>>30126 The caps only cover the tip of the 550 motors on the servo, about 1/4 its length: there is also enough resistance in the gearbox that SPUD nearly stands *unpowered* so those motors won't be subject to much overheating unless SPUD is dancing non-stop for like 20 minutes or something. Even then, I could probably slip some heatsinks in there. The ears have to be their current size in order to hold the USB hub/hdmi cable combo. Can't make them smaller unless I get a smaller usb hub in there (having 4 ports is nice tho). I could make a headband sort of thing for where the screen meets the forehead, but this face design has already proven its point, and with a few more tweaks it should suffice until I re-do the articulated cloth face with the e-ink eyes. I designed SPUD's body pretty much in 1 single file and made sure every part looks nice together (with an exception of the PVC linkages in the limbs, which I eyeballed)

>>30127 I understand. Please understand Anon that when I'm making a constructive critique of someone else's project work, I'm not in any way denigrating that work, nor belittling the creator of it. Quite the opposite. I'm simply bringing an objective set of eyes to the problem, and if I make such a comment I'm literally trying to help 'plus' the work. After all, we're all in this together! >I designed SPUD's body pretty much in 1 single file and made sure every part looks nice together That it does, Mechnomancer! Looking forward to your progress. :^)

>>30131 Hehe I understand. I'm just responding to your constructive criticism. :) Were not for posting here I'd have no idea about things like gpt4all. It is always nice to get feedback from folks working in the same subject. In my experience the biggest negative nancies are the folks who haven't built anything, hence have no idea the effort/requirements it takes and thus probably don't have anything of value to contribute anyway. I haven't experienced it from folks here, as I have been on the receiving end of genuine butthurt elsewhere enough times to accurately identify it. There are so many design choice one can take that unless you just dive in and do something, one can be paralyzed just from the sheer number of potential solutions.

>>30132 Thanks for your understanding, and for your mature professionalism Mechnomancer. :^) >There are so many design choice one can take that unless you just dive in and do something, one can be paralyzed just from the sheer number of potential solutions. This. It's hard for me to conceive of any other design & engineering undertaking apart from creating DIY robowaifus that has so many 'paralysis by analysis' opportunities! :D

>>30092 >Physical face will have servos in the cheeks to pull the mouth into a smile, so that should add a bit of life to it. Taking the hard route then. So many humanoid bots wind up looking off or even creepy as can be. It will take a lot more than just the four cables in your earlier drawing to make more convincing expressions I would think but it depends if you're combining this with other methods. >Took a leaf from your book and checked out some e-ink screens: I could get a pair with color for relatively cheap (cheaper than the flex-screen, anyway). Good to hear something I said is going to be used by someone. >I'll have to see how long the screen displays a pic while unpowered, as that could eliminate the need for physical eyelids. E-ink displays last a long time if not indefinitely without power. I have seen them on grocery store shelves with no visible power source as labels. At least that is the case when stationary. I am not sure what happens if they are exposed to vibrations, changing lighting conditions and EMFs.

>>30133 >It's hard for me to conceive of any other design & engineering undertaking apart from creating DIY robowaifus that has so many 'paralysis by analysis' opportunities! :D Mechs and Powerarmor is another undertaking rife with such paralyzing opportunities. Since SPUD has GIMP installed adding gradient to the face texture took like 5 seconds :D

>>30146 >Mechs and Powerarmor is another undertaking rife with such paralyzing opportunities. I can only imagine. And human-safety is an even more-present concern in that case, AFAICT. >Since SPUD has GIMP installed adding gradient to the face texture took like 5 seconds :D That is indeed an improvement to Spud's look, IMO. Perhaps you could burn (lighten) around her eyebrows a bit as well? I think that would make her face 'pop' out of the mask a bit better. Cheers. :^)

Tested adding an additional expression to SPUD's library, and it went flawlessly. Oh yeah, also integrated the LLM into the server script (as well as a timeout). Having a reaction to one's voice (letting you know she is thinking about it) makes a big difference.

increased face width by 22 pixels, looks much better imo

>>30161 Nice! >Having a reaction to one's voice (letting you know she is thinking about it) makes a big difference. Agreed. Her mouth seems a bit like a frown to my eye, rather than a "hmm, let me think about this.." Maybe a half-frown? >also <Red Dead Redemption Heh :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UIRoW13gOw >>30175 Having a full-screen face certainly offers many easy-to-change opportunities for nice variations!

>>30178 Well this is what the face looks like when not obscured by hair :)

>>30182 Very cute design. You made a good choice here for Spud, Mechnomancer. :^)

Spend the past 12 hours or so slamming my head against a new addition: movable eyes! It is easy to set up as naming the proper files! If iris files (and supporting alpha files) exist for an emotion file set, it will use the files to make the irises move according to a coordinate set. If the files are not found it will display the static eye file (good for icon-like eyes). Graphics are a wee bit rough but it is something only I'd probably notice anyway Eye coordinates are a variable to be set like any other. where negative x/yvalues go left/up and positive xy values go right/down. (just don't exceed 10 in any direction tho). Currently have them set to move during the blink to random positions but other options are possible. I have them on the main computer, just need to transfer over to SPUD's avatar.

