Bring your own personal artificial intelligence companion to life! In this hands-on course, you’ll learn how to build an interactive, expressive robot called SAM (Simulated Autonomous Multi-Intelligence) powered by an Android smartphone and an ESP32 development board, or, a Micro:bit (also commonly written as "microbit") kit. Using MIT App Inventor as the core development tool, you’ll discover just how easy it is to build complex AI applications through its intuitive block-based coding system—perfect for beginners and accessible to anyone without prior programming experience.
The Android phone will serve as the “brain” of your robot, enabling speech recognition, natural conversation, personality, text-to-speech, facial tracking, object recognition and facial expressions displayed right on the screen. The ESP32 (or micro:bit) acts as the robot’s body, controlling motors and simple hardware that bring your creation to life. You’ll only need a handful of inexpensive, easily available components to assemble the physical robot, making this project both affordable and beginner-friendly.
Tools and Software (All Free)
MIT App Inventor and Microsoft MakeCode are web-based tools that run directly in your browser and do not require installation. The Arduino IDE is also free to download and use. For advanced AI features, you may optionally choose to use the OpenAI API, which requires creating an API key. This is optional, and usage costs are typically very low. Free or local alternatives can also be used depending on your setup.
Note that this course is designed to be flexible, and you are NOT required to buy any hardware unless you want to.
You can choose any one of the following three approaches:
Three Ways to Build Your AI Robot (Important!)
1. Standalone SAM Robot (No Extra Hardware Required)
- Build SAM using only an Android phone using MIT App Inventor block-base coding
- Focus on AI, speech, vision, and Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Ideal if you want to learn AI robot concepts without spending on electronics
- Use an ESP32 to control motors - program using Arduino IDE
- The Android phone remains the AI “brain” - built using MIT App Inventor block-based coding
- Great for beginners who want hands-on robotics with minimal complexity
- SAM (android phone) sends Bluetooth Classic commands to ESP32
- Use a micro:bit for more advanced control and expansion - program using Microsoft Makecode block-based coding
- Suitable for students who want greater flexibility and performance
- Includes the potential to use built-in sensors already available on the micro:bit kit for richer interactivity
- SAM (android phone), built using MIT App Inventor block-based coding, sends Bluetooth BLE commands to the micro:bit
You can fully follow and benefit from this course by building the standalone SAM robot using just your Android phone.
Course Focus: Companionship Over Hardware Complexity
At its core, the main objective of this course is to explore companionship, personality, and interaction, rather than advanced or precision hardware engineering.
This course is not focused on building robots that autonomously navigate complex environments, perform high-accuracy movements, or react to the physical world with mechanical precision. Instead, the emphasis is on learning how to design a robot that feels present, engaging, and personable—one that listens, speaks, responds thoughtfully, and builds a sense of connection with the user.
You’ll focus on crafting personality, conversational behavior, expressions, and AI-driven interaction, using software and intelligence rather than complex hardware. The hardware, when used, serves as a simple extension of the robot’s presence—not the centerpiece of the experience.
This approach allows you to concentrate on what makes a robot feel alive: communication, expression, context awareness, and meaningful interaction.
Inspiration and Philosophy
This course was inspired by the LOOI robot. LOOI demonstrates the powerful idea of using a smartphone as the central intelligence of a personal robot—leveraging the phone’s screen, camera, microphone, speakers, and AI capabilities to create natural interaction, expressive visuals, and conversational behavior. Its approachable form factor and emphasis on personality, presence, and human-like engagement show how compelling robots can be built around devices many people already own. SAM follows this same core philosophy, translating it into a beginner-friendly, educational project that you can fully build, customize, and understand using accessible tools and hardware.
This course will guide you in designing a robot that listens to your voice, responds using speech, and holds meaningful conversations powered by modern AI and LLM technologies. Your robot can tell jokes, offer companionship, answer questions, and behave like a friendly personal assistant. Through the phone’s sensors and camera, you’ll add user-tracking and object-tracking abilities so the robot can automatically turn to face the user, giving it lifelike presence.
