TamaNeko

Charlene designing
Team hard at work
Reverse engineering a Tape Measure
in order to design our own retractable cat tail
the further the 'tail' is extended, the higher the resistence
original ideas
weeeeeeee
custom resistor/potentiometer
3D modeling
Soldering
led mayhem
more solder work
Coding site
Lovely Dinner Selfie
Finer Designs
Solidworks
Detailed organization
first 3d prints
4 pins control 12 leds!
Dan's hard at work debugging electronics
Charlene got charlieplexing to work!
TamaNeko v2

Inspiration

Dixon wanted to create something cute and fun to play with, something like a robot cat companion that is the center of attention and keeps the mood lively and happy.

that is always wanting your attention and gets sad if you leave it alone. He has al

What it does

This robot cat is called TamaNeko, Japanese for "Ball Cat" because the idea is for a spherical cat that is actively trying to get your attention by rolling around, meowing, and playing your favorite music. Also if you do finally give in to its absolutely ADORABLE cuuuteness, you can pull its tail and press its ears to compose your own music!

How we built it

Our Designer made sure the overall look and dimensions of TamaNeko is ADORABLE while our mechanical engineers used solidworks to model and 3D print most of the components. Our electrical engineers used arduino to power the whole system. They used a technique called Charlie Plexing to manage over 20 leds with just 4 pins, saving space for the sound files, and sensors. Finally our computer engineer built our website to not only document our progress and showcase the ADORABLE TamaNeko, but to connect with it and enable frequent updates of sound files and personalities.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into many challenges. Although we had a clear idea of how to physically design TamaNeko, it was very difficult implement the many features we wanted. The cute sound files were unable to grace the speakers of TamaNeko due to problems with the arduino wave shield and other methods to playback music files. We also didn't have a development board that enable connection to the internet and therefore our website. The pullable tail that featured a custom instrument was unreliable and we had to resort to an alternative and simpler method with a potentiometer.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're really proud of our 3D printed designs of TamaNeko's appearance. Isn't it ADORABLE. We're also so excited to have successfully controlled over 20 leds with only 4 pins. This gave us the ability to be creative with the many emotions of TamaNeko through its eyes and mouth. And finally we're very happy to have met and share this wonderful experience with each of our team members.

What we learned

We learned a lot from this amazing experience such as team work, time management, and prioritizing our objectives. We also learned how to have enjoy and have time with one another because we're all amazing people.

What's next for TamaNeko

TamaNeko is not going anywhere. A few members of the team will continue to develop this into the worlds' MOST ADORABLE COMPANION (PLUSHEE) and hope to bring happiness and joy to everyone.