Cubic Nomad

Cubie is a self sufficient traveling cube. Its an experiment in digital life and durable electronics.

Cubie wakes up in the real world, discovers where he is, connects to the Internet, and posts a picture of himself on craigslist describing his location and his proclivities, asking users to pick him up. Using only the mac addresses of the surrounding wifi access points, and an open internet connection, cubie locates himself and interacts with the real world. Once taken somewhere, he senses his new location and asks to be plugged in to recharge his battery. After a certain amount of time, he'll ask to move on in the world and you'll take him outside and he'll post himself on the internet again.






(I had to cheat for this...craigslist has no API)









Even cubes get cold

The construction!


Initial attempt at board box design did not fit together. Changed tolerances to 1/32.


Battery connections. Couldn't find the right headers so I had to hack it together.


The inside of the case. Its a bit more spacious but NiMH batteries are a bit expensive.


This is a voltage regulator that blew out somehow







What will it do?

Cubie will wake up in the real world, discover where he is, connect to the Internet, and post a picture of himself on craigslist describing his location and his proclivities, asking users to pick him up. Using only the mac addresses of the surrounding wifi access points, and an open internet connection, cubie will be able to locate himself and interact with the real world. Once taken somewhere, he'll sense his new location and then asked to be plugged in to recharge his battery. Once in a home, he'll sense for signs of mistreatment. Once he's been mistreated or after a certain amount of time, he'll ask to move on in the world and you'll take him outside and he'll post himself on the internet again.



How will you make it?

Cubie will have a strong and durable shell with only a few openings. I'll cast this, and potentially make a composite. He'll have a recharagable battery pack. The micro controller will run in watch dog mode, configured to cycle only once every 10 minutes, allowing for very minimal power usage.. He'll only turn on the wifi radios a few times a day so power consumption can be kept minimal.

Materials

Schedule

Questions

How can I make a micro-controller speak Ethernet?
Can I make a cube shaped composite?