Tech Temptations

Inspiration

We wanted to make a project that was funny and fun to create

What it does

The Tech Temptation combined an AI girlfriend with a teddy bear.

How we built it

We used an ESP32-S3 with the Arduino Framework to control a servo and send Bluetooth signals to a computer, which has a Python script that converts STT to an AI chatbot to TTS, which gives the effect of an AI girlfriend.

Challenges we ran into

One of our challenges was getting BLE Bluetooth to connect from the Python script to the ESP32-S3 at a reasonable speed. We weren't used to using BLE Bluetooth, but our microcontroller only had BLE Bluetooth. Originally we were using ESP-IDF Framework, but we realized the Arduino Framework would be easier, and we didn't need the extra capabilities of ESP-IDF for this project. Another challenge we faced was that our 3D printer broke, so we didn't get to print everything we had planned.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we learned

We learned how to use BLE Bluetooth using the Arduino Framework, how to use Ollama to run local AIs, as well as how to run TTS and STT on a Python script.

What's next for Tech Temptations

We plan to add wheels to the bottom of the bear, so it can move around, as well as a camera for face detection, so it can follow people. We were originally planning on possibly doing this by this event, but because of unforeseen software issues and our 3D printer breaking, we were unable to accomplish it in the time frame.