Robopet , robot dog by Wowwee 2005
This is Robopet in his Trendy I-Robot styled package. Most every box I see from Wowwee reminds me of space or the Movie I-robot with all the Deep contrast and grey / blue scale colors. Grey / blue contrasted colors with a deep black background always remind people of space and high tech future.
Oh yeah I so made him do that. You can tell him to rollover or he can do it when it wants attention.
Oh Noes , Dont trash Robopet! Bad Owner!
You have to give WowWee credit. The company is capitalizing (like nobody's business) on the huge success of last year's WowWee Robosapien robot, rolling out in rapid succession innovative and unusual robot toys for people of all ages. First, we saw the realistic, well-designed Roboraptor. This was followed by an announcement of the promising—though much larger—Robosapien V2. Now we have the quirky Robopet. But whereas Roboraptor and Robosapien displayed flashes of design brilliance and appeal, the $99 Robopet is a blend of love-it-or-hate-it design and somewhat inconsistent operation.
In press materials, Robopet is described as a "futuristic replica of a real pup." That's stretching it a bit, unless future pups are born without skin. Robopet is, more accurately, a skeletal representation of a small Chihuahua's physical anatomy, especially in the legs, which have been engineered to interpret realistically the bones and tendons of a dog. As a result, Robopet can sit, rear back, and even jump like a real dog. The last trick is especially impressive, as the robot does manage to leave the ground.
Robopet Has Skills
Once you get past the faceless (Robopet has no eyes, mouth, nose, or ears to speak of) white, black, and gray exterior, you'll find a robot that has some pretty impressive skills. Like the Roboraptor, Robopet comes with a remote control and is equipped with a range of sensors for sound, image, tilt, and even edge detection. The audio sensors let him respond to loud sounds, the infrared image sensors help him navigate around obstacles, tilt lets him know if he's been knocked down or has fallen over (or is upside down), and the edge detection keeps the 9- by 6-inch (length and height), pint-size pup from falling off tables.
Once you get past the faceless (Robopet has no eyes, mouth, nose, or ears to speak of) white, black, and gray exterior, you'll find a robot that has some pretty impressive skills. Like the Roboraptor, Robopet comes with a remote control and is equipped with a range of sensors for sound, image, tilt, and even edge detection. The audio sensors let him respond to loud sounds, the infrared image sensors help him navigate around obstacles, tilt lets him know if he's been knocked down or has fallen over (or is upside down), and the edge detection keeps the 9- by 6-inch (length and height), pint-size pup from falling off tables.
Functionality of Electronics
Most of these sensors work well. When placed in guard mode, objects and sounds (passing in front of him) will cause him to stand, bark out in alarm, and make other odd distress sounds. The image sensors do help him get around, say, something right in front of his face, but he may miss something below eye level. For example, at one point he began to scamper up our keyboard. Edge detection was a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes he saw the edge of our table, other times not. We do not recommend putting him on a small or narrow table because, when Robopet does see the table edge, he rapidly walks backward to get away from the precipice and sometimes scoots right off the opposite edge, tail first. As you may have guessed, there are no sensors on his rear.
Most of these sensors work well. When placed in guard mode, objects and sounds (passing in front of him) will cause him to stand, bark out in alarm, and make other odd distress sounds. The image sensors do help him get around, say, something right in front of his face, but he may miss something below eye level. For example, at one point he began to scamper up our keyboard. Edge detection was a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes he saw the edge of our table, other times not. We do not recommend putting him on a small or narrow table because, when Robopet does see the table edge, he rapidly walks backward to get away from the precipice and sometimes scoots right off the opposite edge, tail first. As you may have guessed, there are no sensors on his rear.
Robopet Entertaining Tricks
Robopet does a variety of tricks. They are intended to be both naughty and nice. So he can sit, play dead, jump, and roll over. He can also pass gas and "pee" on the rug—the latter involves lifting a leg and making a peeing sound effect. (No actual rugs were harmed in our testing.) The remote lets you launch any of these tricks. It also includes happy- and sad-face buttons, which you use to praise or scold the pet and encourage or discourage behavior. This is the core of Robopet's simple, though elegant, learning abilities. The more praise he receives for a trick, the more often he'll do it. The more negative the feedback, the less often he's apt to, say, pass wind. So Robopet will become the kind of puppy you want: a good natured, well-behaved one--or a slob. If you want to maintain this behavior, you'll want to leave the robot in sleep mode; pressing the sleep button on the remote for 5 seconds puts him to sleep and wakes him up. If you actually turn Robopet off, however, he forgets everything he's learned. Think of him as a robot with short-term memory loss disorder.
