A robot that gets how kids feel.
Bip is an emotional robot companion for children aged 3 to 10. It listens, reacts, and teaches communication and languages through play. We're building it in public, here's how it works and how it's coming together.
What's inside
Anatomy of BipThe brain, a dual-core chip with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth running Bip's firmware.
Bip's face. Animated eyes and expressions that react in real time.
Bip's ears. Picks up speech and tone so it can listen and respond.
Bip's voice. Stories, replies, and little sounds with personality.
The mood glow. Bip lights up to show how it (and the kid) feels.
All-day play, one simple cable to recharge.
Soft, rounded and kid-proof. Designed to be hugged.
The emotion engine and language learning that make Bip, Bip.
How we build it
Idea to handsDefine exactly what Bip is, what it does, and what it must never do.
Dev boards, jumper wires, and the first pair of blinking eyes.
The brain and personality: listening, reacting, remembering.
Shrink the mess of wires into a single board that fits Bip's body.
The soft, rounded shell kids actually want to hold.
Real kids, real living rooms, real feedback, then iterate.
Build log
In publicFirst full prototype: animated eyes running on an ESP32-S3 touch display, with the LED mood ring wired in.
Closed the audio loop, Bip hears a voice through the mic and talks back through the speaker.
Locked the PRD and the emotional model: how Bip senses, reacts, and gently flags a rough day.