We all are exposed to piggy banks as children: our family encouraging us to save our coins up. But the simple porcelain pig has become much more over the years.
In the mid-1800s, mechanical banks appeared. They often were cast iron with springs to trigger flinging a coin into the bank slot.
With the widespread availability of batteries, designers sought to motorize banks in creative ways. Here is a list of some of the robotic banks we’ve found interesting:
Robbie the Robot (also the Youtube video at the top of the article)
We’ve got some motorized bank ideas we’ll be developing in coming days – do you have some great ideas on automated banks? Please post them in the comments below!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
