Gadget design, robotics, hacks, DIY technology and more.

For the second Carlitos’ Project, I wanted to do something a bit more “useful” than pretty lights. So I decided that a speech controlled Arduino robot should be interesting enough as a project.

Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot

For this project, I used the DFRobotShop Rover (a mobile Arduino kit), the VRbot speech recognition module by Veear, two XBee modules, an Arduino Uno, two XBee shields and some other components. see the video below to learn how to do your own.

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In order to get more information about the project, the required tools, materials and code, please visit the Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot project page at GoRobotics.net. The code is also available over there.

If you are interested in making your own, have a look at the kit we put together with RobotShop.

So what about Nao?

I have been terribly Nao-centric for a while and this it not going to change today. While programming the robot, it can become very frustrating to say the commands over and over again. For this reason and also in order to produce a perfectly repeatable input, I programmed Nao 1337 to say the commands for me (yes , I am lazy, I know). See the video below to see how Nao performed.

Carlos, Alan and Nao 1337 at the Geekfest

As announced before, we attended the Montreal Geekfest and Nao 1337 performed some dances and demos for all fellow geeks. We were placed right at the entrance and Nao 1337 had the mission of giving away free Geekfest pins. He could not do this though, since people preferred to see him greet them and dance. I have to thank my brother Alan for coming along and helping me with the presentation.

Nao 1337 chills out at the Geekfest

Nao 1337 was very popular with pretty much everybody and we made lots of friends. Nao got some Ubuntu stickers, could sit on a Star Wars cannon, and even learned a magic trick. In the picture above you see Nao 1337 actually chilling out (his motors were hot after some intense dancing).

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As you can see towards the end of the video above, Nao 1337 can perform a very cool magic trick. I believe it is the first robot to do magic or at least to assist a magician. Leave a comment if you do not agree.

Nao gets some firepower

Nao wows family

The Geekfest was a lot of fun, you can see some more pictures of Carlitos’ Contraptions at the Geekfest here:

• Magicol Media
• Geekfestmtl Flickr Pool
• Branchez-vous
• I’ll add more links as I find them or if they are suggested to me.

Nao is a very expensive piece of equipment and It would be a shame if it got dirty, scratched or damaged. Nevertheless, the official Nao suitcase is prices at 777.77 USD. This is rather expensive A suitable alternative is the cheaper Plasticase Nanuk 945 which is as sturdy and IMHO much better looking.

As explained in the video below, I also use clear Duck tape to protect Nao’s surfaces. This tape is inexpensive, does not leave any residue and is very strong.

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Also, as a follow-up of the video, in order to better protect Nao from the friction in the pelvic region, I use D-profile self-adhesive ribber tape (the kind you normally use in door frames to prevent air from coming in). Since it is white and mate like Nao it goes very well and makes for a nice belt.