Humanoid Robot

After I move and if I have the room I will be working on my android again. Right now she doesn't have any skin on her face, but she does have a blue Star Trek dress. Your Data is very cool. I try to find words that my robot understands well. Some words he just won't understand no matter how many times I say them. I could work with my computer to teach it new words. I am looking for a better voice for Dave also. I as a bit surprised he understood Merry Christmas, because I couldn't get him to earlier. Then I was making his video and just said Merry Christmas and he said it back. That was fun, but not sure how he learned to understand.

Dave has a friend. I may be making and selling BJD dolls. This was my attempt at making her a Mrs. Santa dress from one that was made for a dog. Dave's outfit came from an old Santa I got from ebay for $10. I was able to make the suit fit, but not the hat.

Speech recognition adds so much fun to using a robot. I have my mic on the whole time I am programming or using my robot. Oddly enough my robot seems to learn to understand words. I had him setup to say "Darth" if he heard me say "Darth" and "Vader" if he heard me say "Vader", and I had him say and do something if I said "Darth Vader". He wouldn't recognize either "Darth" or "Vader" nor did he recognize "Darth Vader". When I was talking to my R2 I said Darth Vader and my robot started moving and saying "Noooooooooooooo!" Then I said Darth and he repeated Darth back to me and I said Vader and he repeated Vader back to me. Then I said "Darth Vader" and he raised his arms up and yelled "Noooooooooooooooo!" Not sure how, but he started recognizing Darth Vader even though couldn't before. Now he understands it most of the time. Some things he does very well with like if I say "How are you?" he gets it every time. If I say wave or wave left or wave right he understands. Then some words he never understands. Darth was one of those words. Now he knows the word without me going into Windows and teaching him. People see me talking to my robot and him telling me the weather, news or the other many things my robot does on command and they think I can just tell the robot their name and have him start talking to them. I am sure in the future I will be able to teach him new words, names and things by speaking to him, but right now I am new to some of this software and I have lots to learn. The more I learn the smarter my robot will become.

There are reports that Windows SAPI is constantly learning. The software I use for most of my voice control (not ARC) has an option for "Learning" however the release notes state the button may not be required since it's always learning.

I've actually noticed this very thing. I thought it was odd. When I first typed the phrase "Thanks Robot" to listen for, I could't get him to recognize the words. After having it listed for several months and with no training he understands and responds now about 60%. More if I talk like a news anchor man (I'm kind of a big thing around here ya know ).

No wonder my little robot is getting smarter! Funny how people watching my robot and I talk think my robot is much smarter than he is. Also so many people think I am a genius and should be rich from my robot! To be fair, I only just got him working well 3 months ago and he still can't walk. I made his arms 4 years ago, but didn't have EZ-Robot and the software I was using and old laptop were not up to the task. Even moving him to my desktop computer, he moved smoothly but he could not hear, see or feel. I was building C-3PO from Star Wars, but then decided to build my own humanoid robot from a story I am writing. He had no feedback so he could only do programmed movements. He was not interactive at all and I had no idea how to make him smarter. Then I saw EZ-Robot and ordered one EZ-Robot board, wireless camera and servos. I got the set during my vacation and had a blast testing everything out and learning about the hardware and software. My test robot (a thin wooden board with 2 continuous rotation servos with wheels, sevros to give the camera pan and tilt and sonar) worked great so I took it apart and connected EZ-Robot to my humanoid robot. I tested the robot and EZ-Robot could move my robot arms and the robots head with no problems at all. I ordered a second EZ-Robot. Then I began programming the robot and learning more how to use EZ-Robot. About that time I received my 3d printer, so I began work on 3d printing my humanoid robot. I had been using an old V2 Robosapian's body and wanted my robot to look like the robot from my story. My 3d software did not support 3d printing, so I had to use a plugin that someone had made to save out STL files. Sadly the plugin was not very good at making printable files. I thought my robot was too complex to print and made a simpler model that printed, but didn't look very good. It didn't really print very well either. Then a major upgrade for my software included 3d printing support. The $500 upgrade was what I needed and I was able to 3d print my robot. EZ-Robot software had changed a bit while I was upgrading my robots head and body. EZ-Robot would crash every time I loaded my project. With some help from friends on the EZ-Robot forums I learned I could load just part of the project and then add parts of other projects to get my robot working again. Then I began learning much more and got the servo speed figured out, voice control working almost 100% and tried AI and paused the AI for later testing. Now Dave has personality, tells jokes, the weather and moves very well.

I have finished moving to Missouri and have upgraded some of Dave's servos to 1501MG Power HD servos. They have all metal gears and give Dave more lifting power. I only had enough for his left arm and will be getting more servos for his right arm and other projects. I have made a few other changes and need to rework all of his programmed movements before I make a new video. I am still working on his leg design. I want him to walk!

1501 MG Power HD These all metal gear servos have no trouble lifting Dave's arm even with a metal tool in his hand. These servos also hold position even with the servos released. Now Dave can hold his arm out without over heating his circuits.

Dave has his EZ-B V4 on his back and his new camera on top of his head. I will be installing the camera in his head as soon as I get the chance. His new servos are much stronger than his old ones. Dave now has a Windows tablet for a brain. I need to find servos that can handle Dave's weight so I can get him walking. Right now he is using Vader legs until I figure his legs out and 3d print them.