The coolest robot I've ever built!

Thomas Burns
1 Jul 202319:39

Summary

TLDR本视频讲述了一位发明家如何将一台旧式黑白CRT电视、亚马逊Echo设备和一些动画机械装置结合起来,创造出一个名为'Alexa Tron'的有生命的虚拟助手。他通过改造电视屏幕显示声音波形、使用Arduino控制眼睛动画,以及利用人脸追踪摄像头来实现与用户的互动。虽然遇到技术挑战,但最终成功让这个原型机与人类进行基本对话,展示了将传统技术与现代人工智能结合的创新尝试。

Takeaways

  • 🌐 视频讲述了作者想要将人工智能设备变得更加有个性和生动,以实现儿时对未来科技的憧憬。
  • 🤖 作者计划通过改造一个流行的虚拟助手,增加动画机械和旧电视屏幕,让设备看起来更像一个有生命的生物。
  • 📺 使用了一个旧的黑白CRT电视,打算用其来帮助“生物”发声,增强用户的互动体验。
  • 🔊 通过劫持电视的水平信号并替换为音频信号,让电视屏幕能够显示音频波形。
  • 🛠️ 作者使用了Will Coogley的设计来构建眼动机制,该设计可以快速且经济地使用Arduino、伺服电机和3D打印机来完成。
  • 👀 眼动机制通过一个面部追踪摄像头单元来工作,使设备能够与用户保持眼神接触,提高互动性。
  • 🔧 作者在改造Amazon Echo设备时遇到了问题,需要找到一种方法让设备在听到唤醒词时即刻响应,而不是等待命令。
  • 💡 通过连接到Amazon Echo的LED信号,作者成功实现了在听到唤醒词时即刻激活微控制器的解决方案。
  • 🎨 在制造过程中,作者遇到了制作逼真眼睛的难题,最终不得不放弃原有的眼睛设计。
  • 🛡️ 作者使用透明亚克力板构建了一个外壳,将所有组件整合在一起,灵感来自于1984年学校里的Apple II电脑。
  • 🚀 尽管存在一些问题,如伺服电机噪音和震动,但最终的原型“Alexa Tron”成功实现了作者的目标,成为一个更加生动的人工智能伴侣。

Q & A

  • 视频中提到的'Johnny Five'是什么?

    -Johnny Five是视频中提到的一个具有个性和灵魂的计算机生物的昵称,代表了人们对未来技术的一种想象,即计算机生物能够成为我们的朋友、同事甚至宠物。

  • 视频中的创作者想要解决什么问题?

    -创作者想要解决的问题是如何让现有的虚拟助手如Amazon Echo(Alexa)具有更多的个性和生命力,使其不仅仅是一个回答问题的设备,而是一个能够与用户进行更生动互动的'角色'。

  • 创作者使用了哪些技术手段来增强Alexa的互动性?

    -创作者使用了animatronics(动物机器人技术)、一个老式黑白CRT电视的屏幕,以及从Amazon Echo设备中提取的信号,来增强Alexa的互动性和视觉表现力。

  • 为什么要使用老式CRT电视来帮助'生物'说话?

    -使用老式CRT电视的目的是利用其屏幕来显示音频信号,从而当用户看到声音产生时的屏幕变化,会更容易相信他们正在与一个有自我意识的生物互动。

  • 视频中提到的Will Coogley的设计有什么特点?

    -Will Coogley的设计特点是可以快速且成本低廉地构建,基本上只需要一个Arduino、一些舵机、一个3D打印机,以及可以从他的instructable下载的文件。

  • 视频中的眼动机制是如何工作的?

    -眼动机制通过一个由Useful Sensors公司制造的面部追踪摄像头单元来工作,该单元可以自动追踪用户的面部,即使用户在移动,也能保持眼神接触。

  • 创作者在尝试唤醒Alexa时遇到了什么问题?

    -创作者想要在说出唤醒词时立即激活Alexa,而不需要额外的命令,但是Alexa的设计是说出唤醒词后再给出命令。创作者通过在Alexa的主板上焊接并连接到微控制器的信号,解决了这个问题。

  • 为什么创作者认为需要放弃Alexa平台转向GPT AI平台?

    -创作者认为GPT AI平台在互动性方面会更加强大,能够提供更加丰富和自然的交流体验,而Alexa平台在这方面可能有所限制。

  • 视频中的最终成品有哪些不足之处?

