Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372

The video is about Simone Giertz, an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist who is known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products. She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck. The video also discusses her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and her love for building things.

This video by Lex Fridman was published on Apr 16, 2023.
Video length: 01:59:14.

The video is about Simone Giertz, an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her creative and humorous designs.

She has a popular YouTube channel where she showcases her inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck. Giertz talks about her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and how it inspired her to pursue her passion for making things. She also discusses the limitations and frustrations of building and how they can be fun to overcome.

Giertz shares her first cool thing she built, an iPhone case with retractable guitar strings, and how it led her to get a job at Punch to Design, an engineering firm.

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• Her popular designs include a "Proud Parent Machine" that can be given a quarter and a passcode on the shoulder and says "Proud of you, son" or "Proud of you, daughter."
• She has a background in engineering and design and uses her skills to create unique and innovative designs.
• Her work has been a way for her to express herself and her emotions.
• Her personal journey has been a source of inspiration for her work.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her designs and inventions.
• Her channel features a wide range of designs, from "shitty robots" to a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• She often uses humor and creativity in her designs.
• Her channel has been a source of inspiration for many people.

Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372 - YouTube

Simone Giertz's "Proud Parent Machine"

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• One of her popular designs is a "Proud Parent Machine" that can be given a quarter and a passcode on the shoulder and says "Proud of you, son" or "Proud of you, daughter."
• The machine is a motorized arm with a torso of a person, resembling a hand made of laser cut plywood.
• The machine is designed to communicate that it's a parent, not just a collie or something else.
• The machine adds a humorous twist to the concept of a proud parent machine.

Simone Giertz's Personal Journey

• Simone Giertz was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
• Her personal journey has been a source of inspiration for her work.
• She has used her experiences to create unique and innovative designs.
• Her work has been a way for her to express herself and her emotions.
• Her journey has been a testament to the power of creativity and determination.

Simone Giertz's Engineering and Design Process

• Simone Giertz has a background in engineering and design.
• She uses her skills to create unique and innovative designs.
• She often uses humor and creativity in her designs.
• She is constantly experimenting with new materials and techniques.
• Her designs are a reflection of her personality and interests.

Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372 - YouTube

Simone Giertz's Popular YouTube Channel

• Simone Giertz has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her designs and inventions.
• Her channel features a wide range of designs, from "shitty robots" to a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Her channel has gained a large following due to her unique and innovative designs.
• She often uses humor and creativity in her designs.
• Her channel has been a source of inspiration for many people.

Section 1: Introduction

• The video is about Simone Giertz, an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist who is known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• The video also discusses her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and her love for building things.

Section 2: Simone Giertz's First Electronics Project

• Simone Giertz's first electronics project was a guitar string sensor that used capacitive touch to measure the vibration of a guitar.
• She used a Bluetooth Arduino board to measure the capacitive touch and built an iPhone app to interpret the signals and check the type of cord being held.
• The project was a success and demonstrated her love for building things.

Section 3: Simone Giertz's First Hardware Project

• Simone Giertz's first hardware project was a guitar string sensor that used capacitive touch to measure the vibration of a guitar.
• She used a Bluetooth Arduino board to measure the capacitive touch and built an iPhone app to interpret the signals and check the type of cord being held.
• The project was a success and demonstrated her love for building things.

Section 4: Simone Giertz's First iPhone App

• Simone Giertz's first iPhone app was an app that interpreted the signals from the capacitive touch sensor and checked the type of cord being held.
• The app was a success and demonstrated her love for building things.

Simone Giertz's Journey

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Giertz was diagnosed with a brain tumor and her love for building things helped her through her struggle.
• Her first project was an off-road build where she had no instructions and had to rely on her own natural pressure to complete it.
• Giertz's projects often have deadlines built into them, which helps her stay motivated and focused.

Simone Giertz's Product Business

• Giertz started her product business, Code Hangers, which is a mystery product that solves a fundamental problem in the human condition.
• She is excited about the product and cannot wait to release it as an actual product in a year.
• Giertz sees her product as a way to solve a problem that she wants to put to rest.
• She is passionate about the product and sees it as a way to make objects work for her better.

