Once the user unlatches the leather strap, the robot greets the user in robot language through a small speaker. The user can also activate the robot by touching his glasses. The heart of the robot also blinks to signal to the user that he is delighted with the human interaction. The portfolio measures 7.5 inches by 15 inches, it is able to hold 40 sheets of paper.

Top left: Portfolio book cover showing the continuous living hinge.

Top right: The leather strap is stitched to the inner layer of the back cover creating a flush surface.

Bottom left: The top layer of the cover is one continuous sheet of bamboo going from front to back. The inner layer serves to strengthen the cover and provide a space to house the robot's brains.

Bottom right: The robot is powered by two AAA batteries. The pages are secured with brass rivets.

The bottom side of the book. Notice the battery holders sit flush with the cover.

Battery compartment close up.

The completely custom designed circuit that allows the robot to respond to human interactions sits underneath the top cover. The internal organs of the robot is comprised of an ATMEL ATTiny 85v microcontroller, an LED, a mini speaker and a power booster circuit.

Closeup of the circuit. The white square is a piece of insulated copper responsible for capacitive touch sensing capability.

Top row: This early prototype circuit is constructed from copper tape on bamboo.

Bottom left: A prototype power conversion circuit constructed using copper tape on bamboo. This allows the robot to be powered from one or two AAA batteries.

Bottom middle: The final version of the robot circuitry.

Bottom right: Robot circuitry fully assembled. The circuit board size is 24mm by 48mm.

The circuit board is custom designed.

These images show various stages of construction.

Top left: Construction of the robot on the top cover.

Top right: Interior view of the living hinge.

Bottom left: Laser cut bamboo pieces before construction.

Bottom right: Front cover before construction.

These are pictures of me experimenting with the pliability of bamboo to be used as a living hinge for the portfolio book. Cutting a section of the bamboo with an offset grid pattern allows the relatively rigid material to bend in a small radius.

Here is the Portfolio Book in its' complete state with full color pages of itself and other projects. I also added a holder for my bobo bamboo USB drive

Created by Dickson Chow.