Interactive Worm Pirate Robot

This project is an interactive robotic installation featuring a soft, animated “worm pirate” that invites participants into a playful treasure-hunt puzzle. Through expressive eye movements, subtle gestures, and nonverbal cues, the robot guides users to place gems in the correct order to unlock a “treasure chest” box revealing handcrafted friendship bracelets. The project blends mechanical design, embedded electronics, and interaction design to explore how small, intentional motions can create emotional connection and agency in robotic systems.

I completed this project as part of a group of 3 for my Robotics for Creative Practice course through Carnegie Mellon’s Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology program. I was responsible for the robot’s interaction code, mechanical design, exoskeleton assembly, and overall interaction design. I designed all mechanical components in SolidWorks, fabricated them via 3D printing, and handled final assembly and wiring.

Throughout the semester, we explored the intersection of art and engineering by designing, constructing, and programming expressive robotic and interactive systems for storytelling and human interaction. The course emphasized creative collaboration across disciplines and taught skills in motion control, machine design, embedded programming, feedback systems, and human-robot interaction. Since embedded systems is an area I’ve especially enjoyed in my Electrical and Computer Engineering coursework, I loved the opportunity to integrate hardware and software in a more artistic context, creating a kinetic machine that feels animate and engaging in ways I don’t often get to explore within the traditional ECE curriculum.