Meet Sparky, the DIY Mac mini telepresence robot

When robot builders try to put a human face on their creations, the results usually range between mildly creepy and downright disturbing. Sparky, the Self Portrait Artifact Roving Chassis, dodges that problem entirely by displaying the face of a real, live person on an Erector- and bungee-mounted LCD, creating a package that's far more charming than iRobot's ConnectR. Based on a Mac mini, the bot uses Skype for the video and chat, with a plugin enabling the disembodied head to steer the thing about the room, tossing out Max Headroom quotes all the while. A short vid below gives the basics of how to bolt one of these together, while full instructions are at the read link. We just wish they could teach us how to build ourselves a charming smile like that.

[RX3115 @ Nov 7th 2008 1:19PM]

All the apple loves are going to shit thier pants ;)

[Testies, Testies, 1, 2... 3? @ Nov 7th 2008 6:26PM]

Holy cow, you build a robot, and you choose to have it with that gay ass face!? Are you serious?!

[Testies, Testies, 1, 2... 3? @ Nov 7th 2008 6:28PM]

*Just watched the video.... The answer? Couldn't get a chick to talk to him...

[RX3115 @ Nov 7th 2008 1:21PM]

lovers*

[Major4Play @ Nov 7th 2008 1:31PM]

*their

[RX3115 @ Nov 7th 2008 1:37PM]

This comment was suppost to reply to me, and you are right, i missed *their

[mike @ Nov 7th 2008 1:43PM]

* supposed

[SteveJr_Ri @ Nov 7th 2008 1:45PM]

dude proof read your comments before sending them, it will help you look 100% less stupid

[Patrick @ Nov 8th 2008 6:06PM]

Steve, proof read your comments before sending them. It will help you look 100% less stupid. :P

I remember seeing a video of a telepresence robot going around an office. Where was that?

[stimpy @ Nov 7th 2008 1:29PM]

their*

[Major4Play @ Nov 7th 2008 1:32PM]

"We just wish they could teach us how to build ourselves a charming smile like that."

Raise each edge of your lips slowly, then think about Steve Jobs turtleneck shouldn't be hard.

[electron @ Nov 7th 2008 1:34PM]

great! where is the vid?

[Justin B. @ Nov 7th 2008 1:37PM]

Hey, I'm as big an apple fan as the next guy (my home laptop and desktop machines are macs, I use an iphone, and I'm even shopping for a mac mini for my son's big christmas present) but I'll be damned if this project doesn't scream "Netbook".

An Acer Aspire One or something similar (9" display, integrated webcam, speakers, sub 3lbs) would be the perfect brains for this unit. Toss in an arduino to control the servos and you could built the whole deal for under $500. The Mac mini is going to be more expensive, heavier, require external speakers, display, and webcam.

You can even put OS X on the Aspire One if that's an issue, but all the tools needed are pretty much cross platform anyway, I'd venture to say this could be executed just as well on linux or windows.

That being said, kudos to the people who built this. It IS a nice, budget implementation. I just can't help thinking how it could be streamlined even further without making any significant sacrifices to the functionality.

[Phil M @ Nov 7th 2008 2:17PM]

reminds me of the Metal Gear mk 2, from MGS4

[JohnnyGTO @ Nov 7th 2008 2:30PM]

Dude mount that on this: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/01/msr-h101-hexapod-kit-lets-you-build-your-own-nightmares/ now just time to figure out a telescoping head..

[Magnulus @ Nov 7th 2008 2:51PM]

You know, I think Red Dwarf had a REALLY good point. Kryten (aka. Novelty-condom-head) looks like he's been in a bad angle-cutter accident simply because realistic-looking robots are ultra-creepy.

Basically: With NEAR-to-life robots, we'll just be focusing on all the stuff that isn't realistic. The robot will just feel "wrong". If you make it obviously non-human (like a screen with a cartoony face on it emoting at you) people accept it as non-human and proceed to treat it like a human.

You see the same thing in animation films. Beowulf vs. any Pixar film, anyone?

[gad get @ Nov 7th 2008 7:57PM]

Look who's talking about creepy near-human-ness. (*Hint: guy with creepiest avatar ever.*)

[Wwhat @ Nov 7th 2008 2:52PM]

That guy I'd pay to not have displayed on my robots.

[gad get @ Nov 7th 2008 7:55PM]

Or you could just not have him displayed on your robots---save your money!

[macxprt @ Nov 7th 2008 3:21PM]

MacAddict magazine did something like this several years ago. They mounted a Powerbook to some wheels and remote controlled it via a web browser. The camera on the laptop broadcast through the website.

[Suki @ Nov 8th 2008 2:29AM]

Same folks have other fun DIY projects at http://gomistyle.wordpress.com/

I want them to convert my Miata to electric...

[matthew @ Nov 8th 2008 8:11PM]

he of all people should know. Why is he converting DC power from a battery to AC power via the inverter just so the mac mini power brick can turn it back into DC. Lots of power lost there. Then it would make the entire thing so much smaller if he wired the mini straight to the mini.