Nova - A Companion Bot

At Hackaday Superconference 2019 I had the pleasure of hanging out with Alex Glow and Jorvon Moss and their awesome companion bots Archimedes and Dexter. I love the personalities these little bots have and decided to embark on a journey to build my own after a conversation where I was deemed Dexter's fairy godmother - I spent all Saturday of SuperCon wearing my Color Stealing Fairy Costume. After a bit of brainstorming with friends, I ended up choosing to create a companion that could also react to my magic fairy wand and have matching color changing wings. For a full build log and the latest news on this project, visit my Hackaday.io project page.

Meet Nova, my first companion bot! She is a moving and light up fairy dragon that sits on my shoulder. Version 1 was built fast and for a deadline, but I'm looking forward to upgrading her in the future.

Unlike other companion bots out there, she is soft and cuddly and has minimal 3D components. This is partially for aesthetic reasons and partially because during her build process I only had access to a borrowed printer for a few weeks.

She was created to rest on my shoulder like a fur stole and has some randomized movements in her wings and head that give her lifelike resting movements. When you touch the charm on her forehead her wings change color and flap faster. Her movements are part butterfly and part bird, making her a curious and cuddly companion! I'm hoping to incorporate her with my color changing fairy costume so she can do some color changing in response to the magic wand that controls that costume as well.