Project Goals

To modify a Meccanoid robot so that it would be capable of recognizing approaching humans and hugging them autonomously.

Clean Design

A huggable robot should not look like a mechanical metal monster from the outside. Rather it should look friendly and approachable.

Fully responsive

The robot should be able to detect in real time when a person is hugging it and seamlessly execute its hug sequence in response.

Affordable

The robot should be cost effective to build. A six feet tall robot traditionally can cost a small fortune. By replacing metal parts with high quality plastic parts, expenses are minimized.

Simple and Beginner Friendly

Anyone should be able to replicate the process used to build the robot. No expensive or special machinery should be needed.

1

Building the structure

Using the Meccanoid G15KS Personal Robot as a baseline, Baymax was built by expanding upon that structure using two additional G15KS kits. With over 2000 parts, the robot is lifesized but still very lightweight.

Build Materials
  • 3 Meccanoid G15KS Personal Robot Kit
  • 1 Arduino: DFRobot’s Romeo V2 All in One Controller
  • 1 Raspberry Pi 2
  • 6 Futaba S3003 Servos
  • 1 Logitech webcam
  • 1 Adult sized Baymax costume
  • 1 Mini Tamiya female to male connector
  • 10 RC Servo Extension Cables

2

Giving the Robot Sight

A webcam mounted on Baymax's chest acted as its eyes. A binary image processing algorithm implemented using OpenCV on Python allowed the robot to detect when it was being hugged.

See the code
3

Hugging

A Raspberry Pi connected serially to an Arduino was responsible for the hugging motion. The Pi ran the vision program and sent a command to the Arduino to drive the servos in the arms.

See the code

Ken is a junior studying Cognitive Science and Human-Computer Interaction. He hopes to use his psychological background to help him develop product interaction solutions grounded on innate human behavior. On the side, he enjoys filmmaking, hiking, design, and robotics.

Ken Situ
CMU Class of 2018

Stephanie is a sophomore studying Information Systems in hopes of delving into data analytics in the future. She is also interested in exploring software engineering and finance. During her spare time, she likes to bake and cook for friends and family.

Stephanie Pang
CMU Class of 2019

Kevin is a junior studying Business and Computer Science.

Kevin Mortillaro
CMU Class of 2018

Sobe is a junior studying Computer Science.

Sobe Sim
CMU Class of 2018