CPSC 581-Project 3: Solve an Everyday Problem with Arduino

HydroBot

Hydrobot is a charming and friendly robot designed to encourage hydration. Each day at a set time, it rolls towards you, bearing a cup. Notable for the light on its top, Hydrobot also makes a unique sound as a hydration reminder. Its wheels are crafted from Toio, a Sony-developed system that combines robotics with interactive play, making Hydrobot's movements smooth and precise. The robot's inner workings are built from Arduino components, known for their versatility in electronics projects, while its exterior is fashioned from cartons, lending a creative and eco-friendly aspect to its design.

Meet HydroBot

Concept Sketches

In our quest to address daily challenges, we brainstormed various ideas. Below are ten of these concepts. Our aim was to create a system that is not only interactive and intelligent but also practical and applicable in everyday life.

You can click the arrows to browse or click on picture to zoom in. Each sketch includes written details you can check out as well.

1

A machine to automatically dispense one cup of water six times a day. It has signaling mechanisms to prompt you to drink the water it provides.

2

Smart locker with embedded AI

10

Automatic street light

1

A machine to automatically dispense one cup of water six times a day. It has signaling mechanisms to prompt you to drink the water it provides.

1/10

Following thorough deliberation, we opted to proceed with our first idea. While this concept isn't entirely novel, as there has been some prior work in this area, existing solutions lack sufficient interactivity and practicality. This gap presents us with ample opportunities for innovation and enhancement.

Detail/ Variation Sketches

After finalizing our main idea, we delved into creating detailed sketches, categorizing them into three main functionalities: a water dispenser, a water bottle, and a water-drinking reminder system. Initially, we focused on the water dispenser but soon realized that fully developing its novel functions would be time-consuming. Additionally, we recognized its lack of flexibility due to its fixed location, which isn't practical as people often move around throughout the day. We then considered the water bottle concept but faced challenges in design, particularly in integrating Arduino components within the bottle's structure. Consequently, we decided to pursue the drinking water reminder robot, seeing it as the most feasible and innovative option.

Scroll through below to see our refined sketches. To see details about each sketch click on the drawing to read our descriptions.

Proceeding with the drinking water reminder robot, we carefully selected its features to ensure both functionality and user-friendly interaction. These include wheels for mobility, sensors to detect the presence of a cup, an LED to show the robot's status, and a speaker for auditory notifications. These elements are designed to enable the robot to efficiently fulfill its task and facilitate seamless interaction with the user.

Concept Video

Final Demo Video

Proceeding with the drinking water reminder robot, we carefully selected its features to ensure both functionality and user-friendly interaction. These include wheels for mobility, sensors to detect the presence of a cup, an LED to show the robot's status, and a speaker for auditory notifications. These elements are designed to enable the robot to efficiently fulfill its task and facilitate seamless interaction with the user.

See Source Code

We have placed our final code in this GitHub repository.

You can checkout out by clicking on the button above!

Contributions:

This project would not be possible without the contribution of every member of our team. Thank you, Surya, Bruce, and Thao for your hard work!

I personally contributed by helping with sketches, idea formation, coding, design, concept video and demo video editing and ideas.

I initially started by pitching ideas and sketching. My group decided to move forward with our HydroBot idea after a team vote. HydroBot was a modification of our initial dispenser idea which we thought was not novel enough.

I then helped make variation/detail sketches to further expand on our idea. After that we brainstormed the storyboard for our concept video and I edited the video and put it together. This really helped us fully visualize and decide on major decisions for our project.

We decided on which components we would use in our design. I initially coded a microbit for our system but we later decided to switch to the LED's to better integrate with the system. Now we were ready to work on our actual product.

We had a lot of fun designing the cute design of our bot and putting all our work together to get our HydroBot built and capture the final demo video. I handled the editing of our final demo video as well.