Simone Giertz's Pilot Episode

• Giertz is working on a pilot episode of a show where each episode is about an everyday object and why they look the way they do.
• She has written a pilot episode about forks and it is all about why they look the way they do and how they became the eating implement of the West.
• Giertz is interested in exploring the world around us and making objects work for her better.
• She wants to make an episode about doorknobs and is excited about the potential rabbit hole that will come from it.

Simone Giertz's Love for Building Things

• Giertz loves building things and sees it as a way to make objects work for her better.
• She is passionate about the world around her and sees it as malleable.
• Giertz is always looking for ways to improve her designs and inventions.
• She is excited about the potential for her product business and her pilot episode.

Problems with doors

• Doors are a main problem for humanity because people are often embarrassed by the confusion caused by them.
• Forks affect our eating behaviors and can make us eat faster, slower, take bigger or smaller bites.
• Chopsticks work because they do the food shopping in the kitchen rather than on the plate.
• Institutions control our minds and don't want us to know the truth about why sporks are not more popular.

Imposter syndrome

• Simone Giertz suffered from imposter syndrome when she started working as an engineer.
• She represented the everyday person and understood what everyone needed and wanted.
• She was self-deprecating and leaned into being stupid to channel her imposter syndrome.
• She was happy to adopt the moniker "the queen of shitty robots" because it came from a place of building things that didn't work.

Building things that didn't work

• Simone Giertz built things that didn't work and was happy to fail.
• She didn't set out to do something great, but instead focused on building something that looked funny.
• She realized that there is also a defense mechanism to being self-deprecating, which is beating people to the punch.

Building things that didn't work as a survival tactic

• Simone Giertz used being self-deprecating as a survival tactic on the internet.
• She was terrified to tell people how to do things and still does so today.

Simone Giertz's Inventive Engineering and Design

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor has influenced her love for building things.
• She is the CEO of three businesses and has a skilled background in engineering and design.
• She tries to only do self-deprecation when it's beneficial to her and not when it's harmful.

Simone Giertz's Relationship with Self-Deprecation

• Simone Giertz has a conflicted relationship with self-deprecation.
• She thinks it's probably the hardest when starting out, as nobody takes you seriously.
• Being a woman in a male-dominated field requires trying to make oneself unthreatening.
• Simone Giertz has to be just attractive enough for people not to be offended by her appearance but unattractive enough for people not to sexualize her.
• She has to be just smart and witty enough for people to be impressed but also shoot herself down enough for others not to be able to do it.

Simone Giertz's Skill in Showing Off When Failing or Succeeding

• Simone Giertz has developed a skill in showing off when she fails or succeeds.
• She takes herself too seriously but also reveals her genius and intelligence through humor and self-deprecation.
• She is interested enough in someone to want to read 600 pages about them, talking about themselves.
• She is 32 years old and doesn't know what to write about in an autobiography.
• She feels like her kingdom is based on love or fear of rejection from her.

Simone Giertz's Origin Story as the Queen of Shitty Robots

• Simone Giertz started making little gifts that could be translated into a gif give-forward.
• Her early projects were gift-forward and only done because they could be explained by a seven-second looping video without audio.
• It was a good mental exercise to vet if her project was easy enough to be explained by a seven-second looping video without audio.
• She started making these little gifts as a way to vet if her project was easy enough to be explained by a seven-second looping video without audio.
• Her kingdom is based on love or fear of rejection from her.

Simone Giertz's Inventive Engineering and Design

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor has influenced her love for building things.
• She believes that communication of scientific projects should be visually appealing and easy to understand for people without specialized knowledge.
• Simone Giertz started making projects that were translated into gifts and posted on Reddit's r/slashCityRobots.

Simone Giertz's Early Gifts and YouTube Career

• Simone Giertz's early gifts included a toothbrush helmet that brushes your teeth for you.
• Her first YouTube video was the first gift she uploaded.
• She wanted to do a kids show about electronics in Sweden but was not successful in her initial attempts.
• Simone Giertz built the toothbrush helmet and emailed it to the company she wanted to work for.
• Her first full-time job was within six months of starting to build things.

