How to Make a Cardboard Auto Rickshaw
Build a functional mini motorized auto rickshaw model using corrugated cardboard, a DC gear motor, switch wiring, and authentic cabin detailing.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Utility knife
- ✓ Hot glue gun
- ✓ Steel ruler
- ✓ Soldering iron
- ✓ Wire stripper
- ✓ Compass cutter
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Corrugated cardboard sheets (2mm-3mm)
- ✓ 9V DC motor with pulley
- ✓ 9V battery with clip connector
- ✓ SPST rocker switch
- ✓ Bamboo skewers
- ✓ Drinking straws
- ✓ Rubber drive belt
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Always cut away from your body on a stable cutting mat using a sharp utility blade.
- • Avoid skin contact with hot glue gun nozzles and molten glue; keep ice water nearby.
- • Insulate all exposed solder joints with electrical tape or heat-shrink tubing to prevent shorts.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Cut and Assemble the Lower Chassis Plate
Measure and cut a rectangular cardboard base measuring 18 cm by 9 cm, tapering the front 5 cm into a blunt triangle. Cut two 3 cm cardboard brackets and hot-glue plastic straw sections underneath the rear to serve as low-friction axle bushings. Insert a bamboo skewer through the straws to confirm free rotation before trimming it to 11 cm.
- • A rigid baseplate with a tapered front nose
- • A smoothly spinning rear skewer axle running parallel to the rear edge
- • Gluing the axle directly to cardboard instead of using straw bushings, preventing rotation
- • Misaligning the rear axle bushings, causing the vehicle to track crookedly
Fabricate and Mount the Wheels and Drive Pulley
Cut six 4 cm diameter cardboard discs using the compass cutter, gluing pairs together to make three thick wheels. Fix a small grooved cardboard pulley onto the rear axle skewer next to one wheel, then press and glue the rear wheels firmly onto the axle ends. Mount the DC motor onto the chassis with hot glue, aligning its shaft pulley directly with the axle pulley and linking them with a rubber belt.
- • Twin rear wheels securely fixed to the spinning axle
- • Taut rubber belt connecting the motor pulley to the rear axle pulley without slipping
- • Making wheels off-center, resulting in a wobbly ride
- • Excessive belt tension that stalls the motor or insufficient tension that causes slipping
Build the Front Wheel Fork and Pivot
Craft a U-shaped cardboard fork sized to hold the single remaining front wheel on a short skewer pin. Attach a vertical cardboard column to the top of the fork to serve as the steering stem and pass it through a cardboard sleeve glued to the chassis nose. Top the stem with a small horizontal strip to act as the steering handlebar.
- • Front wheel spinning freely inside the U-bracket
- • Steering column rotating smoothly left and right without excessive play
- • Gluing the steering pivot solid so the front wheel cannot turn
- • Leaving too much vertical clearance, causing the front fork to wobble
Wire the Motor and Power Switch
Strip 5 mm of insulation from the 9V battery snap leads and the DC motor terminals. Solder the red positive battery wire to one terminal of the rocker switch, and run a connecting wire from the second switch terminal to the positive motor lug. Solder the black negative lead directly to the negative motor lug and test the switch to ensure the wheels spin forward.
- • Neat solder joints fully coated without loose strands
- • Motor running forward when the switch is toggled to ON
- • Reverse-wiring the motor polarity, causing the auto rickshaw to drive backward
- • Leaving uninsulated solder points that touch cardboard or chassis parts
Construct the Cabin Frame and Seats
Cut two symmetrical side panels featuring the signature curved windshield profile, open doorways, and rear quarter panels. Glue a passenger bench across the rear compartment over the battery cradle, and add a single driver seat behind the front fork. Affix the side panels perpendicularly along the chassis edges using thin beads of hot glue.
- • Sturdy three-dimensional cabin frame securely glued to the chassis perimeter
- • Passenger and driver seats aligned evenly inside the interior
- • Using single-wall cardboard with crushed corrugation that collapses under roof weight
- • Cutting asymmetric side profiles, causing a warped cabin roofline
Attach Curved Roof and Final Trim
Score parallel lines along the underside of a 22 cm by 10 cm cardboard strip to enable a smooth bend without creasing. Glue the strip starting from the lower windshield edge, curving up over the roof, and sloping down the rear cabin wall. Install the toggle switch on the driver dashboard, secure the 9V battery under the rear seat, and add cardboard bumper details.
- • A smooth, arching roof canopy conforming to the rickshaw silhouette
- • Accessible switch and secure internal battery compartment
- • Scoring too deeply through both layers of cardboard, splitting the roof piece
- • Trapping the 9V battery permanently inside the body without a battery-replacement hatch
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Raka experiment — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Compass cutter? Standard drawing compass traced with a hobby knife or plastic bottle caps
- No Soldering iron? Mechanical wire twists secured with electrical tape or hot glue over bare strands
- No Plastic straw bushings? Hollow plastic ink refill tubes from ballpoint pens or tightly rolled paper tubes