    -最终成品存在一些不足,如舵机噪音大且不稳定,扬声器有低频噪音,整体构建也有些杂乱,但创作者认为这是一个原型,可以为未来的版本提供基础。

  • 创作者在项目中学到了什么?

    -创作者在项目中学到了很多关于硬件构建、电子工程、编程以及如何将不同技术整合在一起来创造一个具有个性和互动性的计算机生物的知识。

Outlines

00:00

🤖 创造有灵魂的科技

视频脚本的第一部分讲述了创作者小时候对未来科技的憧憬,他梦想着拥有有个性、有灵魂的计算机生物。他提到了像Johnny Five这样的机器人,它们不仅是工具,更是朋友、同事甚至是宠物。然而现实中,尽管像Alexa这样的智能助手已经普及,但它们缺乏个性。因此,创作者决定通过结合虚拟助手、动画机械和旧电视屏幕,尝试创造一个更有生命力的机器。他展示了一个老式黑白CRT电视,并解释了如何利用电视的扫描线来显示音频信号,以增强与用户的互动感。

05:11

🔍 构建互动动画眼睛

第二部分介绍了创作者使用的Will Coogley设计的眼动机制,该设计简单、成本低廉,只需要Arduino、几个伺服电机和3D打印机即可完成。创作者提到了Will的Instructable页面和YouTube频道,并展示了眼动机制的测试过程。他提到了电源供应问题,以及使用人脸追踪摄像头单元来实现与用户的互动,让机器能够像有意识的生物一样与用户进行眼神交流。此外,创作者还探讨了如何让Alexa在听到唤醒词时立即响应,而不是等待命令,为此他尝试了硬件上的解决方案。

10:21

🛠️ 组装Alexa Tron的挑战

第三部分讲述了创作者在制作过程中遇到的困难,包括树脂加热导致眼睛模具变形的问题,以及如何将电视、Amazon Echo设备和动画机械等不同部分组装成一个有机体。创作者回忆了小时候在学校见到的Apple II电脑,以及它如何激发了他对计算机内部工程的兴趣。他设计了透明亚克力板,希望可以用来构建一个展示内部结构的底盘。在组装过程中,他遇到了各种问题,但最终成功地将所有组件集成到了一起。

15:22

🎉 完成Alexa Tron原型

第四部分是视频的结尾,创作者展示了Alexa Tron原型的最终组装和测试。他介绍了各个组件,包括动画眼睛、人脸追踪传感器、扬声器、放大器、电源转换器、电视板、Amazon Echo设备、Arduino Mega和伺服电机板。尽管系统有些嘈杂,伺服电机也不够平稳,但创作者对完成的原型感到兴奋,并认为这是一个可以为未来版本改进的原型。他还提到了将Alexa平台替换为GPT AI平台以增强互动性的建议,并感谢观众观看。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡人工智能

人工智能指的是使机器模拟人类智能行为的科学,包括学习、推理、感知、语言理解和问题解决等能力。在视频中,人工智能是构建有个性、有灵魂的计算机生物的核心概念,如Johnny Five,它们被设想为人类的伙伴、同事甚至宠物。

💡虚拟助手

虚拟助手是一种通过语音或文本交互来执行任务或提供信息的软件代理。视频中提到的Alexa就是一个例子,它是亚马逊开发的虚拟助手,能够回答问题和帮助用户完成日常任务。

💡CRT电视

CRT电视指的是使用阴极射线管显示图像的旧式电视。视频中提到了使用CRT电视的屏幕和部分组件来增强虚拟助手的交互性和表现力,使其看起来更像一个有生命的生物。

💡Animatronics

Animatronics是一种机械动画技术,通常用于主题公园和电影中,使物体或角色具有生命般的动作。视频中,Animatronics被用来为虚拟助手添加动作,以增强其表现力和真实感。

💡Arduino

Arduino是一个开源电子原型平台,包括硬件(基于微控制器的电路板)和软件(Arduino IDE)。在视频中,Arduino被用来控制Animatronics和与虚拟助手进行交互。

💡3D打印

3D打印是一种制造技术,通过逐层添加材料来创建三维物体。视频中提到使用3D打印来快速且成本低廉地制作Animatronics所需的部件。

💡人脸跟踪

人脸跟踪是一种技术,允许设备识别、定位并跟踪人脸的位置。视频中使用了一个由Useful Sensors公司制造的面跟踪相机单元,使虚拟助手能够与用户进行眼神交流。

