Ever since I saw the bristle bot video I've been wondering if it would
be possible to make one that could be steered by remote control.

My idea is to mount 2 vibrator motors, one pointing to the right and one to the left, perpendicular to the bot's direction of travel. My thought is that
if you drive one motor it will cause that side of the bot to vibrate up and down more than the other side driving it forward
faster than the other side and if you drive both motors it will drive forward
in a straight line. (At least as much of a straight line as any bristle bot
travels)

The next step is to take an 8-pin, surface mount AVR or PIC microController,
a couple of surface mount transistors, and an IR photo-transistor (or photodiode) and work up a tiny IR receiver and motor controller to switch the two vibrator motors on & off remotely.

You would also have to invent and build an appropriate IR transmitter and
control codes.

I have no idea if this would actually work and unfortunately I have way more ideas than time & resources to play with them all.

Sure, easy enough. I bet somebody's already done it.

Good news, I did it!

I made an R/C Bristle Bot.

I got a micro R/C boat (about 4 1/2" long) that runs on two motors, and steers like a skidsteer. Took it apart, and glued the reciever, motors, and a 3v button battery to the top of a tooth brush.

Then cut one of the blades of the props to make them off balance so they vibrate when they spin (plus the remains of the props will push a small amount of air to help it move if the motors are facing the back of the bristlebot).

It will only go forward, but it is steerable. I'll try to post some pics when i get a chance.

Hope this helps you

Sweet!

I'd love to see it in action.

I bumped into this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggvHcNDel8

It's a clever use of a PICAXE 08M chip which has an "infrain" command which allows it to receive a SIRC (Sony Infra Red Control) protocol 7 bit signal - which the majority of TV remotes use. So there you have it, a steerable bristle bot that can be steered with an ordinary IR TV remote.

I think this one could be hacked quite easily and with a bit of fine tuning, it wouldn't be hard to use the 08M's PWM control to create a speed controlled, directional bristle bot.

It's actually very clever because it uses a minimal amount of relatively cheap components and the infra red capabilities really opens up a whole new world for bristle bot interactivity. It's a step toward them becoming real robots.

good idea... maybe u could like .. take a big horse comb and do that on a bigger scale