You’ll also build expressive digital eyes that blink, track the user, and show emotions—plus the option to create your own custom faces or animations. Along the way, you’ll gain foundational skills in Bluetooth communication, AI and LLM integration, speech recognition, text-to-speech, facial recognition, chatbot behaviour, object tracking, and more.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a fully functional, AI-driven robot that blends hardware, software, creativity, and conversational intelligence—all built by you from the ground up!
Enroll today and join me inside to bring your AI robot—and your creativity—to life!
Who this course is for:
- Beginners interested in AI and robotics who want a simple, approachable project to get started.
- Students and hobbyists who want to build a real, interactive AI robot from affordable parts.
- Makers and DIY enthusiasts looking to combine hardware, software, and creativity into one project.
- Educators and STEM instructors who want to teach AI, programming, and robotics through hands-on activities.
- An Android phone. This is the only required device. Electronics hardware (ESP32 or a micro:bit kit) is optional
- A windows PC. Used for MIT App Inventor, Microsoft MakeCode, and ESP32 setup (if applicable)
- Optional: Basic electronics knowledge (beginner level). Only needed if you choose to build a physical robot using an ESP32 or micro:bit. Just enough to connect simple components.
- Willingness to learn block-based programming. No prior coding experience required. MIT App Inventor and Microsoft MakeCode are beginner-friendly and block-based (visual)
- An interest in AI, robotics, or DIY projects. Curiosity is more important than technical background.
- Optional (ESP32 users only): Beginner-level Arduino IDE familiarity is helpful if you choose the ESP32 robot path. All required steps are fully guided in the course.
- For advanced AI features, you may optionally choose to use the OpenAI API, which requires creating an API key. This is optional, and usage costs are typically very low. Free or local alternatives can also be used depending on your setup.
- Build a fully functional AI-powered robot using an Android phone with an ESP32, or, micro:bit kit, or, just the standalone phone
- Use MIT App Inventor’s block-based coding to create an interactive Android app without needing prior programming experience.
- Understand and implement Bluetooth communication between the Android phone (brain) and the ESP32 (body), or, micro:bit kit
- Integrate LLM-powered conversation to enable your robot to speak, respond, and hold meaningful interactions.
- Use speech recognition and text-to-speech to give your robot a natural voice interface.
- Display expressive digital eyes that blink, track users, and show emotions using the phone’s screen.
- Add facial recognition and object tracking to allow your robot to automatically face and follow the user.
- Control motors and simple hardware to animate and move the robot in real-time.
- Implement chatbot features such as jokes, emotional responses, and personalized conversations.
- Customize the robot’s appearance and behavior, including optional facial animations or personality tweaks.
- Troubleshoot and debug common issues in Bluetooth and BLE communication, motor control, and app logic.
- Apply foundational concepts in robotics, AI, LLMs, sensors, and mobile app development.
- Build confidence in combining hardware and software to create real-world interactive AI projects.
What we are building
- Introduction
- What we will be building
- Hardware components needed
- Soldering wires to motors
- Assembling the robot chassis - part 1
- Assembling the robot chassis - part 2
- Upgrading the battery
- Installing Arduino IDE
- How the ESP32 control works
- Testing the ESP32 controls
- Setting up app inventor
- Bluetooth communication
- Speech recognition
- Face detection
- Face tracking
- Robo Eyes
- Chatbot
- Building the apk app
- Voice command for bluetooth and sleep
- Make your own camera extension
- Image recognition
- Make your own chatbot extension
- Installing LM studio
- Running Sam with local LLM
- Microbit upgrade
- Optional battery upgrade for Microbit Sam
- Programming the micro:bit
- Programming the android phone for micro:bit
- Demo of IP Entry
- Explaining how the IP button works and other improvements
- Troubleshooting common problems with Sam
- Intro to Sam API
- Installing Sam API
- How Sam API works
- Resources for further study