Game Day, Gemini Thinking, and Building R2D2 Mini

Hope you enjoy this episode!

As an aged father of little ones, I can’t write AND podcast at the same time. My sleep-deprived brain just can’t handle it.

So yes, the written version below is, in fact, AI generated based on what I discuss on the pod. Thus, the best experience I think is the audio, but in case you can’t experience that, a written version is below.

Let me know if you enjoy it by subscribing below, I hope you do! See you next week…

Slides are also here for visual reference:

https://gamma.app/docs/Game-Day-Gemini-Thinking-and-Building-R2D2-Mini-iuwljzzmor6wu2o

Robotics Scholar: Week 48 Recap

Gemini 3 is brilliant but slow, the “Code Red” at OpenAI is real, and I’m pivoting the robot build.

Welcome to the Robotics Scholar Podcast (formerly the Millennial Podcast—we re-branded!). This is Week 48. If you love all things AI and robotics, you are in the right place.

We have a lot to cover, from Google’s ecosystem dominance to building R2D2. But first, I have to say it: Hook ‘em Horns.

I had a great Thanksgiving watching my Longhorns beat the crap out of Texas A&M. Big Brother is back, baby. If you’re an Aggie fan, I’m sorry, but we are the best football team in Texas. It was a lot of fun, and fingers crossed we make a run in the College Football Playoff.

Now, let’s hop into the AI stuff.

The Gemini 3 Dilemma: Brilliant, but Slow

I’ve officially switched to using Gemini over ChatGPT, especially given the new Gemini 3 upgrade. As I mentioned last week, Gemini has huge advantages simply by being part of the Google platform.

However, I have one major gripe: It is so slow.

It’s amazing to use Gemini 3 with personalization, memory, and reasoning. You get incredibly high-quality answers. But man, the speed is an issue. I don’t think they could do “Gemini 3 Fast” fast enough (pardon the pun).

I truly believe that once they fix the speed, their usage and the quality of the experience will skyrocket. I keep looking it up, asking, “When is Gemini 3 Fast coming?” and the rumors say end of the year or early next year. Please, Google, give it to me. I’m on YouTube now asking: Give me Fast.

The ChatGPT “Code Red” is Real

We need to talk about the “Code Red” at OpenAI because it is very real.

The reason Gemini is winning right now isn’t just the model; it’s the experience surrounding the model.

For example, I wanted to put all my notes into ChatGPT to drive my planning and productivity experience. I simply can’t do that. It’s buggy. Canvas doesn’t really work for that purpose yet.

Meanwhile, Google has Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and Gmail all integrated natively. Everything just kind of works. This is where ChatGPT is struggling to compete. I’m even thinking about moving to Antigravity for coding.

I think Sam Altman is right to be worried. This is going to be their biggest challenge over the next few months. Competitors are coming. They need to cancel those trillion-dollar data center plans, put their heads down, and fix the product experience.

Robotics Update: The Pivot to R2D2 Mini

Since changing the personality tones for Gemini, the AI has been very forthcoming with me. It’s been “telling it like it is.”

My original plan was to print a life-sized R2D2. I thought it would be a fun way to learn robotics and how to use the Orin Nano chip I have. But the reality? That project is going to take 6 to 8 months to print.

Gemini basically told me: “You’re wasting your time building life-sized versions. You should think about using R2D2 to learn, but focus on designing your own robot.”

So, I listened. We are pivoting to the R2D2 Mini.

It’s a great learning device. It’s simpler—just three wheels, navigation, stopping, and those classic beeps. I suspect the LLM was trained on Star Wars data from the 70s and 80s, so it should handle this well.

I’ve already got the base here and just finished printing the right foot. We’re going to do this for the next month or two to get the fundamentals down.

The Big Challenge: Designing From Scratch

This brings me to the second part of Gemini’s advice: How do you design your own robot from scratch?

I have been in software engineering, design, and product management for over 15 years. But taking a physical hardware product to production? That is a massive new challenge. Honestly, I don’t know how to do it yet.

Early research points to using platforms like Fiverr or CAD Corner for sourcing designs. I don’t know if that’s going to work, but it’s going to be an adventure finding out.

The MVP Concept: I want to keep it simple. I’m thinking of a cute home monitoring robot.

• It checks if the stove is on or off.

• It helps ensure you unplugged the curling iron.

• It monitors rooms while you are away.

Nothing crazy. Just a practical, fun experience with a cute robot face. Eventually, maybe it evolves into doing laundry, but for now, we focus on the form factor and the basics.

Wrapping Up

We’ve got the tools. We’ve got the Jetson. We’ve got the 3D printer. We’re going to figure this out.

I hope you guys enjoyed the rebrand—calling this the Robotics Scholar feels right (the “Millennial” thing was dating me a bit). And I hope you enjoyed the look at the new “studio” (aka the playroom with the kids’ Elf on the Shelf watching us).

I’m plugging away and hoping to get something out in December or January. See y’all next week!

---

Thanks for reading/watching. If you have any tips on hardware design or CAD resources, drop them in the comments!