This Rosie the Robot Doesn't Cook or Clean, But Makes a Fun Companion
DJ Harrigan was tired of waiting for the future to come, so built his own Jetsons robotic maid using Arduino and ESP8266 hardware.
As element14's DJ Harrigan notes, “The year 2020 still sounds like the far off future, but we’re already here.” While some of our technologies — e.g. smartphones and the Internet — are well beyond what many would have ever imagined, many retro-futuristic inventions like flying cars and robotic maids, are still far in the distance. Although “she” might not cook or clean, Harrigan has come up with quite a nice replica of Rosie from the Jetsons.
The robot is controlled via an ESP8266 dev board, which enables WiFi communication, and actuates the device's servos and LEDs for animatronic action. In addition to this, an Arduino MKR Zero board is implemented to output audio to an I2S amplifier and speaker. Effects are triggered over serial from the ESP8266 host.
Harrigan's animatronic Rosie is equipped with a geared servo system to turn the head in a slow-but steady manner, arms that lift via actuated shoulders, and eyes that spin independently. Perhaps the coolest part of the build, however, is the mouth mechanism. It features a beveled gear assembly to let the upper and lower sections open and snap shut at the same time under the power of a single servo motor. The antennas blink along with a notification sound, similar to how a smartphones get our attention in the real world. Last but not least, Harrigan created a Rosie remote Blynk app for the user interface.