bumsteadsean
A buddy of mine picked up the Toys R Us and Walmart exclusive Luvabeau animated baby doll. Okay, don't laugh because I know what you are saying. What is a grown man doing buying a baby doll. Well, this doll is made by the Canadian toy company Spinmasters and a lot of R&D went into it.
The doll is basically a robot baby that has very recognizable facial expressions. It's AI is also impressive as it's simulated learning abilities blurring the lines between hard-code programming and actual learning based on environmental responses. There are many YT videos highlighting the girl version of the doll that is basically the same.
So why am I bringing this toy up? Well we sat and tore this doll apart to see what makes it tick and found that it is loaded with servos and it's control board has a UART port as well as an internal pin-out for a USB!
I would like to hack this toy so that it says the most outrageous vulgar things and instead of it asking for and sucking on its pacifier, it puffs on a cigar! I also imagine that it would be easy to modify the girl version so that it looks like the doll in the movie Annabelle.
I will more than likely try to find one of each for myself (boy and girl) to hack.
The following link is very cool. It is the website of the sculptor that Spinmaster hired to make the doll's heads.
Hahaha I don’t even know what to say! Well, uhm... yah this is going to be quite interesting. Guess it’ll be like the baby from roger rabbit
I've seen them before and thought about getting one for a baby android. The concept should be kind of like a Teddy Ruxpin only much newer tech and it sound like it might be hacker friendly.
My biggest design challenges and what kept me from buying one is, where to put a camera? Because I can't make an el-crepo robot eye or drill a hole in the baby's head. I know others here could pull it off and make it look awesome, but I know the limit of my skills.
I did have the thought of just rolling with it though and making a Star Trek TNG Baby Borg. But then I thought why not just buy a cheap baby doll and customize that?
This lady on YouTube has an interesting review, good feed back on the skin of the doll and how dirty it can get. The other feed back is from a doll collector prospective not a robot builder prospective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkLgNmd-l4
Baby androids are high maintenance!
Camera in a baseball cap
But really - that's the only thing stopping you from buying one? What about the creepy-lose-sleep-omg-what-the-heck-is-happening factor?
U guys are nuts!
Hah, yeah I'm going to have to agree with DJ on this, how are you guys not freaking out about how creepy this doll is, and is going to get when you get your mad EZ-hacking hands on it? I will definitely keep an eye on this project! Keep us updated please.
@bumsteadsean and Justin, LOOK OUT ! ! Chucky is Back ! !
This could become a scary Hack. If there are facial expression servos in the face or if some could be added, the sweet looking face could become a Chucky grimace... A cigar smoking baby would be kind of cool, especially with a e-cig option for real smoke.
I would think twice before I left it alone, on the workbench at night !
This could be a fun project.
Ron
as twilight music plays in the back ground....
LOL, you guys paint a picture!
This project could turn into a comedy show goldmine for YouTube, "Ez-Robot Builders and a Baby!"