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)
• ATM style banks are a modern take on kids’ safe banks.
• The Bumblebee Piggy Bank is shaped like the popular Transformers character with lights & sound
• Some banks count the change inside, like this robot-shaped bank
• Love this Miyazaki No Face motorized bank
• My wife game me this motorized dog bank, it keeps my pennies

Here at Adafruit, we’re creating projects for the new Adafruit Crickit robotics control board.

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!