This Tiny Robot Wants to Live on Your Desk
Beat desk stress with the hackable Mini Mochi Robot that dances, reacts to touch, and adds playfulness to your workspace.
Lighten up! There is no rule saying your workspace has to be boring; in fact, injecting a little play into your routine can be the perfect antidote to stress and mental fatigue. The trick is finding that "Goldilocks zone" of distraction — you don't want to disappear down an endless rabbit hole, but just the right amount of entertainment can keep you sharp. If you’re looking for a desk companion that hits that sweet spot, the Mini Mochi Robot created by Epic DIY Builds might be just what you need.
This inexpensive little bot that you can make on your own dances to music, reacts when you pet it, and exudes personality through its facial expressions. With a handful of off-the-shelf components, a soldering iron, and a few free hours, you can have your own Mini Mochi Robot.
The robot is built around a Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266-based development board. This is wired to a small LCD display that serves as the face. A sound sensor and a touch sensor module allow for user interactions, and an SG90 servo allows Mini Mochi to dance to music. A 502020 LiPo battery, boost converter, voltage regulator, and switch round out the hardware.
The components were hot glued together, then were attached to a frame made from thick copper wire. The servo was mounted to a circular wooden base to give the robot a stable platform for its “dancing.”
The D1 Mini board can be programmed via Arduino IDE or MicroPython for additional customization. To find out how you can build your own, be sure to check out the video below.
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.