HP Innovation Journal Issue 04: Fall 2016 | Page 26

MAKER SPOTLIGHT
Roboheads unite
Creating a community for makers and robotics enthusiasts
The Maker Community has transformed the way
people collaborate at HP, enabling them to innovate,
build and allow employees to explore additional pas-
sions outside of their day jobs. Will Allen, HP Fellow,
shares how the Maker Community has removed
inhibitors to innovation and offered employees to
gain new skills and experiences. and personal computers. In fact, we can use
the motor system in a printer that moves paper
to move the robot. It’s fun to take elements
that we already have and put them together
in a way that’s new to us to find a solution to
improve people’s lives.
What does the Maker
Community mean for
innovation at HP? How does your maker spirit
manifest itself in your
everyday life?
It gives all HP employees greater access to in-
novation and group collaboration. Multiple sites
have MakerSpaces with equipment so people
can create and explore on their own. Thanks
to HP’s enormous resources, we’ve been able
to do some amazing things. The level of tech-
nology and people that we have access to is
phenomenal, so it allows passionate people to
come together to innovate.
The Maker Community provides a link into
HP’s vast technical organization. It provides
hands-on learning for local employees; and an
opportunity for employees all over the world
to volunteer and get involved in large-scale
projects they might not participate in.
What project are you currently
working on in the HP
MakerSpace?
We’re exploring the possibilities of modular
robotics. For example, one module could add
a telepresence component. Telepresence ro-
bots allow you to be somewhere else. Instead
of simply being a voice on the phone, you have
coordinates in the room, a view of people’s
facial expressions, and a better interaction.
Another module could be a pill reminder
and dispenser, addressing the needs of the
growing aging populations around the world.
26 Innovation Journal · Issue 4 · Fall 2016
Will Allen (far left), with team members Luke Thomas and
Shannon Norrell (left to right) with the Maker Community’s
modular robot.
Another could be a secure printer, a video pro-
jector, even a remote dog biscuit dispenser.
The possibilities are endless.
How did this project come
together?
We started by looking at how people commu-
nicate and interact. How we could bring people
together over distance, at work and at home,
and help them communicate better. The whole
project has truly been a grassroots effort from
people all over the company contributing ideas
and work. It is a focal point which allows folks
all across HP to contribute and grow capabilities
way beyond the initial dreams and aspirations.
Is this new territory for HP?
Not at all. It reminds me of when I first started
at HP in 1983 and our managers would say,
“Carve time out on Friday afternoon to do
anything you think is important.” We’re just
building on that.
Our latest robotics project is a mashup be-
tween two things we already make: printers
I play bass guitar in a band and there are a
lot of similarities between innovating at work
and making music. When good musicians
get going, one person will take a solo and the
next person will take what they hear and in-
corporate something else and lift the song to
a new level. In our Maker Community, people
contribute and riff off one another to expand
ideas and make better innovations.
What does Keep Reinventing
mean to you?
Invention is standing on the shoulders of giants,
and then you get to add another little layer or
tile on the stack for somebody else. The innova-
tive energy at HP is amazing, and I can’t imag-
ine myself anywhere else. I feel like I’m sitting
on top of an Apollo rocket going to the moon.
Visit HP CTO’s YouTube page: http://bit.
ly/hpctoyoutube to learn more about the HP
Maker Community and see