So we moved into a new house that has a space just crying out for something geeky and fun. What better solution could their be than an animatronic door greeter.

I'll call him "Edgar"

The alcove in the foyer is used right now for a fake plant, mostly because we have nothing else to put there.It was designed put put artwork, but it's too small and we have small kids that make artwork in a kid-reachable location a poor choice. However, it does have a built-in light, so I have power available for Edgar. With Wifi throughout the house and good signal everywhere, Edgar will be able to be just the input and output of the system. The rest will be an old PC that I will convert to a Linux server. And with a line of sight to the front door, I plan on implementing IR and video cameras to detect who is coming and going.

Edgar's capabilties

My plan is that Egar will be able to determine who opened the door whether entering or leaving and map that to a profile on the server and respond appropriately. Linking with weather feeds Edgar will be able to remind us to take a jacket, an umbrella, etc.

I want to design a complete face in rubber for Edgar so I can blend him into the alcove - Edgar should be a face in the wall. When we pass through the foyer, he should wake up (if it's night time). Eyes and mouth should move correctly.

I'm planning on using IR sensors to be able to detect family members based on size. This will probably be the most difficult part, as the IR signature would change based on other factors.

I also want to incorporate voice commands for all the family. Probably keep it basic like "Hello Edgar", "What's the weather?" -- limited. Edgar will respond vocally.

Stay tuned

I'll keep posting here as I go along. I need to get the parts together, program an Arduino for the movement, and wifi connectivity, get my Linux server built to process the data, etc. Gonna be a good project.