Buzz Wuzz

Buzz Wuzz is a plush toy that has posable legs and scoots around your table. It was an experiment that started out with a motor I took out of my drone. I used a alligator clamp to offset the motor and make it vibrate. Then I designed a housing with my 3D printer and attached some metal legs. 

Outside fur and creature made by the amazing Shari Finn.

Robotic Pet

I enjoy robotic toys for kids, especially soft-furry ones. I want to create one with elements from tomagotchi, furby and pokemon. I'd love to create more gameplay for longer engagement and the social aspects of pokemon help with that. Many robotic toys use a single dc-motor for all its animations, which limits what it can express. I'm using multiple servos to create more emotion and variety.
My new 9-Dof sensor from Adafruit. It gives you an object's orientation using an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer (compass). It even provides a temperature reading. I could imagine a robotic pet that can detect you shaking it, tipping it forward 'eat', or lying it on its side to 'sleep'. 
Here I've prototyped the mouth animation. I wanted the mouth to open upward, moving its entire head along with it. Not as easy as a bottom-opening mouth. Fun to play with. The final version won't have a button but will be controlled by the virtual pet code.

Cardboard Prototypes

Me posing with my cardboard dog puppet I made after taking a course on puppet mechanisms. This dog's eyebrows move up and down with a pull ring inside his head. I found him very expressive, so I plan on incorporating the mech into my latest robot project.

Monster Paw

I developed my own version of a "useless machine", trying to give it more life with an unassuming cute box and a monster paw. 

Utilizing Components

I've been collecting Meccano lately as a fast way to prototype mechanisms. This little robot was one I built off their instructions. A bit slow, but is neat that it runs all off of one DC motor.