💡DIY

DIY是'Do It Yourself'的缩写,意为自己动手做。视频中的项目是一个DIY项目,涉及到将不同的技术和组件组合起来,创造出一个具有个性和灵魂的虚拟助手。

💡原型

原型是产品开发的初步模型,用于测试概念和功能。视频中的Alexa Tron是一个原型,它展示了如何将现有的技术融合在一起,创造出新的交互体验。

💡GPT AI

GPT AI指的是基于Generative Pre-trained Transformer的人工智能模型,能够生成文本和进行复杂的语言处理。视频中提到,为了提高虚拟助手的交互性,可能会考虑使用GPT AI平台替代Alexa。

💡激光切割

激光切割是一种使用激光束来切割材料的技术。视频中提到使用激光切割来制作透明亚克力板,以构建虚拟助手的外壳,使其内部组件可见。

Highlights

未来世界中的计算机生物,它们具有个性和灵魂,是朋友、同事、敌人甚至宠物。

尝试通过改造流行的虚拟助手,增加动画机械和旧电视屏幕,让机器感觉更生动。

使用老式黑白CRT电视作为计算机生物的“发声”工具,增强用户交互体验。

通过篡改电视的信号,将音频信号转换为屏幕上可见的音频波形。

利用Arduino、伺服电机和3D打印技术快速构建动画机械。

使用人脸追踪摄像头单元,让计算机生物能够与用户保持眼神接触。

探讨了Amazon Echo设备的局限性,如唤醒词后的命令输入问题。

通过硬件修改,使Alexa在听到唤醒词时能够即刻响应。

在制作逼真眼睛时遇到技术难题,导致原计划受阻。

利用透明亚克力板构建计算机生物的机身,展现内部工程结构。

将不同的组件,包括电视板、扬声器、放大器等集成到一个机身中。

测试了所有独立系统,准备进行整体测试。

介绍了最终构建的计算机生物Alexa Tron,尽管存在一些问题,但成功实现了基本功能。

提出了未来改进方向,包括放弃Alexa平台,转而使用GPT AI平台以增强交互性。

总结了项目中学到的经验,并对构建的计算机生物表示满意。

鼓励观众在下一个项目中继续关注。

Transcripts

play00:00

computer

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can you hear me

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when I was a kid this is what the future

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looked like

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it wasn't just a world of computers

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it was a world of computer creatures

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these guys had personality they had a

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soul please call me Johnny Five they

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were going to be our friends

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our co-workers

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are enemies

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even our pets

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this is what we thought technology would

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be like someday

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and the future is

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fahir many of us already have a device

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sitting on our kitchen counter that

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talks to us the answers our questions

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that helps us get through our day and

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what does this amazing machine look like

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it looks like

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this

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don't get me wrong Alexa is great our

play00:59

family uses it every day but where is

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its personality I don't need another

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computer in my house we've got loads of

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those already I want a device that

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interacts with me I want a machine that

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feels like a character in the story of

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Our Lives

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So today we're going to try to solve

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this problem basically we're going to

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hack into one of the world's most

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popular virtual assistants add some

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animatronics add a screen from an old

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television

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see if we can make this machine feel a

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bit more alive

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let's get started

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thank you

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[Music]

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my wife has told me I can't buy anything

play02:00

here anymore but I told her that we were

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building a robot and we need parts so we

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better make this count

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[Music]

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time

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[Music]

play02:26

awesome

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[Music]

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so here it is one of the last

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generations of black and white CRT

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televisions ever produced we've got it

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all disassembled and ready for the next

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chapter of its life

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concept here is that we're going to use

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this television to help our creatures

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speak

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because when users can see a voice being

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produced when they can see a mouth

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moving we're going to be more inclined

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to believe that they're interacting with

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a creature that is self-aware yes you

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see frogs don't have ears you say a

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creature that has feelings

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our goal is to inspire people to forget

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that they are talking to a computer

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so let me show you what we've got going

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on here

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this is a pretty standard board for a

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small TV we've got our flyback

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Transformer here that provides high

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voltage up to the tube this transistor

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is on a big old heat sink and is most

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likely our horizontal output transistor

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and right over here we've got four lines

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coming out of the board that control the

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horizontal and vertical deflection on

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the screen and these are what we're most

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interested in to make this display work

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for us we're going to basically hijack

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the horizontal signal that's being sent

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to the tube and replace it with our own

