Today, I want to show you the process behind B·Day Bot's external parts:

You'll see, one of the goals of this project was to make a robot that could look aesthetically pleasing, instead of focusing purely on its functionality; and that every part of it would follow a "theme". In this case, a birthday cake.

For this reason, a lot of its parts (such as switches, pushbuttons and knobs) are disguised as cake toppings, candies or other kind of decorations.

In this case, I am turning a potentiometer (that will be used to control the volume of the music) into a cherry topping.

After designing the model in SolidWorks, the part is 3D printed and then tested to see if it fits properly over the part that is going to disguise.

If everything works as expected, the parts are then hand painted to give them their final appearance. This time, I'm using a couple of spare potentiometers to aid me with the painting job. This way, it's easier to apply the paint evenly.

This is the power button, which has been disguised in a similar way. When finished, the volume knob will have a similar appearance.