Hair Cutting Robot

The aim of this project was to design and develop a functioning prototype of an automatically adjustable hair clipper. This hair clipper will enable the user to cut their own hair or that of someone else without the need to change the clipper guard at any point throughout the process. As an automatic system, the clipper’s main function will be to identify its location with respect to the user’s head while allowing the user to select their chosen haircut lengths at given regions of the head. In doing so the clipper will be able to match the cut length to the user’s choices and automatically adjust the clipper guard to the prescribed length. This will make for a much more user friendly experience, while allowing the user to keep a consistent haircut in the future. By programming, using microprocessors, and building several key components of the clipper, a device capable of the above-mentioned features is built. The key to constructing such a device is of course the method of tracking the position of the clipper around the user’s head, something that will be accomplished by using IMUs (Inertial measurement Unit). The device will make use of the on-board IMUs (gyroscope and accelerometer) to measure its orientation (Yaw, Pitch and Roll), from which the clippers position can be estimated. The positioning approach is based on the fact that the clipper’s blade surface is tangent to the head surface the orientation at each section will be unique.

The video below explains the How the system works: