Hack A Teddy Bear To Say Anything

Bringing Teddy Ruxpin back

By Andrew Rosenblum

Updated Jun 9, 2021 12:02 PM EDT

Gustavo Huber

In the 1980s, a talking teddy bear called Teddy Ruxpin took the world by storm. Now, Oakland engineer Andrew Langley is bringing Teddy back. He hacked the bear’s circuitry and installed C.H.I.P., the $9 computer that his company, Next Thing, had just crowd-funded. The 1-GHz computer can run text-to-voice algorithms that let the bear read anything.

Stats

Time: 3 hours
Cost: About $85
Difficulty: Medium

Tools + Materials

Teddy Ruxpin (make sure the jaw and eye motors still work)
Screwdriver
Wirecutters
Soldering iron
C.H.I.P. computer
SparkFun Motor Driver, Dual TB6612FNG
3.5 mm audio cable
3.7-volt single-cell Li-po battery

Instructions

motor in the back of a teddy bear — Photograph by Michael Bucuzzo

connecting wires in a motor — Photograph by Michael Bucuzzo

Wiring Diagram of a motor driver — Courtesy Next Thing Co

connecting audio output wires — Photograph by Michael Bucuzzo

backside of a motorized teddy bear — Photograph by Michael Bucuzzo

This article was originally published in the May/June 2016 issue of Popular Science, under the title “Hack a Teddy Bear to Say Anything.”