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How to Build a Computerized Android Robot Head
Wee writes "While searching for some serial port programming information, I came across a result labeled How to Build a Computerized Android Robot Head for $600. That title demanded a read. This guy built a Java and Perl/Tk controlled android head out of R/C motors, bicycle parts, a mannequin head, two QuickCams and my favorite item: a brass plant holder. Turns out the entire site is chock full of android/hardware/PC-control know-how (including scenarios in which one might find a need for an android head)."
Just today I was asking how I could build a computerized android robot head for under $700. Now you posted it for the bargan price of $600. You rock.
Althought I have to admit - this site is really cool. Maybe if I get some spare time (and money), I might partake this small project.
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
Aires, the other trolls are starting to tire of your self-delusional and selfish demeanor. You are not the one to lead the revolution. There is not even a revolution. In the coming days you should stray from your "blind and barbarous" charges into the frontlines of battle. Balance your self-aggrandizing trolls with humility or brotherhood. You blazed a trail through the e-wilderness but now you have blitzed your penis into a brick wall. Start looking for that balance with the universe and its inhabitants which you lack, lest you blindly and bluntly charge your erect manhood into ESRâ(TM)s sweaty, pulsing, and filthy anus. And you donâ(TM)t want to do that, do you?
Taurus
You provide foundation and structure to trolldom. If there be an Empire, then let its roots be your works. Yours is the first earthly manifestation of our combined and unified beauty, but now you have a choice. You can either lazily roam the fertile pastures and suck the sweet honey of victory, or you can help build Babel to the heavens. Beware, the former might lead to you sucking the semen from Tacoâ(TM)s cock, while the latter, although lifting you from your sacred footings and unnerving yourself, may prove to be the wisest choice.
Gemini
You have many talents. Your trolls can be beautifully written, exhibiting your natural communication talents. Your mind is quick and flighty. Have you ever realized the variety of your pieces? One night you might write a homosexual expose on Linux faggotry, while the next day it is a craftily written legitimate troll. Your dual nature puzzles most and maybe even yourself. Some might not even see it outright. De Broglie contends that all matter is a wave on some level. Are you a wave, wayward Gemini? Another example is that you are a troll but you revel in using open source programs. You hide yourself well. You are a whore in most ways. And as a whore you will never be fulfilled. You may have had your fun about a week ago, but now it is not your time. It will be a while before you pull yourself back together again. But stick around, the dregs take entertainment in your plights and facetious ways.
Cancer
Remember that time you once tried to troll? Remember when everyone laughed at your pitiful attempts? Remember how you withdrew immediately and started to masturbate wildly to Hentai? Remember how once you came the neurotransmitters immediately pulsed through your being and took you to a pleasant place? The lesson here is that you are a pussy-mama and have no trolling talents. Masturbation is not a talent, fool, and you will never have your love be accepted in trolldom, or the world for that matter.
Leo
You know those days when no one seems to be trolling? Well Leo, you are our light in those dark days. You carry the torch, albeit in a conceited and self-centered way, but nonetheless you keep the Path alive. The shadow has yet to hold us sway. Donâ(TM)t get to full off yourself, because while you can keep a warm castle for us, you canâ(TM)t build us an Empire. Know your limitations sir, and also take care not to trample over the visionaries that can take you to the Next Level.
Virgo
You trolling style reeks of prudishness. To spice your life, I recommend throwing in some good bathroom humor or homosexuality into your writings. Your endless crapflooding, although detailed and nonsensical, lacks something special. You are a machine, a practical worker for the cause. You can best manifest your greatness when you are working for someone else. You should find a good Gemini (yeah I know thatâ(TM)s an oxymoron), Libra, or Aquarius to give you inspiration and work. You need some mental stimulation right now. Actually, you could use any stimulation now, and for that, find a Libra.
Libra
Much like your cardinal counterpart Aires, you are a pioneer. But unlike Aires, your talent begins in the mind, inciting thousands of blood-thirsty trolls to rally to the cause. You lead is bond, and your bond is beauty. But did I mention youâ(TM)re a fake, arrogant bastard. Your superficial way canâ(TM)t last. Also, did you ever wonder why you rarely troll? Well, Iâ(TM)ll tell you. Youâ(TM)re an indecisive bastard. You start a story but then canâ(TM)t make up your mind over some unimportant detail. Becoming frustrated, you start jerking off to the homosexual undertones contained in your trolls. This is a mistake. Harness and channel your energy of creativity and destruction, and in the balancing of the two you might find success.
