Little robots that find a personality in the mistakes

Simone: a greeting that learns to pause

Simone Giertz’s Breakfast Machine VLOG is a place to see her playful approach to making machines: its description says she programmed a robot arm to feed her cereal.

References: Simone Giertz

For a smaller desk companion, Simone builds a little figure with a motorized arm. Her first program moves the arm up and down as soon as a button is pressed. It waves so quickly that it knocks its own paper hat askew. She leaves that attempt in, then changes the program to raise the arm, wait briefly and lower it more slowly.

On the next press the robot holds its arm up for a moment before the slow return. She keeps that pause because it makes the greeting look tentative, as if the figure is waiting to see whether anyone waves back. A failed bit of timing becomes the character’s shy entrance; the viewer can see the program change and then the movement it produces.

Pulenaz: the rover that cannot leave a chair alone

Pulenaz starts with a small wheeled robot and writes a simple sequence for its front bumper: when the bumper is pressed, back up briefly, turn, then drive forward again. On the first run it reaches a chair leg, reverses and turns too little, then drives straight into the same leg. It repeats the encounter with such determination that the little rover seems stubborn rather than lost.

She lengthens the turn in the program and sends it back toward the same chair. This time it clears the leg, but the quick reversal makes the movement look abrupt. She adds a short pause before it turns and runs the course again. The rover backs away, pauses as though considering its obstacle, then turns and takes a wider route.

Pulenaz keeps the hesitant pause, even though the robot is simply following the instructions she wrote. The pleasure is watching her notice a mistake, change one part of the sequence and discover a personality in the new rhythm.

Which robot should you follow?

Start with Simone for a stationary character whose wave changes from frantic to shy. Choose Pulenaz for a moving robot whose repeated mistake leads to a better route and a more thoughtful-looking pause. Neither needs a long list of parts to make the change in behavior understandable.

Sources and attribution

1. Simone Giertz

   Breakfast Machine VLOGPublished Nov 4, 2015 · Recorded Oct 30, 2026