Who is COBI?

COBI is an interactive robot that enables playful interaction in the office

Inspiration

The interactions between teams in offices have moved almost exclusively into the digital environment. Although this has improved productivity, it has removed some of the human aspect of office cultures. With office chat tools like Slack, teams have been able to find a way to effectively collaborate, balancing a sense of privacy with easy communication between coworkers.

What does COBI do?

COBI, an office bot, aims to enhance that balance by sensing the office environment and reacting to it via office chat.

COBI SENSES IT'S SURROUNDINGS Using a variety of sensors including an ultrasonic rangefinder, COBI senses changes in it's environment. From hearing laughter in the office to detecting if a conference room is available, it can be programmed to suit the needs of any office.

ENGAGES TEAM THROUGH OFFICE CHAT Using Slack's chat, COBI interacts with coworkers engaging, informing or just breaking the ice when needed. It can be programmed to compliment the culture of any company. From sending a big hello as soon as someone walks through the door, to sharing a fun cat GIF to react to the silence in the office. The possibilities are endless.

What's inside Cobi?

COBI's brain runs on a SparkCore microcontroller. It connects through Wi-fi to communicate to a Node.js bot running on Heroku. Using SparkCore's web API's, and Slack's webhook integration, CODI is able to interact with the physical environment and take these interactions to the digital world.

COBI's looks were modeled on Rhino and fabricated using a Makerbot. Cobi was born as part of the PennApps Fall Hackathon 2015 in collaboration with Jono Sanders, Monica Butler and Alicia Siman.