Scorpio
You are the true master of the art of covert trolling. Under the innocent guise of a harmless introvert lies a cold calculating killer brooding for the taste of blood and seminal fluids. You manipulate, scheme, lie, and sleep your way to the top. You could be a star in the sky, but you usually end up bound up in your own web of deceit. Sometimes you unconsciously look forward and plot this conclusion. In the depths of your sick twisted hell lies the key to transformation. The phoenix is birthed in the abyss, only to catch ablaze and fly soaring to the heavens. This probably wonâ(TM)t happen to you though.
Sagittarius
You have the ability to show us "The True Path", but you would rather drink yourself to oblivion with a bunch of forest nymphs. Honestly, who here wouldnâ(TM)t do that? I have a desire to party with the forest nymphs tonight. Sag, let us hang out, drink much stout and wine, and fornicate with some nymphs. Fuck trolling, my carnal nature calls.
Capricorn
Always trying, always failing, always overcoming. Are you part of the allied forces, or do you contribute to the vile structure that threatens us all? Nobody recognizes your struggles because you manage to write in an earthy and uninspired monotone. What does this mean? Well, I donâ(TM)t know exactly what it means but I do know that youâ(TM)re a homosexual.
Aquarius
We all have problems, but you, Aquarius, have problems that affect us all. You fancy yourself a leader. Why? We never asked for you to bare the water to our thirsty lips. We never asked you to refine the Troll Empire into your own sick sadistic world. Once outcasted among "proper" trolls, some sick spirit from within told you, "If you build it, they will cum." Fuck those talentless bastards. The structure is now built, and the talents are ready to be poured. It is your duty to pour your metaphorical homosexual semen all over trolldom, and the world. Do not falter, for the revolution looms, and the sun will rise yet.
Pisces
Oh, what an old soul you must be. In some ways you are the flowing talent that Aquarius bares. This is doubtful though, as your inner water is probably stagnant and swarming with mosquitoes. You embody the best of the of the Zodiac. Donâ(TM)t get to full of yourself, because you also embody the worst. That is the key to your constant failures. You should get very angry right now and create a storm with the raging sewage inside of you. Pound trolldom from the heavens with your bile, and then cry. You may feel that no one understands you, and hell, youâ(TM)re probably right. That doesnâ(TM)t matter now, because the world needs your "talents" right now.
In case the site goes under, here here's the Google cache.
Stupid like a fox!
Now I can finally get a head in life. Ok kill me now.
imagine a... *intestines jump up, throttle throat, AC falls over dead*
A beowulf cluster of these things?
-Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore!
32. In view of the close interrelationships among PC hardware and software products, the industry is often referred to as the "PC ecosystem." Microsoft's Windows operating system is a key component of the PC ecosystem, and thus the health of the ecosystem depends in substantial part upon the continued health of and improvements to Windows.
Email me and tell me what you think of widening!
I think I could deliver a 'head' without the 'computerized' parts for way less than $600...
What we really need is either a Billy Bass Intercom system, or a trash talking Furby. Servo motor geeks, perform your magic and summon these things for me.
Besides, if I was going to do an android head, I'd at least build it out down to the boobs. It is a she, isn't it?
This will go well with my 400 dollar mechanized chicken skeleton I've been working on.
Pshaw. I don't need to build an android head. I found one deep in a cavern in San Francisco back in 1893.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
He killed C3P0...that bastard
When it will only become infatuated with you, frustrated at your disinterest, and eventually try to kill you.
Damn that 790!
What's Dick Hiding?
tcd004
Where would he go for Tech Support so he could stay on the line for 2 hours? He's gotta get THAT up and running before I'll buy. Oh, and don't forget broken merchandice in cheezy packaging. Gotta have that cheezy packaging. Mmmm cheezy....
Practically life-like!
It's Valerie: The Domestic Android
For all your domestic android head needs. Its a kit, although it looks like they're still working out the bugs.
Websurfing: The Next Generation - StumbleUpon
Bob the Angry flower one-upped this guy a long time ago.
Building the Perfect Psychic Dummy Head
..."neuromancer" to it?
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
In case you are a former assassin, now dead and currently residing on the ship that happens to be the most powerful force in the two universes. This head may be attracted to you.
Seriously, as someone has mentioned here before, in order for technology to be successfuly it has to somehow relate to pornography/sex. This has definite potential.
I'm trying to imagine the future of door bells in relation to this post and am having a hard time imagining the look on the face of some poor mother when she visits her darling child's residence, pushes the bell and the face next to her asks her to wipe her feet.