Simone Giertz's Detailed Design of the Toothbrush Helmet

• The toothbrush helmet has a motor that is like a server.
• It is controlled by an Arduino and has three servo motors.
• The electronics are pre-built in a kit.
• The length of the arm is controlled by programming it to come down to the mouth and brush the teeth.
• The biggest challenge of building the toothbrush helmet was finding a way to loop it with a nice gift.

Simone Giertz's Pilot Episode and YouTube Career

• Simone Giertz's pilot episode was not successful and was not picked up by the company she wanted to work for.
• She then turned to YouTube and was successful in building a following.
• Her pilot episode was embarrassing and cringy, but thankfully it is not on the internet.
• Simone Giertz's biggest struggle was finding a way to loop her gift with a nice pilot episode.
• Her pilot episode was focused on teaching viewers about servo motors.

Simone Giertz's Early Career

• Simone Giertz started her career in her living room, filming videos and experimenting with robots.
• Her first project was a robot that poured cereal and fed her with a spoon.
• The breakfast robot was challenging because it required precise location and many takes to get it right.
• It took 12-10 takes to get the robot working correctly, resulting in a messy room.
• Simone Giertz's early robots were simple and often failed in spectacular ways, but this added to their appeal.

Simone Giertz's Robotics Philosophy

• Simone Giertz believes that partially flawed robots are more endearing and relatable to humans.
• She thinks that anthropomorphizing robots can deepen our connection to them.
• Simone Giertz believes that robots with names and personalities are more appealing to people.
• She thinks that roboticists should avoid giving names or genders to robots to avoid becoming too attached to them.
• Simone Giertz thinks that the value of a flawed robot lies in its ability to teach us about engineering and design.

Simone Giertz's Robotics Projects

• Simone Giertz has created many robots, including a robot that pours cereal and feeds her with a spoon.
• She has also created a robot that can pour soup and a robot that can pour beer.
• Simone Giertz has created a robot with an arm that interacts intimately with a human being.
• She has also created a robot that can defeat a human being in a game of rock-paper-scissors.
• Simone Giertz has created a robot that can play music and dance.

Simone Giertz's Robotics Influences

• Simone Giertz is influenced by the work of other roboticists and engineers.
• She is also influenced by popular culture, such as movies and TV shows.
• Simone Giertz is influenced by her own experiences and interests.
• She is also influenced by the latest technology and trends in robotics.
• Simone Giertz is influenced by the work of other inventors and designers.

Simone Giertz's Influence on Robotics

• Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her incredible and fun designs and inventions, including "shitty robots" and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Her personal journey after being diagnosed with a brain tumor has influenced her love for building things and her perspective on the social element of robotics.
• Giertz believes that humans gain so much value from their interaction with dynamic objects and that we should lean into that aspect of robotics rather than run away from it.
• She emphasizes the importance of social interaction in robotics and the potential for robots to have emotional connections with humans.

Simone Giertz's Personal Journey

• Simone Giertz was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery, which influenced her perspective on life and her love for building things.
• She believes that her experience with the medical community has made her more empathetic and understanding of the importance of human connection.
• Giertz has used her experience with the medical community to inform her designs and inventions, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch.
• She has also used her experience with the medical community to advocate for greater access to technology and healthcare for people with disabilities.
• Giertz has used her platform to raise awareness about the importance of human connection and the potential for technology to enhance that connection.

Simone Giertz's Influence on Robotics Design

• Simone Giertz is known for her creative and humorous approach to robotics design, which has inspired many other designers and engineers.
• She has designed and built a variety of robots, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Giertz has also designed and built robots that are designed to be "shitty," which she believes are more relatable and accessible to people.
• She has used her experience with the medical community to inform her designs and inventions, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch.
• Giertz has used her platform to advocate for greater access to technology and healthcare for people with disabilities.

Simone Giertz's Influence on Robotics Engineering

• Simone Giertz is known for her innovative engineering approach to robotics, which has inspired many other engineers and designers.
• She has designed and built a variety of robots, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch and a Tesla Model 3 converted into a truck.
• Giertz has also designed and built robots that are designed to be "shitty," which she believes are more relatable and accessible to people.
• She has used her experience with the medical community to inform her designs and inventions, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch.
• Giertz has used her platform to advocate for greater access to technology and healthcare for people with disabilities.

