So this guy happened last night. I have been inspired by the work of Mr. Protowrxs and his Box Head Robot and thought I needed a little deskbot as well. I also wanted an excuse to run more plywood through the laser cutter. That said, I give you, "The wood box desk thing".
There really is not too much fancy going on here. Just a nifty box, a pan and tilt and the LCD. I wrote a bit of code to move the head randomly, but beyond that, I am using the Arduino IDE examples for the SRF-05 and LCD. (Ping library and the LiquidCrystal library if you are interested. There is nothing inside but some wiring and a single pot for the LCD contrast.
I think that's it, like I said, I have no idea what I am going to do with him, maybe add a Dagu Compound Eye and have him follow my hand around...
Thanks for the kind words, guys… I dunno -maybe this should become a kit. I am getting a lot of, “webcam/ face tracking” thrown at me, maybe that is a direction to go?
If you all would indulge me, can I pick your brains?
Here is what I have so far, I would appreciate any brainstorming you all might have…
Slightly bigger, more head travel, more uC room
Already fits regular Arduino and Picaxe-28, could use some more room for a shield on top
Full-size servos? 996’s? Beefier pan and tilt?
Different “decks” for the head --more utilitarian, lotta mounting holes + more “human like” head?
LCD or no?
Slots on side for speaker inside?
Gimme what you guys have, I will take what ever you got.
You understood exactly what robotics should become… more attractive, have attitude and personnality, original, refreshing and a human hearted builder behind it… like talented artists in past days who knew how to nicely combine mechanics-beauty-and-personnal creativity.
First, let people fall in love with it… afterward a million new ways of using it will emerge from your imagination. Like, for example, a short minute of interacting with a too much busy stressed worker who needs an urgent break. This little robot might do the job nicely to redirect his focus on its fluid random life-like head motions… instead of his stressfull life. A lot more is its potential.
