Tag: Babbling Head

Armadillo News

A small independent film company, The Management Productions, asked the Robot Group if we had a robotic head that they could use in their movie.

Babbling Head takes a road trip
Babbling Head takes a road trip

The Babbling Head was working and available so we agreed. The film is called Armadillo News and follows the antics of a high school journalism class. Filming was done in the parking lot of St. Paul’s Lutheran church.

Krista Lundquist and her Dad, Eric Lundquist, set up Babbling Head
Krista Lundquist and her Dad, Eric Lundquist, set up Babbling Head

Armadillo News was shown at the Texas Union Theater on Saturday, May 22, 2004 and made its public debut in October 2004 at the Austin Film Festival.

Catherine Lundquist keeps Babbling Head company
Catherine Lundquist keeps Babbling Head company

Stills, trailer and info at: http://www.plasticsentertainment.com/

In the film, Armadillo News, Edmond, the evil genius, is seen with Babbling Head in its role as NewsBot
In the film, Armadillo News, Edmond, the evil genius, is seen with Babbling Head in its role as NewsBot
Eric Lundquist stands by at filming of Armadillo News
Eric Lundquist stands by at filming of Armadillo News
Eric Lundquist plays the unheralded role of hero by making the cart easier to roll across the asphalt (with an ordinary pizza box)
Eric Lundquist plays the unheralded role as hero by making the cart easier to roll across the asphalt (with an ordinary pizza box)
Producer-director, Chris Rose, looks on in awe as Eric Lundquist reprograms Babbling Head for its next lines.
Producer-director, Chris Rose, looks on in awe as Eric Lundquist reprograms Babbling Head for its next lines.

[Text and images originally from http://wiki.therobotgroup.org/wiki/ArmadilloNews]

Outreach : Austin Public Library

On July 07, 2004, then-President Eric Lundquist presented at the Manchaca Road Branch of the Austin Public Library as part of their Wired for Youth Summer Reading Program.

Eric demonstrated several robots for an enthusiastic audience of kids and parents. Babbling Head recited a short story and sand several songs. The Compubotics CR01 robot explored the floors and table tops. The P5 Glove, a virtual reality glove, was a huge hit!

Babbling Head recites a short story at Austin Public Library
Babbling Head recites a short story at Austin Public Library, July 2004
Catherine Lundquist works with P5 Glove
Catherine Lundquist works with P5 Glove at Austin Public Library July 2004. Compubotics CR01 robot is in the foreground.
Eric Lundquist aids in putting on the P5 Glove
Eric Lundquist aids in putting on the P5 Glove at the Austin Public Library, July 2004
Eric Lundquist instructs in the use of the P5 Glove
Eric Lundquist instructs in the use of the P5 Glove at the Austin Public Library, July 2004
Wow! This is cool!!
Wow! This is cool!!
Kids of all ages were enthralled by the P5 Glove
Kids of all ages were enthralled by the P5 Glove at Austin Public Library, July 2004
Rule no. 1 : Never let the subject see that you are aiming the camera at them
Rule no. 1 : Never let the subject see that you are aiming the camera at them. Austin Public Library, July 2004.

Outreach : Barton Creek Elementary School, 2nd grade, Gifted & Talented class

The Robot Group was invited to the 2nd grade Gifted & Talented class at Barton Creek Elementary.

Eric Lundquist brought the Babbling Head, Catherine the Creative, and the P5 Virtual Reality Glove.

  • Eric monitors as Babbling Head entertains the troops.
    Eric Lundquist monitors as Babbling Head entertains the troops.
  • Babbling Head entertains the students with a song.
    Babbling Head entertains the students with a song or two.
  • Eric and the class observe Catherine the Creative.
    Eric Lundquist and the class observe Catherine the Creative as she manipulates a chess piece.
  • Eric Lundquist demonstrates the P5 Virtual Reality glove.
    Eric Lundquist demonstrates the P5 Virtual Reality glove.
  • Students try P5 Virtual Reality Glove
    Eric Lundquist with the students in the Barton Creek Elementary School, 2nd grade Gifted & Talented class as they experience the P5 Virtual Reality glove.

The students were great and had a lot of interesting questions. Babbling Head sang a few songs. Catherine the Creative moved a chess piece around. All of the students got a chance to try out the virtual reality glove.

Everyone had a lot of fun.

DECtalk model DTC01

DECtalk model DTC01
DECtalk model DTC01

“DECtalk is a text-to-speech converter that provides any computer with a human-sounding voice. You can enter the text from a host computer or a terminal keyboard connected to the unit. You can hear the resulting speech through the built-in speaker, a headset, external speakers with an amplifier, or a telephone. You can also display the spoken output on a monitor screen or print it in hardcopy form.”

DECtalk model DTC01 documentation

This unit, pictured above was owned and operated by Eric Lundquist. It was utilized both the for the Robot Brain and Babbling Head projects .

For a short history of DECtalk development by Edward Bruckert, see here. Thanks to Tom Morin for locating this link.

[Text and image originally from http://wiki.therobotgroup.org/wiki/DecTalk]

Babbling Head

The Babbling Head Robot, better known as Babbling Head is one of The Robot Group’s iconic exhibits.

Babbling Robot Head is perhaps one of the finest examples of our group’s efforts to meld art and technology. It is certainly one of the classiest. Brooks Coleman, a genius at wood-crafting, designed and crafted the various wood elements that went into this piece. These wood elements are as diverse and as rich as purple heart and oak and as raw as tanzania root.

The base of the piece is purple heart wood and the neck and collar bones are pow amavia woods. The organic brain in this robot is a piece a tanzania root that Brooks filed and fitted perfectly to this piece.
The rawness and natural ridges of the wood root give it a very natural organic-looking brain.

Brooks, who also does metal forging, tailored the metal nose and half head piece for Babbling Head while Laurie Davis forged the eyes.

The eyeballs are hammered silver with LEDs illuminating the iris centers. The eyeballs are also servo-controlled and capable of rolling.

The neck and the lips are made of soft plastic for mobility. The lips are molded black silicone and the neck-pipe piece is actually a dryer vent pipe.

The servos are each fitted with a winch pulley which Brooks turned from nylon. He machined a custom tool to create the spline that fits the standard Futaba servo shaft.

This robot is fitted with a Mini SSC II board that operates a series of hobby servo motors that move the lips, eyeballs and neck areas.

The DecTalk provides the computer voice that brings the Babbling Robot Head to life.

Alex Iles was instrumental in developing and programming the original exhibit controller for this piece. Bill Craig assisted with the original programming and the speech synthesis. Later, Eric Lundquist added real-time speech synchronization with the DecTalk.

At times, Babbling Head has been integrated into the Robot Brain project.

When last it spoke, Babbling Head revealed that it was awaiting some surgery. We look forward to its reappearance and to hearing it sing again.

Did we mention Babbling Head’s popularity? Some notable appearances :

[Text and images originally from http://wiki.therobotgroup.org/wiki/BabblingHead