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audio signal to do this we're going to

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desolder these two lines

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attach them to an audio amplifier

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and then connect the amp to our source

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and if we've done this right we should

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be able to see our audio come up on the

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screen

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[Music]

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[Music]

play04:30

cheese

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[Music]

play04:42

[Applause]

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[Music]

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[Music]

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foreign

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[Music]

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mechanism I'm using a design developed

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by will coogley over at milheim

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mechatronics

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the beauty of Will's design is that it

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can be built quickly and cheaply with

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basically just an Arduino a handful of

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servos and a 3D printer he's got all the

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files available for download on his

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instructable and he's also got a really

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cool YouTube channel for animatronics

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I'll leave some links down below if

play06:00

you'll give this a shot

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[Music]

play06:26

so here we have it guys our eye

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mechanism up and running

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the servos as you can hear are still

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pretty jittery I think that's because

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the I don't have a power supply powerful

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enough for this yet actually the power

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supply itself is plenty powerful for it

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but I have to run it through this Buck

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converter to knock it down to 5 volts

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and this is limited to 3 amps and I

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think for six servos I think that's

play06:53

maybe not quite enough I'm hoping that's

play06:55

the problem so tomorrow I'll try to

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Source a better power supply and

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hopefully that will be a thing of the

play07:00

past I'm controlling the mechanism right

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now with this joystick this is just for

play07:04

testing purposes the eyes will actually

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be controlled by this little board this

play07:09

is a person sensor made by a company

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called useful sensors out of California

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you can get this on the SparkFun website

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I'll leave a link down below this is a

play07:19

self-contained face tracking camera unit

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I mean if you were really ambitious and

play07:24

had lots of free time you could of

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course program your own face tracking

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algorithm and pair that with a Arduino

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compatible camera

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but not only do I not have that much

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spare time my programming skills are

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just not up to that task what this lets

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us do is it lets our creature maintain

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eye contact with the user even if the

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user is moving around this means that

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she will not just be reacting when we

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talk to her like Alexa does but actually

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seeking out interaction

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watching you while you make dinner for

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example but in a friendly curious way

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like a child who wants to learn from you

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I think this is going to be really cool

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I want to take a moment and look at the

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Amazon Echo device itself because I

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think I see a problem here and the

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problem is this Alexa is designed so

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that when she hears the Wake word she

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knows to then listen for a question or

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command computer what is your favorite

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robot my favorite is bb-8 I really like

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how he rolls

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problem for us is that I don't want to

play08:30

have to tell our creature to wake up and

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then give her a command I want her eyes

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to respond the moment I say her name

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just like any creature would but I can't

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find a way to program Alexa so that she

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will send a signal as soon as she hears

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the Wake word she's designed so that you

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have to say the Wake word and then tell

play08:47

her what you want

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but I think I might have found a

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solution let me show you what I mean

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[Music]

play08:55

so this is our Alexa all disassembled

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this is our main chassis and speaker

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assembly this is our main board here's

play09:03

our 12 volts coming in right next to it

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is an audio output that we are not using

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at the moment and we've got this

play09:10

daughter board right here that has one

play09:12

very interesting feature when Alexa

play09:14

hears the Wake word she lights up these

play09:17

LEDs computer

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these three pads are tied to the red

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green and blue signals for the LED our

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meter tells us that the voltage at this

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pad drops from about 2.5 to 1.1 when the

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LED comes on so we're going to use a bit

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of soldering to tap into this voltage

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Supply solder a second wire as a ground

play09:37

reference and then connect it all to our

play09:40

microcontroller now when we say the wig

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word our microcontroller is programmed

play09:44

to sense this and activate whatever we

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tell it to activate without us having to

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give it any additional commands for now

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we'll just test with an LED

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computer

play09:54

yes

play09:56

now we just need some realistic looking

play09:58

eyes

play09:59

but I think that might be easier said

play10:01

than done

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[Music]

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[Music]

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foreign

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[Music]

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[Applause]

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okay ran into a problem here when I put

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this resin on the retina area

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in preparation for putting it in the

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resin and mold

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um I heated it up to get the bubbles out

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and when I heated it up

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this it warped the eyeballs and as a

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result I can't get the eyeballs I can't

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get it back into this

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holder

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so that means that I can't use this mold

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I hope I can I hope these eyeballs will

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go back on the creature I don't know

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I think I have to abandon my eyeball

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plans I don't know what I'm gonna do

