Safari Homebot

A domestic robot redesign.

Project Duration: 12 weeks | Spring 2021

Project Vision

Kuri was a domestic robot and home companion, priced at around $700. Kuri was an app-driven robot that could take videos with a high-def camera, play music and dance. The objective of the project was to pick a robot that was marketed and sold to the public. I chose this robot design because there was potential for change based on the Gartner Hype Cycle. Domestic robots are on the Slope of Enlightment. Domestic robots are not commerically available yet because they are glorified “Narrow AI” that only have a few features. With my design, I wanted to create a robot that was dependable, affectionate, engaging, intelligent, and futuristic. My robot design design features would include arm movement, projection, and connection to other electronic devices and AI assistants.

Design Constaints & Requirements

Redesign a robot that is/was on the market and commerically sold.
Update the current technology and add artificial intelligence as a feature.
Use more than two manufacturing methods and material types.
Choose one unique manufacturing method for one part of the robot.
Add a COVID-19 safety feature and explain why this feature could benefit users.
Create a futuristic design of your final redesign to show how your robot could look in 20+ years.

I designed an innovative and interactive domestic robot that updated the quality of the original Kuri robot design.

Inspiration Board

I started my process by creating a large inspiration board with lots of words and images. I eliminated items until I decided on five elements: dependable, affectionate, engaging, intelligent, and futuristic.
Concept Sketches

After creating a mood board for all five characteristics, I created sketches and came up with my design. I included arms and hands, a touch screen, artificial intelligence, and modular wheels.
Competition

The competition includes Miko 2, Pepper, Jibo, and Vector. All of these robots are intelligent and significant products that have pushed the industry forward. I wanted to create the optimal domestic robot that included features seen in these robots, and improved them. The biggest design change I wanted was making a robot bigger than Kuri and having more mobility skills to help the user.
Materials

To fulfill the requirement of two or more material choices, I researched and quoted different providers and compared three types for each part. For the head I chose PPS, for the body I chose HDPE, for the arms I chose aluminum sheet metal, and for the hands I chose HDPE. For the wheels, they are aluminum with rubber tires.
Manufacturing

To fulfill the requirement of two or more manufacturing methods I researched and quoted different machining companies and compared three types of methods for each part. For the head, I chose injection molding, for the body, I chose rotomolding, for the hands, I chose dip molding, and for the arms, I chose industrial origami. The wheels are from a specific brand that can be manufactured in a set for the robot.
Color, Material, and Finish

For CMF, I carefully researched and compared the specs for each part based on their material and manfacturing. For the head and body I chose Pantone’s Cloud Dancer, for the arms I chose Pantone Cool Gray 1C, and for the hands I chose Pantone Forest River. These colors and their appropriate finishes help create the dependable, clean, and futuristic design I wanted.

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Innovation

Visual Emotions

A robot showing emotions is vital for actively demonstrating to the user how the robot feels and acts. Using LED lights to display colors with corresponding faces on the tablet helps demonstrate this concept. This allows users to know how the robot is feeling without having to think about it. Right away, users can easily tell.