GIF bot with voice commands using Raspberry Pi & Arduino

The weak point of robots is their legendary lack of expression. Without being a blundering clown, the Peeqo robot is an articulate, engaging GIF bot, with an attractive mode of communication using animated images. It uses a Raspberry Pi 3, two Arduino minis, four microphones, a WVGA 800x400 display, a camera (for facial recognition) and an HP USB.

The weak point of many robots is their legendary lack of expression. Their visual mode of communication by which they address humans is often rudimentary, non committal, sometimes downright repulsive. Little or no humor or surprise. Far from the aforegoing, the Peeqo robot is not so much a blundering clown, more a personable and engaging GIF-bot.

For its visual communication, it makes clever use of the graphic animated GIF format, very popular for its simplicity. This little assistant for the office, the table or the counter is articulate and expresses itself by animated images displayed on the screen which serves it for a face.

To describe it, Abhishek Singh, its creator, evokes the marriage of the voice command of the Echo, (the all-purpose interactive interface from Amazon), and Disney characters. Peeqo’s man-machine conversation interface allows him to respond to vocal commands by movements of his head and animated graphics.

Stewart Platform

One of the many merits of this project, so rich in possibilities, is the combination of many technologies based on a Stewart Platform. It comprises a Raspberry Pi 3, two Arduino minis, four microphones, a WVGA 800x400 display, a camera (for facial recognition, not yet working) and an HP USB, cleverly modified from its original function. The creator describes his journey and makes all his resources open to the community, to encourage anyone interested in participating in the final development of the project.