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about that actually

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so maybe we just push ahead with what

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we've got

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[Music]

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so now we've got to find a way to put

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all of these different parts together

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because we've got a TV that's in a

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disassembled State we've got an Amazon

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Echo device that's disassembled and we

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need to find a way to give this creature

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a body

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and I've got an idea when I was in third

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grade our school had an apple II

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computer I think it was an apple II e

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and this computer lived on a rolling

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cart and would get wheeled around to the

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different classrooms every week and none

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of us knew what to do with this machine

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so all the kids and all the teachers

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would basically just stare at it except

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for the one kid who would bring games

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and we'd all basically watch him play

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games but there is something unique

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about this particular machine the guy in

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charge of this machine had replaced the

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top panel with a clear plastic panel and

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this doesn't sound like a very big deal

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today but in 1984 it was huge because

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that was the first time that any of us

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had actually seen inside a computer

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before that it was like this magic box

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but now we could see there was

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engineering

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so in the spirit of that moment I had

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some clear acrylic sheets laser cut to

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some designs that I threw together in

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Fusion 360. and I'm hoping if my

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measurements are right that we can use

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these to sort of build a chassis for the

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creature to house all these different

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parts

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at least

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that's what I hope for

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[Music]

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she is

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[Music]

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got a couple more layers of the chassis

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built here this is essentially our TV

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board down in here

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and on top of it I had a piece cut

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around the heatsink

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and around the flyback Transformer so I

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could get it lower

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uh on the chassis to sort of conserve

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space

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[Music]

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[Music]

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okay guys it has been a long road to get

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here but I think we are getting close

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and I wanted to give you a quick tour of

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this thing before we try to turn it on I

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mean I've tested some of the I've tested

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all the systems independently though we

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haven't tested them all together yet and

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we're going to do that together here in

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just a second we've got our animatronics

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here with our eyes that actually didn't

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turn out bad you'll see not as good as I

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wanted but not bad this is our person

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sensor that will track our faces

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here's our speaker here's our two

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amplifiers

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here's the eight volts um boost

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converter and here's the 12 volt boost

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converter this is the television board

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down in here

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uh this is power for our amplifiers

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Amazon Echo device I actually wanted to

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have outside of its chassis just as a

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couple boards but it wasn't working

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right outside his chassis so some weird

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grounding thing so I just went ahead and

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stuck it back in there and

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whatever it's not the prettiest thing

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but it'll work this Transformer is for

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the television power supply I went ahead

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and put a separate CRT switch to turn on

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and off the tube because I was doing a

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lot of troubleshooting with some other

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other parts of this and I didn't want to

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have that thing on all the time this is

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our plug module with a fuse and a power

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switch this is our Arduino Mega used to

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be a nice small Arduino Nano but I

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burned that out putting too many volts

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to it so this is all I had left so I put

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a mega in there this is the servo board

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that drives all of these servos so it's

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been a long journey but uh I think we're

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ready to finally test this thing

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[Music]

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computer

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can you hear me

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yes I can hear you yes

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computer what was your special order

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[Music]

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what other priorities were sent

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computer are you alive

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artificially

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the same way that you're alive computer

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have you seen anything interesting in

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your life

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[Music]

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the darkness again all those moments

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will be lost in time like tears in the

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rain

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ladies and gentlemen I am very excited

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to introduce you to my new friend Alexa

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Tron this is by far the most complicated

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build I've done to date I've spent the

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last three days like 15 hours a day just

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troubleshooting this Construction

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not to mention all the sourcing parts

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and all the previous component builds

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and all that

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and uh it's a bit buggy it's first of

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all it's pretty noisy the servos are

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really noisy and they're very jittery

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there's also a low speaker hum I don't

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know if you can hear that or not but it

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works and let's remember what this is

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It's a prototype it's a prototype that

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we can build on for future versions and

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the big change that I would like to see

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you guys have probably been yelling at

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the screen this whole time is that we

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need to dump the Alexa uh

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the Alexa platform and adopt a GPT AI

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platform because as far as interactivity

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goes it would be so much more powerful

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but I'm really happy with what it is and

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I've learned a ton on this project and

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this might be the coolest thing I have

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ever built computer what do you think

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thanks for watching everyone and I'll

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see you on the next one

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thank you

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thank you

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虚拟助手技术改造情感交互DIY项目人工智能家庭设备互动设计创新实验个性机器人技术未来
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