I’m building a robot and I have no idea how. (1)
Disney had just released Big Hero 6, a 3D computer-animated movie about an inflatable robot called Baymax. Baymax speaks like a human and knows everything about healthcare. So there’s that, and the fact that he is inflatable, which makes him pretty much the cutest fictitious robot I have ever seen.
Right after I saw that movie, I knew what I wanted to build. Something that is totally outside of my scope of knowledge. I wanted to build a robot.
So what should it do?
It’s difficult to decide what I should expect from my future robot, but there’s one thing I definitely want it to do: follow me. I always imagined a small sphere following me around the house, asking me what I am doing and how I’m feeling. Here’s a list of things I would like it to do, not taking what’s actually possible into account.
- Move itself though different rooms
- Follow people and recognizing who it is following
- Ask questions and learn from the answers it gets
- Show small bits of information on the screen it should have
- Play games with the cats
What should it look like?
First of all, I want it to be cute. It should look approachable for anyone. Something you would just pick up and hold in order to let it interact with you. Much like a pet, but with less hair and more electricity.
On the other hand, I want to be able to actually build it. So its shape should not be too complex, yet easy to move and it should look cute. This made me think of the following draft.
How am I going to build this?
This is where things will get tough, as this is totally new terrain for me. I first started thinking about how the robot would move itself.
My first thought was as simple as an inversed electro-motor. The ball itself will be attached to the outside of an electro-motor, while the drive-shaft would carry weights (or batteries). This allowed the ball to move forwards and backwards, but not rotate. After trying to figure out a way, I decided to give up and move on to a next sketch.
The second approach was a lot better. Two seperate motors with wheels with chamfered-edges that both rotate at different speeds that could, using the weight of the batteries, rotate and move the robot forwards and backwards.
I decided to just go for it. Time to make a part-list.
Parts list
Main parts
Some breadboard and wires
You know.
3D Printer
For printing parts of the housing and other components
Until next time!
I will start working on this device from today on. I will try to update you guys on my progress every two weeks.
If you have any feedback, knowledge of skills you want to share, please let me know! Your advice is much appreciated☺.
Email me at mees@amees.me or mention me on Twitter at @meesboe.
