A Raspberry Pi-powered bipedal robot companion
A Raspberry Pi-powered bipedal robot companion is seriously cute, and its creator says that it’s the perfect platform for makers of any ability to explore and build upon. The robot has been created by maker and developer Dan Nicholson, who has previously built a Raspberry Pi-powered cardboard car, and we’re hoping that it will be the first of many projects we’ll be seeing from him.
“Ella is a Raspberry Pi powered bipedal robot that anyone can use to learn about hardware and software,” Dan explains. “I built Ella to be a platform that anyone can use to explore robotics. Of course, I’m hoping that Ella will be used to create many robots, but I’m also hoping that people will use her code and design files to develop their own hardware and software.”
This is Ella’s third iteration. The first served as a proof of concept, and the second was a less stable edition. She now features custom PCBs for the Raspberry Pi and Arduino Pro Mini, a 3D printed body, and a Google Coral TPU for enhanced image processing.
Other components include a camera module, microphones, buttons, a microwave sensor, and a NeoPixel LED ring for the eye. Her open-source software is available on GitHub, where you’ll also find a full build guide and instructions for implementing features like speech recognition and power management.
You can check out a YouTube video below to get a better look at her. If you’re interested in learning more, we highly recommend visiting the GitHub page linked above, and be sure to follow Dan Nicholson for future updates.
Thanks to Dan for sharing this project with us, and for the permission to use the above image. If you’d like to share your Raspberry Pi projects, either with us directly or via social media, we’d love to see them. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
