Motion tests and prototyping
Diagnosis and a direct-drive alternative under real actuator constraints.
Working on how a companion robot moves.
During my TCL internship, I worked on Ai Me’s motion tests, investigated servo jitter, tested a direct-drive brushless alternative and revised internal layout to reduce vibration coupling.
PROJECTAi Me Companion Robot
MY ROLEMotion testing, actuator prototyping and internal structure
CONTEXTTCL
Jul–Sep 2025
Jul–Sep 2025
Inspect full-size image ↗01 / OVERVIEW
The project in a minute.
THE OUTCOME
Contributed motion-control and structural work to the demonstration prototype shown at IFA 2025.
What supports this? ↓- The challenge
- Help a companion robot move with less vibration and more natural expression without exposing confidential product details.
- My contribution
- Motion testing, actuator prototyping and internal structure. My CV records motion-test routines, actuator diagnosis and prototyping, internal-layout changes and interface work with the textile team.
- Read this in context
- Placement work on motion and prototype integration for Ai Me. The overview uses public product imagery; internal drawings and measurements are not published.
02 / THINKING
The choices behind the result.
Open a chapter to follow the work and the choices made along the way.
01 / ENGINEERINGInvestigate the mechanism behind the jitter
Motion tests linked servo jerk to control-step interpolation and gearbox backlash. I iterated a direct-drive brushless alternative under the lightweight chassis constraints.
Inspect the supporting evidence ↓02 / DESIGNReview the whole internal assembly
I revised internal layout to reduce coupling from multiple motors and worked with the textile team on the physical interfaces.
Inspect the supporting evidence ↓03 / EVIDENCE
Results, and what they mean.
Placement work on motion and prototype integration for Ai Me. The overview uses public product imagery; internal drawings and measurements are not published.
Internal structure and interfaces
Layout iteration and collaboration with the textile team.
Demo prototype contribution
Motion-control and structural contributions, as documented in my CV.
Source notes & scope 1
- CV James Wu — Robotics / Chinese embodied robotics CVTCL internship section
Role, engineering contributions and IFA 2025 demonstration context.
↗04 / CONNECTIONS
Related projects.
Related by practice, not just by category.
↳ Robotics & control
Physical / 01 · Dobot RoboticsRobot operation
Hands-on work with humanoid and wheeled robots.
Hands-on experience connecting physical robots, perception, control and services through task demonstrations, teleoperation, navigation experiments and hardware work.
My partTechnical Support Engineer Intern · robot applications and testing
Physical robotsHumanoid and wheeled platforms
↳ Robotics & control
Research / 02 · SUAT · EMI LabTrajectory ranking
From trajectory ranking to force-aware VLA research.
A standalone temporal model outperformed a current-force heuristic offline. The integrated ForceVLA risk head also learned the proxy risk signal; reliable action improvement and closed-loop performance remain unverified.
Independent projectIndependent research: trajectory ranking, simulation and risk-head training
0.736 / 0.571Standalone AP · h=5
↳ Robotics & control
Physical / 03Franka arm
Stacking bricks with a physical Franka arm.
Completed basic physical-arm manipulation and brick-stacking tasks using waypoint-defined motions.
Independent projectRobot operation and waypoint setup
Physical armFranka manipulation lab