SlashGear

After we wrote about the Tapescape robot yesterday, maker Michael Columbo and his co-creator Ilan Schifter flagged up an Instructable with directions to make your own tape-following machine.  If you’ve ever wanted a bizarre looking ‘bot that plays glitchy movement, and a way to get rid of an old boombox, this is the project for you.

Video demo of the Tapescape robot after the cut

The concept is simple: the magnetic head from an old boombox is mounted on the front of the robot, and is used to track a strip of tape that has been stuck down to the floor or table (the “scape of tape”).  What makes the Tapescape robot particularly endearing, however, is the fact that it’s mostly constructed from what was salvaged from the boombox, with the addition of a few servos and an XBee module.

Audio is transmitted to a nearby radio via an FM transmitter, though you could presumably mount a small amp and speaker onto the robot for standalone use.  Next up for the project is wiring in the XBee module for wireless control of the tape player buttons.