Ok I am an english major who always thought I was hopeless when it came to technology and never expected to actually consider making a robot.
That was before I met my boyfriend who not only writes code for an app company but also recently bought several Arduino kits, couple that with Baymax from Big Hero 6 which got me obsessed with the idea and there really was no other option but to learn how to make my own robot. (plus my boyfirend insisted I learn with him)
I really fell in love with the idea because of the movie Big Hero 6, I would love to have a pocket sized robot with artificial intellegence in my purse. So before I try to lean AI I am going to try my hand at the robotic part and see how I do. Also I would love some advice on how to make the mini robot friend and how to reduce the noise some of the robots make.
I will be always thankful for big hero 6 for inspiring people to robotics, and having depicted robots with realistic features, even if the technology featured it’s 10-20years in the future.
About the little robot, the only chance to have it somewhat intelligent in a small space it’s to make it connected. Raspberri A+ it’s really small and with a microphone can understand speech. A pixy camera can be used to see objects, and it’s easy to use.
Noise it’s directly related by the power and gearing of motors, smaller motors do less noise.
you might get away with a WiFi connection to a more powerful system you could carry with you. As to noise, that is probably down to hobby robots using hobby parts. Cheap servos are noisy. Size will probably be dictated by the power requirements. Battery tech is what keeps electronics large.
I would agree to start by learning about arduinos and everything else said by the other folks here.
That “pocket sized robot with AI in your purse” might just be an Android phone. The phones have ever increasing power and memory these days, Wifi, 2 Cameras, Compass, Speaker/Mic, etc. There is a great deal you can do with that, and you can always call services on the web that you can’t manage to do on the device.
When the time comes, you are welcome to use or extend my bots AI (SuperDroidBot Anna), it will be customizable via a website in the not too distant future. If you don’t want to spend months/years coding coding your own, this option is worth considering, and could provide a faster way to learn how to start building your own.
Good luck. Its always exciting to see how new people get drawn into the hobby…mine started with me just happening to see an Arduino Kit while walking through a Radio Shack one day. Life hasn’t been the same since. I’ll have to check out BigHero.
Your boyfriend’s lucky. My wife doesn’t understand why I’m building a robot and will often resort, to what’s probably best described as bestial profanity, when I spend too much time, or money doing so.
I like the idea of a small robot to fit in a purse. I’d prefer a purse without room for a robot, due to the massive amounts of cash stored within however.
If i were to have a robot in a purse, I’m sure it would run off with my money and probably take the dog with it too.
