Recreate Doctor Who’s K9 With the Raspberry Pi Zero W

Whether you have a passing familiarity with Doctor Who, or are a dedicated “Whovian,” you likely recognize his robotic dog, K9. Now, using modern electronics and quite a bit of acrylic, Maker James West recreated this creature as a kid’s toy.

A Raspberry Pi Zero W provides the brains for this little mechatronic beast, which can roll around, speak lines from the TV show via a Pimoroni Speaker pHat, and even light up via an LED mounted behind a red Perspex eyepiece. K9 is powered by four AA batteries with the Pi connected to a USB powerbank that can be recharged by an extension mounted on the back panel.

It can be remotely operated using a Wiimote, which conveniently pairs with the Zero W for easy movement and audio control.

Code for the project is available here, and you can see it in action in the video below. If you’d like more info on setting up a Wiimote with a Raspberry Pi, check out the second clip for a tutorial involving an earlier Pi version.