Ember the Dragon
Articulated spine, flame-orange PLA, two LED eyes wired to a button on the chest. Roar not included (yet).
Maker Faire Bay Area · Sept 25–27, 2026 · Mare Island, Vallejo
3D Printed Robot Petting Zoo
Young makers bring 3D printed creatures to life with lights, motors, buttons, gears, and imagination.
- 20+planned creatures
- Ages 7–13young makers
- Hands-onrobot zoo
The Zoo
Each creature is its own little engineering project.
Every kid picked a creature, designed or remixed it, printed it (sometimes seven times), and added a way to make it move, glow, or react. Here are some of the residents.
Glow Jelly
Translucent blue dome with dangling tentacles and a slow pulsing LED ring inside. Best viewed in the dark.
Cog the Owl
Hand-cranked gears spin behind a hatch in the chest. No batteries — just patience and good tolerances.
Lumi the Duck
A soft warm-white nightlight inside a chubby duck shell. Tap the head, brightness changes.
Inchy the Caterpillar
Twelve printed segments, one tiny servo, one Arduino Nano. Inches forward when you clap.
Pip the Rabbit
Print-in-place body with a glowing belly. Press the paw and the ears wiggle.
Plate the Armadillo
Curls into a ball, opens with a hidden cam-and-lever inside. Looks rugged. Took eleven prints.
Skipper the Turtle
Wheels under the shell, tiny geared motor, controlled by a wired remote. Surprisingly fast.
The Makers
We're a small team of young makers (and one tired adult).
We range from 7 to 13. Some of us are doing this for the first time. Some of us already have a lot of opinions about overhang angles.
1
Pick a creature
Each maker chooses an animal — real, mythical, or made up — and decides what it should do.
2
Design & print
Model it from scratch, remix one from MakerWorld, or chop a model up to make it open. Then print. Then print again.
3
Add a trick
An LED. A servo. A button. A gear train. Something that makes a visitor smile, or at least pause.
4
Test & rebuild
Find out what cracks, jams, or wires loose. Sand it, glue it, reprint it. Bring the failed parts to the booth too.
Interact
Please do touch the exhibits.
This isn't a museum. It's a petting zoo — a slightly buzzing, blinking, motorized petting zoo. Come up and try the creatures out.
- 👆Press the buttons. Each creature has at least one. Some have a lot more than one.
- 🔍Look inside. Most of them open up so you can see the wiring, the gears, or the absolute mess.
- 🛠️See what failed. We brought the broken prints, the melted parts, and the version-4 of everything.
- 💬Ask the makers. They'll explain what it does, what went wrong, and what they'd do next time.