The Raspberry Pi Pico brings Babbage the Bear to life
The Raspberry Pi Pico has helped bring the Raspberry Pi mascot, Babbage the Bear, to life in a new project that aims to create a programmable robot. The Babbage Bot is still in its early days, and currently has limitations on its movements, but it’s a great example of the potential for using Raspberry Pi to animate and bring characters to life.
The Babbage Bot project
Titled ‘Babbage Bot’, the project comes from Wayne and his RamblingGeek website. It’s a simple project, using minimal hardware, which, like the best Raspberry Pi projects, uses the Pi Zero W and a Pi Pico to bring Babbage to life.
His movements are controlled by two servo motors that allow for simple up and down movements of his arms, and while there’s no head movement yet, or the ability to move his legs, it’s a great foundation and a lot of fun. A Raspberry Pi Zero W would be a great minimal hardware solution, and the servos, while not the smallest, are easy to attach to his arms using sticks.
A battery would be a great long-term solution for mobility, but for now he’s tethered to a wire – something that could easily be remedied by plugging him into a Powerbank.
The simplicity of the project is one of its greatest qualities, and it’s a perfect example of the creativity of the Raspberry Pi community. By sharing their creation, Wayne is demonstrating the endless possibilities that can be achieved with Raspberry Pi.
If you want to learn more about Babbage Bot, or see the code for yourself, head over to RamblingGeek. You can also keep an eye on future features, with plans for four-directional head movement and the possibility of adding a speaker for ChatGPT communication.
This isn’t the first time that Babbage has been brought to life, with the Raspberry Pi community excited to see him come to life through this project, and delighted by his inclusion as a central part of the project.
Staying informed about the latest developments in the tech world is vital to being a tech enthusiast, and with Raspberry Pi, there’s no limit to the things you can do, from simple to complex.
