01The room was building for factories
I've always been into robotics. Specifically the moment software stops being something on a screen and starts moving things around in the real world.
So before university started, I spent 15 days at a residential robotics program at Atal Kalam Research Park, in Ahmedabad.
By the last few days, when it was time to build, almost everyone was building for the industrial space.
We wanted to build something that belonged in a home.
02The camera in the corner
Over the last few years, more and more parents have started putting CCTV cameras up at home, just to keep an eye on their kids.
It comes from love. I get that.
But think about it from the kid's side for a second. Home is supposed to be the one place you're not being watched.
nobody has ever been cheered up by a CCTV camera.03Same parts, other side
Here's what stuck with me. A home security camera is basically a camera plus some code that can spot a person. Give it a couple of motors and you're most of the way to a robot.
Same ingredients. The only real difference is whose side it's on.
So, instead of watching them, what if it kept them company?
That's Jarvis. A webcam finds you, OpenCV works out where you are, and two servos turn a pair of very large googly eyes towards you. Wherever you go in the room, it looks.
it follows you. politely.04Fifteen days
The program started on the software side: Onshape, KiCad, Gazebo, circuit design, simulating robots before ever touching a real one.
Then the build. A handful of SG90 and MG995 servos, 3D printers, a soldering station, a group of us, and not a lot of time.
05Third
On the last day, every group presented. Somewhere between all the industrial projects, there was one robot with googly eyes.
We came third.
not bad for the only one built for home.2020: make something move on a screen.
Now: make something turn around and look at you.
same instinct. more wires.