Hi Everyone, I've been lurking on this forum for a while without making a post. I'm a standup comedian based in London and I'm trying to hack a teddy ruxpin much like a few other posters have done here.
I've been doing research but I'm still fairly confused.
A wee bit about me I'm used to working with software but software with a GUI. I can write CSS & HTML but that's about as far as I am with code thus far. That's not to say I couldn't learn; and I was rather looking forward to learning some code in this project but the question is which code!
I'm not amazing with my hands but I'm not averse to soldering, cutting and glueing.
I'm quite good at working through problems.
About the Project.
What I want to achieve is the following:
1. Teddy Ruxpin needs to be able to:
- Move mouth
- Blink
- Move head side to side; ideally, 360.
- Move arms up and down
- Flap arms.
- Move head up and down
Essentially everything that Waldes on this forum managed to do:
2. I need to be able to have a 'script' for Teddy Ruxpin to say and do. I will be able to talk to Teddy Ruxpin and then trigger the sentences with my iPhone or a bluetooth clicker hooked up to my Mac.
3. Teddy Ruxpin needs to blink in every 20 words or 20 seconds (however often the human blinks).
4. I need to be able to program specific blinks and mouth openings too. For instance
i)I click the bluetooth remote Teddy says hello there
- I click the bluetooth remote Teddy blinks twice.
- I wait 20 seconds without doing anything, Teddy blinks twice anyway.
5. Ideally, it would also be great to be able to talk into a microphone and have Teddy Ruxpin speak it, together with some automated movements.
The Current Situation
I bought a Teddy Ruxpin that a guy had already pre-hacked for an art project. www.afrugallery.com/sean/ I hooked it up to an Arduino Uno and some software he provided and have been successful in getting the mouth to move, eyes to blink. That's as far as I got. I bought another Teddy Ruxpin knowing that i was going to have to take on the whole thing myself if I was going to be able to customise it to my liking.
Equipment I have as of December 2014
1 x Bearduino arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/07/bearduino-hacking-teddy-ruxpin-with-arduino/ 1 x Arduino Uno 1 x Regular Teddy Ruxpin (unhacked) A lot of enthusiasm.
So, where do I start guys?
I have a mac but I can run Windows in a virtual environment. I make presentations during my comedy and use keynote for that. It might well be that I would need to run the Teddy Ruxpin separately from a different computer anyway; ideally my iPad I think to be honest.
I know this is a LOT to take in but I would LOVE to get any advice from you guys about where to start. I mean I literally don't know where to begin. The main thing i"m worried about is the software; I mean I know nothing about programming an Arduino. But I'm a fast learner and raring to go.
All best wishes, James
Other robots from Synthiam community
Fxrtst's ARC, Depth Sensor Plug In And Perception Neuron
Jstarne1's Mr Freeze Costume Controlled By Android Phone...
Hmm. I keep getting emails saying that there are updates on this thread but there aren't. Bug?
Anyway; I got him to react to the sound live. Unfortunately he only reacts about half a second after the sound so I had to shift the audio forward in a movie editor. Nevertheless:
Teddy
I have the text/speech to servo movement working, but unfortunately I am not the original author. Although I have tweaked it somewhat (so it is easier to use throughout the users code), I can't release it (out of respect) until the original author gives me permission... Another forum member and I are trying to track him down as he does not frequent the forum much anymore...
Sorry about that... Stay tuned...
No probs whatsoever.
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Alan
bongobong
Your Teddy Ruxpin project is coming along nicely. I am curretly working on a Teddy Ruxpin as well. I am having trouble with the mouth as well. I have just finished the physical build of the robot, but now have to work on the program for him. I may have to rework the mouth-servo connection to speed up his ability to talk. I am not sure yet, I will have to do some testing on that to confirm that possibility. I want my robot to read a story and respond to voice commands. I have enjoyed reading this thread, because I am learning as much as you are learning. Thanks to everyone for their expertise, and let me know if I can help! onedrive.live.com/?cid=93FE49EAA389647F&id=93FE49EAA389647F!3642&v=3 onedrive.live.com/?cid=93FE49EAA389647F&id=93FE49EAA389647F!3638&v=3
Awesome Chris. Can you show me how you wired the head? Are you putting shoulder and elbow servos in?
@bongobong See here text to speech engine
bongobong
I used a paperclip for the pushrod for the eyes. I reused the wheels and the band to move the mouth. The eyes work perfectly,but the mouth is way to slow. I will have to open things up and come up with something new.