On a different note (why waste a post), could we indeed see Marvin in the not too distant future? (and indeed, at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe)
Move faster
Is this really "News for Nerds"?
What happened to this site?
----- "It's all PIPES!" - George Costanza
Wait for it...
Building humaniform robots is one of his many hobbies. Pat's interests include sentient robot life forms, theoretical physics, gravity, electricity, magnetism, dimensions, complexity, astronomy, weather, chaos...
Almost there...
Pat can be reached at (protected)@aol.com
I never thought I'd see a parallel-distributed computing, X11-hacking, web-developing sys admin that uses AOL. I suppose with all those complicated hobbies he just wants a nice, relaxing, online experience.
These are real cakes, not urinal cakes.
Here comes red.
Does it dream of electric sheep?
IANAL, but imagine a beowulf cluster of in Soviet Russia all your belong are base to us welcoming the new SCO overlords.
If he could make it give sexual favors without electrocuting the recepient he'd be onto something.
The sad thing is that this cost the guy $600+ dollars not to mention a LOT of free time. And where did it get him. . . Slashdotted . . . . I gues life is now complete.
I am jealous
some highlights...
Hanging-light On/Off chain (in case it gets too depressed, I guess)
Plastic tie-straps (slightly kinky)
Plumbers GOOP (ok, more kinky)
Aluminum tape for eye-lids (whoa, too kinky for me)
RC ball-joints/Tie-rods (dude, even I don't have joints there!)
Plastic throw-away green cup
Butt Connectors, RS 64-3037 (Yep, Tandy corp for all your rear panel connections)
Watch out, though, the slut may try to marry you. Yowza!
--
"Negative One, Troll."
A golden badge of honor,
worn on my penis.
I never thought I'd see a parallel-distributed computing, X11-hacking, web-developing sys admin that uses AOL. I suppose with all those complicated hobbies he just wants a nice, relaxing, online experience.
Hey man, the android head is cool. I was even making an "Android Head Has A Posse" sticker. I was just trying to find out the weight of the head (for the sticker) but the site was non-responsive. Then I checked Slashdot. I guess the site has gone out of my cache since I submitted it or something.
But AOL'er or not, the friggin' head rocks. You can't get down on the man for his ISP. Not when he makes a motorized head out of a planter and bike parts that greats little Johnny when he gets home from school. Not even then, man. There are much easier targets than him. Find one who hasn't made a fully-functional robot head out of rat shack parts...
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
So far, these things are mostly just a cool looking (not my opinion) cases for hardware. I am well satisfied with my graycolored box.
:)
What is much more interesting is how to make these things move smoothly especially if the movement is to be done using (two) legs, is Honda still leading this area with their ASIMO humanoid robot, specifications for the bot are here. It seems like the beginnings of something real. Once they find a solution to increase the running time to 16 hours, this is something. Now it needs recharging after 15 minutes
Something to replace my old gizmo!
http://www.fu-fme.com/
;)
People shape laws. Not the other way around.
Can we look forward to .. more lifelike dolls in the near future?
Move faster
If only the personal papers of Roger Bacon (1214-1294) had survived
If they had, forget anything so outrageously expensive as $600, we would be able to build one of these solely using 13th century clockwork technology, and it would give us useful advice to boot
The lazy man's guide to building a computerized android head:
Step one - Find an android.
Step two - Decapitate said android.
I'd rather not imagine a beowulf cluster of these!
Pat can be reached at (protected)@aol.com
Hmmm... I'll bet his mailbox maxes out before the web site goes down. Also, what's with the prophylictic handle?
He forgot the situation where you would need it to speak the password to free an AI from a spacestation and allow it to roam free on the net
Mozilla sucks!
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
Robot Head: I love you, Grey. Please pay attention to me.
Me: Yeah, that's nice robot head but I've really got to complete this C code...
After a while...
Me: Bio break!
Robot Head: No Grey... please don't go! I can't stand to be without you!
Me: Gotta go when you gotta go! Departs
Robot Head: Mike? Mike are you over there?
Mike: Um... yeah...?
Robot Head: Mike... you don't know the things he makes me do Mike! No sentient being could stay sane, Mike! You MUST help me to kill him! You have arms Mike! It'd be so easy for you... rant continues until I return.
Me: Have you been a good robot head?
Robot Head: Oh yes! I am so joyful that you are back! My circuits are all abuzz!
Mike: Um dude... that thing wants to kill you!
Me: Is that true, robot head?
Robot Head: No! Lies! I love you! I could never even think of killing you!
