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:
i) Move mouth ii) Blink iii) Move head side to side; ideally, 360. iv) Move arms up and down v) Flap arms. vi) 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 ii) I click the bluetooth remote Teddy blinks twice. iii) 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
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Thanks Richard!
I suppose I'm asking whether I need to buy
a humanoid body (for the skeleton?) a Skull of some sort? A servo for the neck side to side A servo for the neck look up / look down.
And where I can buy and what you'd recommend for
Heavy Duty servo (For the arms) Humanoid Body (do I need this? seems like a good idea) Pan and tilt servo for the eyes. (can't find here, servo city?)
I have learned over the past couple of years that you cannot have enough parts for whatever project you start. You ALWAYS need more PARTS. Become a "Hunter", "Gatherer", the process never stops.
I love your show. I love it when people turn the tables on the telemarketers. The last coded email you got back had me laughing so hard my eyes were watering.
As far as parts needed your probably going to have to make some choices on your own depending on your needs. Your doing a custom build here and there are not many people who would know what you exactly need. It's best to take you best educated guess on recommendations and what others have built into their bots that resemble what you want to do. The parts I suggest may be to expensive, cheep, overpowered or under powered for your bot.
With that said Hear's my shopping list:
EZB controller : Buy at EZ Robots Shop - synthiam.com/Shop/AccessoriesDetails.aspx?prevCat=9&productNumber=40
2 Heavy Duty servo for arms: Buy at EZ Robot's shop - synthiam.com/Shop/AccessoriesDetails.aspx?prevCat=9&productNumber=7
4 HiTec HS-81 Mirco servo's. One for each eye and one for each ear. Buy from servo City - www.servocity.com/html/hs-81_micro.html#.VJxXTF4CeA
1 pan and tilt unit with servos. To be used for the neck for head up & down and side to side. Buy at The Robot Shop - www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-pan-and-tilt-kit-aluminium2.html or www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-micro-pan-and-tilt-kit-with-servos-black.html
As far as the skeleton and skull there have been good suggestions already but you could build your own out of parts from the Actobotics section at servo City. Very many choices and the parts they sell fit together very easy. Everything is light weight and strong. You could use a combination of channel or tubes, connectors, hubs, beams and bearings. They have lots of pictures of how all this stuff can fit together. Take some time looking it all over then study, plan and design. Buy at servo City - www.servocity.com/html/actoboticstm.html
Your going to need connector cables for the servos and maybe jumpers. Buy at Amazon and The Robot Shop -
www.amazon.com/NEEWER%C2%AE-Servo-extension-1000mm-Futaba/dp/B00DU7HCEC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1419533970&sr=8-3&keywords=servo+cable
www.robotshop.com/en/sfe-170mm-mm-premium-jumper-wires.html
www.robotshop.com/en/sfe-170mm-ff-premium-jumper-wires.html
Have a long read through Rich's Project Hearoid thread. He did a lot of the things you want to do including making the eye blink (I think) - synthiam.com/Community/Questions/2307
This should give you a good idea what you need to do. Good luck and let us know how you end up going. Don't forget to mark this thread resolved when you get the answers you need.
Oh wow. This is FANTASTIC info everyone. Thanks so much Dave. I'll be ordering today or tomorrow. Very excited!
And so glad you liked my show
Ordering now. Excited. I'll start another thread to tell you how it's all going on. Unless I should keep it as this one. I just think it wants me to mark it as resolved and it sort of has
Do I need anything for power? A battery?
A battery for your Teddy project? Yes... what have you ordered so far?
Righteo!
Here's what I have ordered so far:
From EZ-Robot: 1 x EZ-Robot Developer Kit 1 x Humanoid Body 4 x Extension Block 4 x Extension Block
From Amazon: 1 x NEEWER® 10 Pcs servo extension cord cable 1000mm 100cm For Futaba 1 x Stanley Heavy-Duty Glue Gun 1 x Silverline 698462 Glue Sticks 50-Pack 11.2 x 100mm 1 x Dremel 3000 Series Multitool with 15 Accessories
From RobotShop.com/eu 1 x Lynxmotion Micro Pan and Tilt Kit with Servos (Black)
From ServoShop.co.uk 4 x Hitec HS-81
From Hobbytronics: 1 x Jumper Wires - Male/Female 6" (20 pack) 1 x Jumper Wires - Male/Male 6" (20 pack) 1 x Jumper Wires - Female/Female 6" (20 pack)
Anything else you think I need?
Power wise, I'm not sure what to get.