Gubber

Naim and Jose posing in front of a wired-up Gubber!
Jose behind the backside of the Gubber, showcasing the electrical connections.
A close-up of an active Gubber
Our group, plus a friend, taking a break with Handsome Dan!

Inspiration

We initially tried to make an auto-aiming cannon, but we showed up without tools like a screwdriver or a Nano cable since it was our first hackathon. After losing half of our hackathon time, we decided to reroute to something more visually related. Inspired by Michael Reeves' screaming Roombas, we have made an insulting AI.

What it does

By utilizing an ultrasonic sensor and a webcam, our robot senses the presence of a human and begins recording to collect data. Sending this data back through a Gemini API call, our webcam can insult the viewer.

How we built it

Since we didn't have access to hot glue or a cool laser cutter, we decided to use the tried-and-true method of jamming electronics into cardboard. This works relatively well since the cardboard is stable enough to hold itself up.

Challenges we ran into

Our main challenge was a lack of resources and tools. For example, we brought an Arduino Nano and forgot the data cable for it. We also didn't bring any jumper cables or tools. This caused us to redesign our project multiple times, using precious time. Additionally, due to an unforeseen transportation issue, we were missing a team member for a couple of hours.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Given the challenges that we faced in terms of materials and time, we are quite proud that we managed to pull together a working prototype regardless. Since none of our team has ever competed in a hackathon before, it was a great test of our ability to persevere through the middle of the night.

What we learned

Our main takeaway is that we need to come to hackathons a bit more prepared; having a variety of tools, and most importantly, cables, is crucial for electrical projects. A significant amount of time, roughly an hour or two, went purely into just creating makeshift screwdrivers and finding adhesives like Elmer's glue, which doesn't work well for rapid iteration. The other teams here were very generous, but it is still a large time-sink to scrounge for materials.

What's next for Gubber

Gubber is coming home with us for some upgrades. We think he would do nicely with a custom lasercut fitting and maybe some hardware upgrades. Additionally, there's some more features we would like to add to him, namely some lighting and buttons for a more detailed user experience. We would also like to give Gubber the ability to do more than insult; maybe he could give styling advice or help a colorblind person pick their outfit.