying some spare batteries with no luck I noticed the motor was encased in rubber. I used the jeweler's screwdriver to push the rubber encasement down in order to make the metal prongs connect to the motor inside. After that it worked fine.
My 5 year old bought this for me for father's day :) but couldn't wait another day to give it to me. We opened it and he really enjoyed making his bristlebot into a scorpion. He's having (we're having) fun finding new things to make robots using cards, wires, and anything light. Some things don't work well as robot pieces, but he's having fun trying it out.
I'd have given it a 5 if it would have worked right out of the package. So the rating of 4 is a balance of how we enjoy it and having to figure out how to fix it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing bristlebots, October 29, 2009

By 

M. McConnell (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Par Robot! Part Toothbrush? Invasion of the Bristlebots (Klutz) (Spiral-bound)

Only one bristlebot worked out of the package. Neither switch worked correctly after I took out the batteries, tested them with a multimeter (they were AOK) and re-assembled the bots.

Then, upon looking for help on the internet, I realized that Klutz stole the concept from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories! No credit is given anywhere in the materials that I could see.

As a subscriber to Make Magazine and a supporter of the Maker Community, I'm very sorry I bought the product. Shame on you Klutz. And though I've always liked your products-- no more recommendations for you in my teacher workshops!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun while it lasted, March 18, 2010

By 

J. Pies "mom of boys" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Par Robot! Part Toothbrush? Invasion of the Bristlebots (Klutz) (Spiral-bound)

I bought these for my boys. They were very easy to put together and the boys had a blast playing with them. Then, suddenly one would no longer work. We tried changing the batteries with no luck. Now one boy has a working bristlebot and the other has a broken heart. As if things weren't bad enough, when I went online to try to find a solution to the dead bot, I found out that Klutz had stolen the idea from someone else.