HOME / PERSONAL PROJECTS / LOVEBOT BEATING HEART

When the Lovebot toy Kickstarter came out I knew I needed one. I was a big fan of Lovebot and wanted to have one of my own. As anyone who has pledged their money to a Kickstarter campaign before might expect though, it took a while for the toy to arrive. 

In that time I had a chance to meet with the creator of Lovebot, Matt. We got along well and we brainstormed many times about new ways to incorporate technology and circuit boards into his art pieces. I ended up working with him on a project involving Lovebot heart-shaped circuit boards which would blink their LEDs like a heartbeat.

When my Lovebot toy finally arrived I took the design from that project and scaled it down to match the toy’s heart size and had a batch of PCBs printed up. I assembled one and I was able to easily put a hole in the back of the toy’s heart cavity and use the hollow interior to store a battery and charging circuit.

Many people had taken to customizing their Lovebot toys by painting them but this was the first one that had a beating heart installed. When I showed it off to Matt he loved it. He even made up some clear resin hearts for me to replace the original opaque one and complete the aesthetic. The heart stayed as a personal project but those who I showed it off to loved the execution and I was very happy to have been able to collaborate on such a cool project with an awesome local artist.