Zenbo Robot tear down

Analysis
The Taiwanese electronics manufacture Asus has unveiled a home robot called Zenbo that can talk,
control your home and provide assistance when needed – all for the cost of a top-end smartphone.

Zenbo is a companion robot by ASUS. It is a Chinese made intelligent robot that interacts with its
environment and respond to commands. There are two portions of this robot, the head and the torso,
that are connected to each other via neck. Zenbo is a differential drive robot. It has a screen which
shows expressions of the robot. The torso is spherical in shape and has a smooth surface. The outer shell
is made of soft plastic. The neck is joined to the head via a ball joint which allows the movement of head
in different directions. Thus the robot is made to satisfy the aesthetic as well as functional needs.

To start the teardown of the robot, the blue cap on the back of the robot is opened, revealing the
emergency switch. The side plates on the wheels are also removed cover revealing a USB port, and a
sonar sensor for obstacle avoidance. The sonar is placed inside a covering of net to protect from damage
and dust. These components are detachable such that a user can easily open them and use the features
such as emergency turning off or connecting the USB cable.

Next, the head cover of the robot is removed to see what is inside its head. Screws are removed and the
back cover is detached revealing another protective case. The outer cover functions for aesthetics as
well as a protective shield for the head. After we take out the second layer, the internal circuitry of the
robot is visible. On the periphery of the head, there are several sensors and microchips, power circuits
and LED modules. Each module has a specific fixture inside the plastic head of the robot.

On the main circuit board, heat exchanger is found to help dissipate excess heat. Removing it reveals the
internal circuit of the robot. There are two to three microchips on this circuit. Moreover, the circuit is
two side printed, has many small diodes, capacitors, voltage regulators etc. There is a large CPU unit on
this circuit. Hence most of the processing of the robot is carried out here like any living organism. The
circuit manufacturing is very fine and sophisticated with power and ground terminals labeled. In short,
each and every wiring, module and path had been already decided before the robot was manufactured
as all the wires and modules were cleanly tucked in their plastic holders.

After the robot’s head is entirely disassembled, the robot’s torso is examined. For this purpose, screws
on the bottom side of the robot are removed along with the small supporting wheels. These wheels are
also made with precision and are very fine. The actual wheel is placed inside a plastic casing with shock
absorbing mechanism.

Now we remove the back cover of the torso. There is a sonar on its back as well along with the
emergency switch circuit. Take off the front cover as well. Two laser sensors are found in the front cover
of the torso. The bottom half of the front cover is also removed. This portion has a whole array of
sonars. They might be present because the robot mostly encounters an obstacle from the front. Each of
the sensor has its own support circuitry with communication channels, power modules and drivers.

Furthermore, the wheels of the robot are disassembled revealing encoder disks, a sonar and a USB port.
The LED disk on the robot wheel is also taken out along with the wheel. A similar exercise is performed
on the other wheel of the robot. We observe that the wheel is not mounted in the motor shaft rather it
is screwed into a housing over the shaft. All the wires for sonar, the USB port and the supporting
circuitry originates from inside this housing.

Finally, the internals of the robot torso are inspected. There is a large motor driver with heat
exchangers. Removing that from the front, we have a compartment where most of the actuators of the
robot are placed. In this compartment, the most prominent things are the speaker and the camera. After
the front cover is removed, the circuit is visible. Now we can also remove the speaker and the battery on
top of it. Motor gearbox is then opened up. It has motor holding system, small gears and support
circuits. The motors are equipped with encoders and connection ports.

To conclude, the a Zenbo robot is a commercially made robot with good aesthetics, organization and
functionality. The robot is a well-planned industrial product. All internal components are placed in an
organized manner with a compartment for each component. All the components of the robot are
present in the form of modules. The wiring of the robot is well take care of with routes for every type of
wiring path. Thus, the disassembly of the robot has provided us with a deep insight into its working and
construction.