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Acoustic & Audio AIReference design

Conversational Desktop Robot

A desktop robot setup that turns Reachy Mini into a talking companion for reception desks, showrooms, trade show stands and teaching labs. Speech recognition, a local language model and speech synthesis run on a reComputer, and the robot answers with voice plus head and antenna movement. After setup it runs offline, with no cloud service involved.

Robotics and educationRetail

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Empty college computer lab in Telangana with rows of desks, monitors and chairs — Photo: Pranayraj1985, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Shows the setting, not this installation.

< 1 s: Reply time claimed in the headline (page says this was not measured end to end)
14: Emotions the robot can show with head and antennas
~30 s: Time until the robot starts talking once services are up
~10 min: First-start download and warm-up of the language model

Results reported by the design's authors on their own test setups. Yours depend on the site, so we confirm them in a pilot.

The problem

Why it matters.

Desktop robots need a voice layer to listen, answer and show emotion while keeping the conversation on site.

The flow

From signal to action.

01SenseListenThe robot's microphone picks up a visitor speaking.
02DecideSpeech to textChinese or English speech is turned into text on the Jetson.
03DecideLocal LLMA local language model, Qwen3.5-4B in the all-in-one preset, writes the reply.
04ActSpeak and moveThe reply is spoken aloud while head and antennas show one of 14 emotions.
05SenseVisionIn parallel, the camera finds faces, reads expressions and follows people.
06PeopleDashboardStaff watch the conversation log and adjust persona, volume and sensitivity in a browser.

Deployment architecture

How it is wired.

The devices on site, what carries their data, where the decision is made and where the result goes.

01SenseOn site

USB camera

02ConnectCarries the data

Wi-Fi

03DecideRuns the model

reComputer J4012 (J40 Series, Orin NX 16GB)1 per robot
reComputer AI Industrial R2135-12
Qwen3.5-4B

04Your systemsWhere results land

Reachy Mini SDK
OpenAI-compatible API
JetPack 6.x
USB

05ActWhat happens next

Reachy Mini1 per robot
Speak and move

How it works

Step by step.

01Pick a preset: one Jetson does everything, or a separate host runs the robot with a Jetson for speech.
02Connect the robot by USB, or put the wireless version on the same network as the Jetson.
03Install with internet the first time, then wait about 10 minutes for the model to warm up.
04Set the persona and voice settings in the dashboard or config files.
05Visitors speak and the robot replies with speech and movement, or talks to itself when idle at a stand.

The hardware

What goes on site.

Items we stock can go straight in the bag. Everything else we source and quote with the installation.

Reachy MiniRobot body with head, antennas, mic, speaker and camera1 per robotSourced on quote
reComputer J4012 (J40 Series, Orin NX 16GB)All-in-one host, or remote Jetson for speech and the language model1 per robotSourced on quote
reComputer AI Industrial R2135-12Robot services host with Hailo-8 vision1 per robot, preset 2 onlySourced on quote
Reachy Mini WirelessCable-free robot with onboard CM41 per robot, preset 3 onlySourced on quote
USB cameraVision input for the R2135-12 presetSourced on quote

Before you install

A fairly quiet room where the robot can pick out a single voice.
Internet for setup, around 5 GB of services and 1.5 GB of model, then none.
A desk with the speaker facing forward and a USB cable to the computer beside it, unless using the wireless robot.
At least 15 GB free disk on the Jetson and about 6 GB of GPU memory for the model.
A power point at the desk for the robot and computer.

Good to know

Noisy halls make it hard for the robot to hear one person.
Answers come from a small local model with no web access, so it should not be used for medical, safety or sales commitments.
Speech is Chinese and English only. Hindi and other Indian languages are not listed.
The headline sub-second reply is a claim, not an end-to-end measurement, and one Jetson is sized for one robot.

How we deliver it

Paper to site, one team.

01Site surveyWe walk the site, or review photos and drawings, and agree what to measure and where each device goes.
02PilotOne lane, one line or one room first. We tune it on your conditions and agree what good looks like.
03Roll outWe supply the hardware in India with GST invoices, install it, and connect it to the systems you already run.
04SupportSpares, remote checks and model updates, with one team to call when something changes.

Questions

Asked before buying.

Does it speak Hindi?

No. The page lists Chinese and English speech only.

Does it need internet at the event?

No. Internet is only needed for the first install, after that it runs offline.

Can one computer run several robots?

The guide pairs one robot with one set of services. Sharing a Jetson needs your own load test.

Want this on your site?

Tell us the site and the problem. We come back with a pilot plan and a priced hardware list.

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Want this on your site?

In-Person Conversation Intelligence

Counter Audio Capture & Analytics

AI Voice Warehouse Management