From wedge to bean: designing BOB's head

A face decides whether people talk to a machine or at it. So the head got more design time than any other part of MK-II.

The studies

We started with a sharp, angular wedge — easy to build from flat plastic sheets, but it looked more like a security camera than a companion. A kit-based robot was quick to try and quicker to drop: it never looked like BOB.

The design that stuck is a soft, rounded shell — a bean, if you like — with a figure-eight visor across the front:

• the left opening holds the round display that becomes BOB’s eye,
• the right one is a real camera,
• speaker grilles sit on both cheeks,
• and a small dome on top houses the environment sensors.

Built in code, checked in Blender

Every version of the head exists as code that generates the 3D model, so a change is a parameter, not a redraw. Each version is checked in Blender from all sides and measured against the real parts: the display has to sit flat, the camera needs room for its autofocus, the screws need something to bite into.

The shell will be 3D-printed by a friend with large-format printers; smaller inserts and parts of the neck are built by hand.

What it will look like in the real world, we’ll know soon. For now: a render, and a lot of measuring.