Simone Giertz's Influence on Robotics and Society

• Simone Giertz believes that robots have the potential to enhance human connection and social interaction.
• She has designed and built robots that are designed to be "shitty," which she believes are more relatable and accessible to people.
• Giertz has used her experience with the medical community to inform her designs and inventions, including a robotic arm that can mimic human touch.
• She has used her platform to advocate for greater access to technology and healthcare for people with disabilities.
• Giertz has used her experience with the medical community to raise awareness about the importance of human connection and the potential for technology to enhance that connection.

Simone Giertz's Arm

• Simone Giertz built an arm that looks like a hand right.
• The arm is made of laser-cut plywood and has a creepy look.
• The arm is a hand right that is not correct.
• The arm is a commentary on the fraught relationship between parents and their pride in their children.
• The arm is a product design solution to a problem.

Simone Giertz's Music Box

• Simone Giertz built a music box that plays tones into a pan flute.
• The music box pops a sheet of bubble wrap and plays different tones.
• The music box is a pain to build and took a lot of engineering effort.
• The music box is a weird and funny project that took the longest to complete.
• The music box is an engineering challenge because feeding in the bubble wrap sheet needs to be perfectly aligned.

Simone Giertz's Favorite Privilege

• Simone Giertz enjoys her job as an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist.
• Her favorite privilege is the ability to explore any topic that interests her.
• She has a popular YouTube channel where she demonstrates her inventions and designs.
• Simone Giertz is known for her combination of humor and creative design in her systems and products.

Popping Bubble Wrap

• Simone Giertz spent a week trying to find the best material to pop bubble wrap with.
• She discovered that a squishy material like a yoga mat prevented the popping of bubble wrap more reliably.
• The air escapes from one side of the bubble into the other when two rigid tubes are put through a sheet of bubble wrap.
• Simone Giertz realized that increasing the pop reliability was a huge effort.

Bubble Wrap Studies

• Simone Giertz spent weeks studying bubble wrap and its properties.
• She discovered that different qualities of bubble wrap affect how air is transferred between bubbles.
• Simone Giertz realized that there must be good models of the physics of two bubbles colliding.
• She also discovered that materials in bubble wrap must be understood deeply to pop it reliably.

College and Physics

• Simone Giertz went to college for physics but dropped out after one year.
• She realized that she was there for the wrong reasons and became obsessed with getting good grades.
• She wanted to study mechanical engineering but physics was the hardest thing she could do.
• Simone Giertz realized that she was not a specialist in physics and her other parts of her brain dwindled and died.

Section 1: Becoming a Doctor

• The speaker wants to become a doctor and work in a hospital.
• They feel like people have a lot of ideas about what it's like to be a doctor, but it doesn't always match reality.
• They think when people figure out what they want to do, there are two separate questions: what do you actually want to do and what context do you want to do it in.
• The speaker has been building stuff for the last 10 years, but they want to consider the context of where they build it.
• They think sometimes people only learn how to answer the first question, but the context is just as important.

Section 2: College and Resume

• The speaker thinks college is important, but not just for the resume.
• They think college is a place to do hard things and meet fascinating humans from all walks of life.
• The speaker thinks college can help you learn about what inspires you.
• They think college can help you search for what you're passionate about.
• The speaker thinks college can help you find your passion and run with it.

Section 3: Finding Passion

• The speaker thinks people should be doing college or school until they find something that lights their heart on fire.
• They think you can find that in other contexts as well.
• The speaker thinks it's important to find something that you're passionate about and run with it.
• They think it's important to find something that you're passionate about and make it happen.
• The speaker thinks it's important to find something that you're passionate about and make it happen, even when it's difficult.

Section 4: Robotics and Artistic Creation

• The speaker has made many robots and artistic creations.
• They think all of their creations are painful in different ways.
• The speaker is proud of the outcome of their mechanical table project.
• They think the Tambor mechanism of their mechanical table project is cool.
• The speaker thinks it's important to find something that you're passionate about and make it happen, even when it's difficult.

Watch the video on YouTube:
Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372 - YouTube