Foxy Botachelli
Before virtual assistants became commonplace, Foxy Botachelli explored chat, speech, identity, and physical robotics in a single home-built project. The aim was to combine conversation, sensing, movement, and a recognisable personality.
The beginning of the companion idea
Foxy brought together AIML conversation logic, speech output, speech recognition experiments, a mobile frame, sensors, salvaged motors, and homemade actuators. In the early 2000s, that combination was unusual in a home-built project.
The physical design changed over time, using clear perspex, steel and aluminium frames, different layouts, linear actuator arms, movement experiments, and a Mini-ITX computer at the centre. IR sensors and simple electronics provided basic awareness of the surroundings, while the software concentrated on speech and character.
Original archive links
These links point back to the original RoboRepRap and Foxy archive paths, including the concept notes and old chat interface.
Why she belongs here
Foxy is an important part of the archive because the project joined software, electronics, mechanics, speech, and interaction long before those pieces were easy to combine. It was not modern AI, but it was a serious early experiment in making a machine that could listen, speak, move, and respond.