This project is from Gen Alpha Episode 1 on Ahasa TV. The quadruped robot part starts at 19:30: jump straight to it here. Watch it walk, then build your own!

The Master was reading a book about animals. "Look, Obo! Dogs and cats walk on four legs," he said.

Obo: "Can a robot walk like a dog?"

The Master smiled. "Let's find out. We will build one together!"

Your mission: build a small robot that walks on legs. One motor makes it move. Can you work out how?

Do you know? Animals with four legs are called quadrupeds. Dogs, cats and horses are quadrupeds. A battery stores energy, and a motor uses that energy to spin round and round. In this robot, the spinning moves the legs. Watch closely to see how!

Collect everything in the list at the top. Ask an adult to help you, and stay safe:

• We only use small batteries. Never touch wall sockets.
• Sticks and rods can be sharp. An adult does all the cutting and makes the holes.
• The motor can get warm. If it feels hot, switch it off and tell an adult.
• If you use hot glue, only an adult uses it.

An adult cuts 8 pieces from ice cream sticks, like in the photo. Each piece is 10 cm long.

• 4 orange sticks: each has 2 holes, one in the middle and one at the bottom.
• 4 yellow sticks: each has 1 hole at the top and a few holes at the bottom.

Count the holes. Why do you think the yellow sticks have extra holes?

1. An adult draws and cuts some cardboard circles. Each one is 12 cm across (6 cm from the middle to the edge).
2. Glue the circles on top of each other to make a thick wheel. Make 2 wheels.
3. An adult cuts 2 wooden rods, each 5 cm long.
4. Wrap insulating tape like in the picture.
5. Use insulating tape to fix a wooden rod to each wheel, like in the picture.

1. Use a ruler to draw the body on cardboard: a rectangle 145 mm long and 100 mm wide, with a fold line 20 mm in from each long edge (the first picture).
2. Check that the middle part is big enough for the motor and the battery holder.
3. An adult cuts it out. Fold up the sides and tape the corners.
4. Push 2 wooden rods (12 cm long) through the body, like in the second picture.

1. Glue the battery holder and the motor in the middle of the body.
2. Push a wheel onto each shaft of the motor. A shaft is the part that sticks out and spins.

Got a switch? An adult can add it now, so you can turn the robot on and off.

1. An adult cuts tiny pieces of wooden rod. These are pins.
2. Use the pins to join the yellow and orange sticks together.
3. Use one more pin to join each yellow stick to a wheel.
4. Turn a wheel slowly with your hand. What do the legs do?
5. An adult puts in the batteries. Then flip the switch (or connect the wires if you have no switch) and watch your robot walk!

The wheel goes round and round, but the legs swing back and forth. A wheel that turns spinning into a back-and-forth push like this is called a crank, just like the pedals on a bicycle.

Now it's your turn:

1. Make the legs.
2. Build the wheels and the body.
3. Add the motor.
4. Watch it walk!

Then submit your build: click I built this at the top of this project and add a photo or short video of your robot walking. Write one sentence about what you learned.

Challenges:

• Join the yellow stick to a different bottom hole. Do the steps get longer or shorter?
• Make a track with tape on the floor. Which robot gets to the end first?
• Turn your robot into an animal with paper ears and a tail. Keep them away from the wheels!
• Where is your robot walking to? Tell or draw its story.