Want to build your own robot? A University of Waterloo student can help

A university student is trying to make it easier for anyone to build a robot. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte finds out how.

It can move. It can follow you. It can speak to you too.

How does building your own robot sound?

“That’s exactly the problem. It’s so hard for you to just do that,” said Brian Machado, a University of Waterloo engineering student.

He wants to change that and is doing so through a project in his final year, hoping to address a serious problem in the robotics market – high costs.

“There are ones which are very comparable, which are like $25,000. Bracket Bot is exactly the same and Bracket Bot only costs $500,” said Machado.

It consists of a kit that allows hobbyists, or people with basic coding knowledge, the ability to put it all together themselves through a tutorial video and the simple tools it comes with.

“You don’t need any hardware experience. It’s very simple to assemble - just some Allen keys and screwdrivers, which all come in the kit,” said Machado.

Even for the Average Joe, artificial intelligence essentially helps you do the rest.

“To be honest, these days it’s getting so easy that you could probably figure it out,” said Machado. “To be clear, it’s not meant to do your dishes.”

It is more so used for enjoyment and learning.

“I mean, the most basic thing it does is drive,” said Machado.

It has advanced capabilities too.

“I wrote some code yesterday that hosts a website online that my friends in California could control the robot. They were like FaceTiming with the robot into my house,” said Machado.

In terms of when it will be available, Machado wants to start fulfilling orders once he graduates in a couple of months.

It’s something that could really change the cost and access to robotics going forward.

“It’s a big deal,” Machado said. “It literally doesn’t exist [elsewhere].”