Week 7 - Concept Testing and Prototype Building.

Week 7 - Concept Testing and Prototype Building.

Concept Test

Over the last week I managed to conduct several concept tests regarding the aesthetics of the robot, I created a moodboard based off very simple designs that I thought would attract the target audience and provide positivity in their lives. The designs in the mood board were made with either wood based or cardboard based material which gives it a more comfy feel, but I could always fall back to 3D printing as well. I'll prepare a sketch based off the concept test feedback by next week.

Concept Test Question Template

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Hi can you help answer these questions? This is a concept test to determine how best to proceed with my project. The target audience is from 18 - 30, adults basically. At the moment I would like to know about what you think about the aesthetic and outlook of a cute robot companion that goes around by its own. There isn't need to think about other features, just remember that it moves around on its own and talks to people and itself. Based off the pictures perhaps you can help answer the questions below: What do you think of the designs from the photo? How would you feel if one of these designs came up towards you? Would it be suitable for you as an adult based off the aesthetics? Do you have any ideas or shapes that you would like to see? Would it make your day if you were feeling down?

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Concept Test Answers (2 Responses)

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Response #1

The design is simple yet friendly. The target audience for this kind of design however seems to cater towards children age 10 and below. If one of these design came towards me I feel safe to be around it As an adult I do not believe it is suitable based on the aesthetic I like the top far right design perhaps improve it to make it caters towards your target audience Yes it would make my day

Response #2

Top left: Design: Looks a bit messy and having the pixelated mouth reminds me of a toy robot i had as a child, in a bad way. Looks very old and old things now look very cheap. Feel: I would feel a bit nostalgic but It wont draw my attention in enough to think about purchasing. Adult Friendly: no

Topmiddle/bottom right: Deisgn: I like the big box shape with the detached mouth, i feel like it is something more towards my personal style with looking like a game companion with its large box head being the centralised object of the design. Feel: I would feel happy to see this little bot box come towards me, I would feel like i would bonk its head down to force its mouth shut for fun. Adult Friendly: yes

Middle: Design: I feel these ones are very prototype and the design of them is not that nice for a product. Feel: I would feel like there would be a student not far from it watching for my reaction. So a bit uneasy Adult Friendly: yes but i feel like it could be a kit targeted towards kids to learn how robots work

Top Right: Design: This one seems good, the ears are a nice small detail i like, i think this with a detached mouth would be nice. having the small and not too noticeable ear makes me feel a bit more comforted. Having these small things i feel is a nice touch similar with the light on the top middle design. Feel: I would a bit happy but I dont think i would have the urge to touch the robot and probably will lose interest in it. Adult Friendly: Yes if you are into cutesy stuff. I am personally fine with it Bottom left: Design: I feel like the movement for this one just wont work well and be slow. I would much rather a wheel/tread movement system for the robot to be more lifelike. The addition of the eyes popping out look a bit more creepy than cute, the mouth is nice but the whole leg thing is a bit ehhh Feel: A bit creeped out and dissapointed Adult Friendly: not really

Bottom Middle:

Design: I feel like this one has a moving mouth which i like but the central camera eye at the top i feel ruins a lot of it. The colour/design of the robots decal is a bit cheap looking. This is the kind of thing i would expect to be a cheaply made clone of a better designed companion robot. Feel: I would feel uneasy thinking im being monitored. Adult Friendly: No, this looks very much for very young children

I like the boxxy design with the open mouth. I feel like it could be intractable by pressing down on it to cause the robot to respond. Having some physical interaction with a robot on itself and or an object it is playing with would be a fun addition. Something casual that doesn't take much time to interact, like i dont want to get into a chess match with a robot. But i want to boop it :). I think if its there to greet me and do some cute funny stuff now and then when it first notices me would be a nice addition to boost my mood if im down or annoyed.

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Thoughts on the Concept Test

Interviewee #1 mentions that the design mentions the designs besides the top right of the mood board catered towards children below the age of 10. 

Interviewee #2 gives a more thorough and thoughtful insight into what he thinks about each individual design, giving more input and allowing me to find important points to take into account.

Based off both feedbacks, the target audience both have the same opinion of how the visual should look, adults prefer a simple and interesting design over a cute artsy design aesthetic for the robot. Both interviewee's also agree that the top right design is the most user friendly. On a more technical side, I have also decided that the I can go for more interactions from responding to physical touch or having a head that bonks and is able to be pressed. I think that having a simple interaction like closing its head or having it display more emotions and greeting people will improve the user experience.

Prototype Building

Understanding the heatsink

The tutorial used for the heatsink is from a link I found online through Google, Ron suggested for me to "go figure and find out myself" and it has led me to finding the tutorial. Understanding the heatsink's function and use was quite simple and fun to go through, the different pins and its purpose was very eye opening into how complex the process to run motors are. 

Prototype Outcome

I managed to finally finish construction of the prototype, I've affectionally named it Buggy not because of the fact that it has major bugs, but because I think it was the perfect name to fit its behaviour of running very fast for no reason. 

Arduino Nano with breadboard (The brain of the robot)

Wire disciplined should be exercised to avoid additional confusion or issues. I plan to use something like tape or wires to tie them up neatly.

Arduino is situated above the battery, which contains 4 batteries, a total of 11.5 Volts.

Position of Motor Shield situated above the motors.

I used foam to create a light and bulky looking prototype that is easy enough to assemble and stack. 

The mess fo the wires at the moment is a bit of a headache for me to go through. I'll make a plan to tie it neatly.

Video of Prototype

Issues

Ultrasonic Sensor

As of now there are some issues with the prototype, the robot refuses to move on the ground unless picked up which I suspect is caused by the Ultrasonic Sensor's position located too low to the ground. Therefore I have 2 solutions to go after, changing the position of the Ultrasonic Sensor to a higher elevation or coding the sensor to be less sensitive.

Wires

The wires at the moment are a mess, they are tangled all over and require time and effort to properly be sorted out, the risk of them getting tangled in other parts is too high at the moment for me to consider testing its self driving feature.

Speed of Robot

At the moment I have theories of what could be making the robot so fast is the parameters in the settings of the Arduino program, somewhere in there is the  parameters or options to fix its movement speed. A small problem that is easily fixed and amended for next week's fablab session.

Self Reflection - Concept Test

Based off the target audience's feedback on the concept test, I think I need to do more concept tests with a larger audience in the future to avoid wasting more time along with being safe since some of the interviewee's left at the last minute. The feedback was thorough enough fortunately for me to judge whats my next step. Which is finding more references and moving forward with sketches. The interviewee's responses were helpful in helping me determine my next approach for the interactions which I will need to do a second concept test as well next week.

Self Reflection - Prototype

I'm happy with the outcome of the prototype, yes it doesn't have the features that I hoped to incorporate, but this has proven that it is possible for me to fabricate and code an entire robot that functions by itself as an independent friend that lifts peoples spirit. All I need now is to add additional features that are important like audio, refining the code like adding behaviours, and fixing the speed.

Plan

I plan to work on the aesthetic design alongside the prototype to speed up progress and hopefully learn more or encounter more problems along the way to better prepare myself, I can gauge it took me around 6 weeks to get the prototype working properly. Therefore I need prepare a sketch on the aesthetics based off the concept test's results for the planning phase. As for the prototyping I plan to prepare the DFMiniplayer for audio, and to refine the code for movement along with the Buggy's behaviour.