>>30224 Tthat's good news, Mechnomancer. I consider it a key metric that a project is both fundamentally sound, and on the right course, if things get easier and easier in the system, and the path forward with it gets clearer and clearer as time goes on. Please keep up the great work! Cheers. :^)

>>30226 A little copypasta and the code was easily deployed onto the avatar. Even added a little bit where the eyes might not blink while the eyes change direction. I could do a little tweak externalizing the AI object recognition so I can get smooth eye movement, but that only runs while SPUD's eyes are closed and eyes rarely move smoothly anyway. Might try to make Spud track any people she sees, idk. I also put in a bit of code so when the pi detects an external monitor it automagically adjusts the face to the proper-ish orientation.

>>30227 Facial animation is the subtlest of all animation. Good luck, Anon! :^)

>>30227 now for the shoulder mounted rocket launcher, or just a gimbal for the head is fine i guess, i assume its not that different from what your doing with the eyes, my telescope has a computerized one and those things are heavy so should work with a head, you could reuse the same code just subtract the object from the current position to make it center on the object

>>30231 As Chobitsu mentioned earlier >>26388, this place really isn't meant for discussing the construction of waifu-terminators. Make waifu-wuv not war.

>>30240 war is the pinnacle of love could still do that with the head its the same thing, a gimbal is just two motors perpendicular to each other

>>30230 One of the best ways to avoid uncanny valley is to go iconographic. Through simplification (and avoiding looking like a real human) the brain fills in the gaps with what it wants rather than having to deal with the inaccuracies that exist. Even so, I ordered some 2-part casting silicone off Amazon so I can experiment with molds/face making. Cuz, yknow: its difficult. But will make it easier on myself by going for the f̶e̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ anime look However, many robots out there just seem to put a rubber mask over the face mechanisms. Instead, I'm going to be attaching cables and such directly to the face to move it. Will probably end up making a whole new head but hey that's how design goes. >>30257 Spud's neck already has motors (as does all her joints) I just don't have them on right now -buck converters have yet to be installed into the shell and the servo channels properly mapped. Object recognition AI returns screen coordinates of the people it detects so isn't that difficult to turn it into movement (I did that before the overhaul to the screenface, can't seem to find the footage tho).

Forgot to get mold release for the silicone. Oops! Anyway, finally redesigned the shin to be more stable - gonna end up with some femisapien/megaman-esque shins I guess - and assembled one (top 3). It is much sturdier than the old one (middle bottom) since it has a rotational axis on both sides. Once the second ankle is complete SPUD might be able to stand on her own two feet 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 ! Also going to start work re-designing the head for the eventual silicone face.

As I suspected: not only can SPUD stand with the new ankles, but can do so 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 .

>>30405 That's a good posture lol Are you going to round the feet out? Or at least cut off the corners for a sort of elongated octagonal or hexagonal shape. Would look better than rectangles.

>>30407 After I get Spud walking on those planks I'll be making the soles swappable. That way I can quicky/easily be able to see what sort of foot shapes I can get away with.

>>30408 You're planning to make SPUD wobble forward kinda like a penguin, did I understand everything right?

>>30424 Well the plan is to get 'er to walk kinda like a femisapien: https://youtu.be/1UQJoVSl0Mw?t=8 Not sure how wobbly or penguin-like you would consider that.

>>30425 To get that stable if you copied that walking style youd need the ankles to tilt side to side. Notice how femisapien steps on the inner side of the food and it causes a near fall over to the side on every step because of that? You need ankle tilt to counter that.

>>30427 The pics here >>30373 are of the ankle motor :) I had to reprint some parts so the joint was more stable. Here is a vid of what it was like before (also ankles were tilting the wrong lol way).

>>30428 I see. Yeah that would do. It seems a lot of sort of side to side leaning walks involve stepping either flat foot or on the outer side edge of foot first. If you could put some sort of mechanism on the torso to keep it more center of gravity you'd get a swaying hips effect possibly if you have any stability issues still arising.

>>30429 Did someone say Torso Twist? Its here :D >>29145 I need to properly mount the gyroscopic sensor in the torso tho.

>>30430 A twisting motion would help some appearances but I meant like so the upper part of the body isnt swaying side to side because the tallest parts could sway a fair amount potentially throwing off balance. Though you may have thought of that before.

Been having good weather so I've been doing non-robowaifu robotics over the past few days P: Since SPUD's head is just about only held up while the servos are powered (and the servos heat up a bit while doing so), I figure since I'm eventually re-doing the head I should re-do the neck so it provides a bit more support. S̶t̶o̶l̶e̶ modified some inmoov parts, but 3d printed ball joints on this scale don't work very well. As a result, I'm just JB welding some ball joints (originally meant for a lawn tractor steering arm) onto the 3d printed screw drive sleeve. Won't be pretty but I can cover it up with a 3d printed shroud or something. Two screwdrive servos will be roughly imitating neck tendons with a third servo on top to twist the head left/right.

>>30510 Looks good, but I don't understand what part you welded to what.

>>30512 This. I need to secure the servos and find the optimal height to get the maximum tilt range.

