Robots & IoT
Embedded systems, autonomous robots, sensor networks, and physical computing projects that connect the digital and physical worlds.
Human Avatar Claw Machine
A portable human-body-tracking exhibit for a Children's Museum featuring a 6-axis collaborative robot arm with an adaptive claw for grabbing stuffed animals and prizes.
Peerbots Soft Robot Backpack
A mass-manufacturable soft robot stuffed animal backpack designed to hold smartphones and tablets as a face for social human-robot interaction.
Robot Arm Simulator & Controller
Robot arm simulator apps that visualize and control 6-axis collaborative robot arms — including BCN3D Moveo (3D-printed) and MyCobotPi (Elephant Robotics).
ASPIR V2 — Autonomous Support and Positive Inspiration Robot
An improved full-size, 4.3-ft open-source 3D-printed humanoid robot with 33 degrees of freedom. Version 2 brings refined structural design, improved wire routing, and a Mini PC onboard computer. Successor to ASPIR V1.
Big Friendly Robot Dog V1
A 2.5-ft, 26-lb mid-sized quadrupedal robot dog built to explore four-legged walking dynamics. Inspired by Boston Dynamics' Big Dog and Spot Mini, with 12 heavy-duty RC servos, automotive gas springs, an NVIDIA Jetson TX2, and a real-time Unity physics simulator with machine learning gait optimization.
ASPIR V1 — Autonomous Support and Positive Inspiration Robot
A full-size, 4.3-ft open-source 3D-printed humanoid robot with 33 degrees of freedom, built as an affordable alternative to research-grade robots. Featured on Discovery Channel Canada's Daily Planet. Supported by the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at CMU.
Multipurpose Mobile Manipulator MkII — Megamark
Bigger, better, and stronger — the Megamark is a full-size humanoid robot platform with an all-metal aluminum body, 6–8 hour battery life, cross-platform support, and modular 3D-printed grippers for tasks like delivering coffee, watering plants, drawing pictures, and DIY telepresence.
SCI-RAT — UR5 Attachments
15 custom 3D-printed and laser-cut attachments for a UR5 robotic arm — including googly eyes, silly string sprayers, tattoo adapters, and finger mounts — turning an industrial robot into an expression of play.
Crab Controller & Crab Simulator
A 3D-printed posable crab input joystick with 4 legs and 3 DOF per leg for controlling tetrapod walkers and simulations in real time via Arduino Mega and Standard Firmata.
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Halley: Ambassador Robot 001
A 2.6-ft laser-cut humanoid robot with 21 metal gear servomotors and an Android phone for a face, built to explore human-robot interaction and serve as a remote student proxy in university classrooms. Supported by a microgrant from the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier.
HERB Puppet
A posable, 3D-printed seven-jointed puppet controller designed to interface with CMU Personal Robotics Lab's HERB robot for dramatic performances. Built as a "voodoo doll" that maps the puppet's joint states directly onto the full-size robot.
Multipurpose Mobile Manipulator MkI
An advanced open-source human-size mobile robotics platform for students, educators, hobbyists, artists and researchers. Build your own DIY giant robot that plays piano, draws pictures, prepares meals, waters plants, engages in lightsaber duels and more. Featured at the 2016 National Maker Faire.
Virtual Reality Teleconferencing Device
A video teleconferencing device with two webcams for stereoscopic vision on a 3-axis motorized platform, controlled by a head-tracking VR head-mounted display.
BirdBot5000
A robot pigeon that reads tweets about pigeons aloud — searches Twitter every 10 seconds, activates a servo, flashes an LED, and speaks each tweet via text-to-speech.
Cory: Robot with a Heart
An animatronic emotion display robot (EDP) capable of expressing feelings through 2D facial graphics and servo-driven motion — here she sings "Let It Go" from Frozen.
Little Kinematic Owl
A 3D-printed kinematic owl with 2 degrees of freedom — rubber-band-driven neck and eyelids powered by two micro servos and an Arduino. Built for CMU 60-210.
Little Red Tracked Humanoid Robot
A self-contained tracked robot base that can move around and grab things, built in 36 hours at CMU's Red Robot Hackathon Fall 2014. Kind of reminds me of WALL-E!
KineMech
A laser-cut humanoid robot that copies your body movements in real time using a Kinect sensor — built in 36 hours at a CMU Hackathon, where it won first place.
Paper Robot Action Figure
A foldable paper robot action figure with rotating joints — 6 inches tall, built from 3 sheets of paper and tape using a printable PDF template designed in Maya and Pepakura.