The Solarbotics Solar Marble Machine

We've been big fans of Mr Raynsford (of Just Add Sharks) and his work since he started the 365 lasercut projects in 365 days challenge. One of the projects featured there was the marble machine. So we worked with him to bring you the long awaited Marble Machine!

Being Solarbotics, we added our own twist to it - a solar cell with a smart circuit. The circuit takes the light from the solar cell, stores it and releases it in a pulse, making the gear wheel move, which eventually drops the marble down the spiral. In sunlight, the motor will pulse every few seconds, and drop a ball every minute. In indoor light, motor pulses will drop every few minutes (be patient)! if you are not, then you can use the hand crank and see the marble drop.

The kit contains all the parts to build your own Marble Machine, except for tools: you will need a soldering iron, Philips #1 screwdriver and a tiny bit of glue. The wooden parts come in handy panels with additional instructions.

Features:

• Easy to build, with engraved building notes
• Solar-powered or hand-crank operation
• Operates in indoor light!
• 3/8" steel balls for rolling

Each kit includes:
1 x Set of wooden parts.
1 x GM9 motor
2 x #4x½" screws
7 x ⅜" Balls
1 x 4700μF capacitor
1 x Diode
1 x PN222A transistor
1 x 381L trigger
1 x 6.8μF capacitor
1 x 2-conductor wire
1 x Double-sided sticky tape

• [Documentation] : Marble Machine Assembly Doc - May 2014