With spring(ish) weather comes more time spent on my heavy-duty robotics, so not much robowaifu progress (unless your robowaifu needs a 1350lb servo). When it gets a bit warmer I'll be trying out the silicone I bought. Sometimes stepping back from a project and working on a second project can lead to ideas about the first project: I figured a good compromise for the next iteration of the face would be a hybrid of a physical face and screen face: make the eyes physically motorized like kami-chan here, but cut out holes for the iris and stick a smol lcd screen behind them. That way even when the screens are off and eyes are open it still looks kinda cartoony and cute. I did get some full-color e-ink screens for a laugh, however it takes 30 seconds of screen flashing to change a picture. Not very good for robowaifus. Good for nametags and signs tho.

Super-stoked seeing all the great progress continuing, Mechnomancer. Also, the new balljoints look really cool. >>30405 >but can do so 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 . Perfect!

Hello, its been a while. Since springtime has arrived I've been busy with other stuff, but I finally managed to get around to installing the new neck. Need to re-print some pieces though before I can do a powered test but I got a general idea for proportions. Neck seems a bit long so when I redesign the skull I'll try to shift the entire face downwards. Thinking about going for a more robot-y head (a la medabots or drossel) to avoid the uncanny valley while I work on a more intricate (perhaps rubber) face. The head is attached on by 3 screws so swapping heads will be relatively easy (might need to make a custom connector for the i2c and face servos or just put a 3rd servo board in the head). Remember, SPUD wuvs you ^3^

>>31022 Hi Mechnomancer! Very glad to hear from you again and all that's been happening with SPUD. The neck looks nice! I think it's a very good idea at this point in time (and likely so for the next decade) for all of us to not try to make faces look too realistic, but instead make our waifus 'robot-y'. Good call. Cheers, Anon. :^)

Some may wonder "Why change the neck mechanism? It works!" This is true, it does work. However, the direct drive in the neck joints means there is stress on the servos just to maintain position. And while it works for a short time, I didn't feel comfortable with any long-term tests as the servos heated up considerably during the short tests (bear in mind I plan for public exhibition of the 'bot for several hours). With the new neck mechanism, the screw drive more or less locks it in place so energy is only used while the servos move. I got another shipment of printing filaments, so soon I'll be starting on the design on a medabot-style/simplified robo face. The mood board is for your amusement as much as it is for my own utility.

>>31041 It's deffo good thinking to keep your robowaifu's energy consumption to a minimum, especially during idle times.

I have been on hiatus, I last browsed robowaifu in January, I was really frustrated with the board. I’m happy this was the first thread I saw on this visit. Following SPUD progress was and is pure joy! Im currently reading about Soar and cognitive architecture and your thread is keeping me motivated, thank you for sharing SPUD! I also absolutely adore the screen face. I think it’s a great way to avoid the uncanny valley while keeping it expressive!

>>31022 Nice

I didn't need to shift the head down, just needed to build up the shoulders/neck according to proper anatomy by adding trapezeus panels (no this doesn't mean SPUD is a trap lol). Next up will be a redesign of the sternum so it extends further upwards and hold some clavicle bits.

Clavicles installed and it makes me smile. Might adjust the trapezeuses (trapezei?) in future. Its the little things that make all the difference.

New face dropped, waiting for new mounting brackets to finish printing to attach it to the skull.

>>31079 oh haha, cute bushy eyebrows

Took me a while to get the eye lcds working again. Apparently the initial driver for the ILI9341 (and the one you find on the net) was using the incorrect Raspberry Pi GPIO library (or it was depreciated), and while I had it running in my other codes I didn't have it implemented in the example! A few hours of banging my head against the wall, followed by a break and then discovered the problem. Won't be making the same mistake again: I overwrote the initial example so now I will always have the working driver. There is something odd going on with the viewing angle with the LCDs in landscape orientation.... a very small horizontal viewing angle. (you can see how dark the far eye screen is in the 2nd pic) All well I will have to re-design the face to have the eye screens in portrait mode. Well, you know what they say... 2 heads are better than 1!

Got the servo control board wiring more compact and a little motion going along with the wandering eye program. Need to re-balance the head though because the neck tendon servos can't move it very well..

NICE. This is a remarkable project already, Mechnomancer. I'm looking forward to seeing again what you accomplish in another month or two! See you then & cheers, Anon. :^)

Overhauled the neck by shifting the mounting points for the neck actuators forward by 35cm. A combination of that and using the on-board controller (I burned out the servo testing board, I don't think it can provide enough current) allows the head to be tilted side/side and up/down without putting too much stress on the servos. Unfortunately during the testing while I burned out the servo testing board the left neck piston snapped and I'm out of JB weld -that is what I get for only 10% infill. Slap some jb weld on there, let it cure then I can add a head wander program like I had with the previous neck mechanism. Or maybe print some better parts that don't have giant globs of JB weld on them lol. I also printed a new forehead plate that is 25mm longer, and shifted the wig up a bit so the hair looks less emo. Before she goes to any conventions I'll be replacing the screen because now the dead pixels are quite visible. Also been cleaning up my outdoor workshop so I can have the space to try making her walk when ready.