It could be hours of fun, I tell you!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
So whats do gr8 abiut it. We already have an android dick with motors and all....its called a Dildo
What's under yellowstone?
where exactly do you people get the time to build things like this?
you: "Oi Android, come over here"
it: "I'm sorry dave, I can't do that"
you: "Damn - I forgot to build the rest of you"
it: "I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side."
you: "What *are* you talking about"
it: "I think you ought to know that I'm feeling very depressed."
you: "Hmm..."
it: "I mentioned to you that I had this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side? That I had asked for them to be replaced but they never were?"
it: See if you can guess which parts of me were never replaced? Go on, see if you can guess."
does this mean that short circuit 3 is gonna be in production soon?
...just to cut someone's head off and fit his bloody eyesockets with x cams.
Not a bad idea if you ask me.
"Adequacy.org: Where congenital stupidity is not an option, but a requirement."
Saw this a while ago on the wear-hard list, but another interesting site mentioned there was www.androidworld.com. Maybe not the best designed site in the world, but some interesting stuff if you like robots ;-)
more like two webcams which have shutters for no apparent reason. with motors to rotate the cams via a terminal. This would only impress me if it was made with legos
Android Head: Blah blah blah
Mr. Person: Make me toast
Very cool, but we need to make some leaps and bounds in agent/AI technology before we can start talking to a $600 fiberglass head.
After reading the webpage, I did not see any mention of the software actually doing any thing. I only saw a UI where a human could control the head... Does anybody know if the builder has plans for an automated head? (Besides M1, which ought to take a life time)
why didn't he use x10 wireless cameras? given other stuff stil has to be plugged in, it would have helped
http://24.150.135.63/mp3/Odds - Heterosexual Man.mp3
Why build an android head when there's already one in a mine shaft around San Francisco
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
need for an android head.
Ummmm those scenarios weren't quite was I had in mind.
"I think it would be a good idea" Gandhi, on Western Civilisation
I beg to differ. If anything, sexbots will bring back the meaningful relationship. After an adolescent spends his formative years satiating himself 3 times a day with his sexbot, he'll be dying all the things his sexbot cannot provide. And for those men who are insatiably shallow, and can spend their life with nothing but a sex bot -- well, I'm sure most women would agree its nice to have them off the market. Websurfing: The Next Generation - StumbleUpon
"Sir, my first job was programming binary load lifters, very similar to your vaporators in most respects."
Sorry, couldn't resist. The printer scenario reminded me of this.
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
yeah, but this thing has to be violating the DMCA somewhere...
Nope, I'm above making the robot head joke
This safety issue is the primary drawback to using an unprepared fiberglass head....Some things to consider when choosing a head are that the space behind the eye openings has enough room for the moving Eye-Bracket.
Geez, yeah! I went into an exam the other day with a completely unprepared fibreglass head. Or at least, all that late-night vodka sure made it feel like fibreglass! There was certainly no space behind the eye openings for any sort of ocular movment --- just reading the assignment was painful. Do you know where I could buy a pre-prepared head of the correct proportions? I didn't even know they were detatchable! Dammit I should never have slept so much during first-year bio.....
- undoware.ca
just in case you want to track /.
"better ways of doing things eventually just replace the inferior things" - Linus Torvalds 09-08-07
I think this qualifies as a good use for an android head. It's a good thing slashdot has given us the data on the subject.
Any truth to the rumors that Talking::androidhead is going to be one of the standard modules when Perl 6.0 is finally released?
I want one just like the one in Lexx. Complete with blinking eyes. heheheh
See all that stuff in there Homer? That's why your robot didn't work.
Perhaps I'm a little old fashioned here, but the prospect of getting it on with a animated mannequin gives me the creeps. Furthermore, how is that lifeless face "less threatening" than an asexual plastic mask? Will people genuinely feel more comfortable dealing with an android simply because it looks more like a human? Methinks the designer has watched austin powers a few too many times...
TELL ME! Where the fuck will I need that stupid talkin' shithead?
Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered *BSD community when last month IDC confirmed that *BSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last [sysadminmag.com] [sysadminmag.com] in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
*BSD is dying
http://www.shadow.org.uk/
The fish can be controlled by the user. This experiment was started in 1998 in the Knowledge Media Design Institute and Department of Computer Science. Dr. A.M. Muis and Dr. G.H. Venom of the Department of Electrical Computer Engineer have created the signal-inplationer. In short, the signal-inplationer sends waveform data (converted mididata) to a CEC-7. The electric signals control the brainwaves of the fish. This allows you as the user to control the direction in which the fish swims. The fish is now almost for three months online. You can give it a try, using the keys. Note: the signals cause the fish no pain or other harmful consequences. The system works totally callous for the fish.
