Engineer created an open companion robot from PVC pipes

Modern robots can be both expensive and super budget-friendly. And the new humanoid robot ALANA, created for just $70, demonstrates impressive capabilities. Previously unavailable in this price category. 3D printed, this robot not only waves its hand with human smoothness, but also supports dialogue, recognizes faces, and performs complex gestures.

The creator of the ALANA robot, engineer Shashwat Batish, deliberately abandoned some design elements. The robot has no head and legs. However, he equipped the device with functional arms with 6 degrees of freedom. These manipulators are capable of lifting objects weighing up to 500 grams. An impressive figure for a homemade construction.

The physical basis of the humanoid robot consists of a combination of lightweight plastic and inexpensive polyvinyl chloride pipes. Arduino and ESP32 microcontrollers are used for control. The robot gets power from a standard computer unit with 450 watts. Intellectual capabilities are provided by a local chatbot based on a language model, which processes voice commands.

Batish positions his creation not just as a technological demonstrator, but as a companion with character, capable of bringing any space to life. The entire project is built on principles of openness – complete documentation, source code, electrical schematics, and files for 3D printing are freely available on the Instructables platform.

Well, this humanoid robot perfectly demonstrates the potential of combining home 3D printing, affordable electronics, and open-source software. But it looks creepy, to be honest.