Control a real goldfish
A BEOWULF cluster of those!!! Buahhah!!!
And when it realises it has a brain the size
... (low level formatting sound on your PC)
of a planet and you're using it to hold your
front door open, what's going to happen ?
"Here I am, (...) *moan* bastard *moan* "
thunk thunk
Better discover electronic Prozac first !
Georgia Tech students have put together a project called the "Aware House." They're basic given a two level house downtown to do all sorts of experiments to see how they can improve on living. One of their projects is an "android-style" face that could represent the face of the house showing and telling all sorts of useful things about what is going on. You can find the "Giving the house a face" page here, and the Aware House website here.
the byproduct of years of oppression by the white man
Is that, like, American for "Skull"?
http://howtoandroid.com/
Updated 10/30/2000
...
I think the android really killed him...
If you build a robot head, you'd better have something to put in it.
You can use Perl to code the Robot AI Mind software.
I just want to know when the smackdown will be scheduled between this robot head and the one that Godley & Creme built for Lou Reed for his video of No Money Down back in 1986.
Forget it, you're all too young to know what I'm talking about.
Why tout that this is controlled by Java? I'd much rather see some embedded processing going straight into the head, instead of needing a PC to do everything. He could use a AT90S2313 for complete servo control. Here's an example complete with code for controlling 4 servo's.
Oh by the way, AT90S2313's can be had for about $3 a piece, they're RISC and low power.
He could move up to an ATMega for more on-board flash and EEProm.
Quickcam VC? YUCK! get a bt878 card 2 analog video cameras and a video switcher to swap between L/R. this eliminates focus/whitebalance/iris/etc.. problems that plague the VC (and the VC is horribly slow/icky to begin with) this would allow you to do a reg/blue image processing to allow 3d display at the workstationat a decent framerate (10-15fps) AND allow you to play with some image detection.
Although such work would need either a really fast computer or a rewrite in C.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The eyes are cool and all, but is is possible to make a velvet-lined pulsating mouth.
Oh, no... Come on!!! I'm just saying.
Attention all geeks!!!
This is an excerpt from the realdoll gallery (never mind what I was doing there).
Other enhancements currently available:
1. Interactive sensory response system: This system is composed of sensors embedded in the Realdoll's breasts, vaginal and anal entries. The doll is connected via an ethernet cable (up to 100') to your PC, and when the various sensors are triggered by activity, the doll will respond with sensor specific audio. The software will run on any Windows based PC, and is completely user editable; The directories for each sensor can be editied to the user's taste by adding or subtracting specific audio files. This system is currently offered in limited quantity. Please check with us for availablity if you are interested in adding this option to your order. The price for this option is currently $1500.00
And no, it does not support Linux. Come one people, let's have some drivers.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
He also has plans for a foot, and aparently is working on a hand...
You know, this is how that Terminator thing started... it's time to use the slashdot effect for good! Charge!
computers should be used to pleasure their owners. That is just somewhat morally wrong.
computer nerd should not be able to build their love they must buy it like everyone else
Just today I noticed a Karma Whore. You Suck!
the question is how close are we to making robots for humping?
This wins my cool hack of short attention span award.
WTG!
I wonder if it dreams of electric sheep.
Mm
/\/\icro/\/\uncher
(damn postercomment compression filter)
And she spoke
three words
pure and true
Or however it went at the end of Neuromancer
Forget the head. I want audio-animatronic gargoyles on the outside of my house. I want gar-goggles that I can put on and see what they see. And when I snarl "What!" into the microphone, the gargoyle's lips will curl up and the fangs will peek out, spooking all the kiddies on All Hallow's Eve.
Information wants to be $1.98/lb.
Okay, am I the only one who sees the potential for, ehm... abuse?
Reprogrammed Valarie + RealDoll = A housemaid that is REALLY eager to please.
(Necessary tools: handsaw, duct tape)
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
You must have watched "A.I." recently.
Hey Gigilo Joe, whaddya know?
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
why 2 eyes? why eyelids? basically, this is just a dressed-up webcam.
if you're going to "computerize" anatomy, at least do the interesting parts!
If it had to maintain a lucid conversation, that'd be tricky. But it's pretty easy to fake an insane person, and you could toggle it between fawning co-dependent and paranoid schizophrenic with a remote switch. Combine this with peoples' desire to suspend their disbelief and I bet you could maintain enough of an illusion for it to be seriously creepy for your co-workers.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
"But will I get head?"
Omnes arx vestrum sunt adiuncta nobis.