Robopet does a variety of tricks. They are intended to be both naughty and nice. So he can sit, play dead, jump, and roll over. He can also pass gas and "pee" on the rug—the latter involves lifting a leg and making a peeing sound effect. (No actual rugs were harmed in our testing.) The remote lets you launch any of these tricks. It also includes happy- and sad-face buttons, which you use to praise or scold the pet and encourage or discourage behavior. This is the core of Robopet's simple, though elegant, learning abilities. The more praise he receives for a trick, the more often he'll do it. The more negative the feedback, the less often he's apt to, say, pass wind. So Robopet will become the kind of puppy you want: a good natured, well-behaved one--or a slob. If you want to maintain this behavior, you'll want to leave the robot in sleep mode; pressing the sleep button on the remote for 5 seconds puts him to sleep and wakes him up. If you actually turn Robopet off, however, he forgets everything he's learned. Think of him as a robot with short-term memory loss disorder.
Autonomous Mode
As a semiautonomous robot, Robopet can do most of these tricks at will, but you can also program him to do one or any of them at any time by hitting the tricks (star) button on the remote and then transmitting the command with the execute button. Commands can be bundled together—up to 20, in fact—and delivered to the Robopet in batch form. We started by hitting the program button and then used the tricks and the directional buttons (there are four) to program him to walk forward, backward, left, and right, and then roll over and play dead. We hit the program button to end the sequence, and execute to transmit it all to Robopet. He performed all the moves without a hitch.
As a semiautonomous robot, Robopet can do most of these tricks at will, but you can also program him to do one or any of them at any time by hitting the tricks (star) button on the remote and then transmitting the command with the execute button. Commands can be bundled together—up to 20, in fact—and delivered to the Robopet in batch form. We started by hitting the program button and then used the tricks and the directional buttons (there are four) to program him to walk forward, backward, left, and right, and then roll over and play dead. We hit the program button to end the sequence, and execute to transmit it all to Robopet. He performed all the moves without a hitch.
One of Robopet's best tricks is rolling over. He does this by twisting his body at the waist. To get up, he collapses his legs on one side and then twists his body to roll one set of feet over to the ground so he can push himself upright. It's cool to watch, and it's even more entertaining when he throws himself over on the ground to play dead and then has to get back up. This trick, too, has a downside. If Robopet is on a table, he will sometimes roll right off the edge. Again, he has no sensors on his side.
No Volume Control -
Unlike Roboraptor, this robot offers no touch sensitivity. So he's not a robot you'll want to caress. In fact, picking him up when he's awake is itself problematic. At least two people got their fingers pinched when trying to hold the rambunctious pup. And like the Roboraptor, Robopet is quite loud (certainly not office-friendly) and offers no volume control.
Unlike Roboraptor, this robot offers no touch sensitivity. So he's not a robot you'll want to caress. In fact, picking him up when he's awake is itself problematic. At least two people got their fingers pinched when trying to hold the rambunctious pup. And like the Roboraptor, Robopet is quite loud (certainly not office-friendly) and offers no volume control.
End Review
Overall, I am a little disappointed by Robopet. Yes, he's entertaining, and programming his actions and watching him roam and do tricks is fun. But we think this is a rare case where WowWee has overpriced its robot and missed the mark on consumer-friendly design. Maybe future Robopets will be more child friendy, with touch sensors and know when it is picked up. For adults at home he can be fun or maybe modify the little guys speaker so hes not so loud or has sound on a switch. At that point he would be fun to run around the office floor at times. This robot really should have been a 40-50 dollar robot.
Robopet begins shipping in September 2005. Sold for 99.99 when released.
Overall, I am a little disappointed by Robopet. Yes, he's entertaining, and programming his actions and watching him roam and do tricks is fun. But we think this is a rare case where WowWee has overpriced its robot and missed the mark on consumer-friendly design. Maybe future Robopets will be more child friendy, with touch sensors and know when it is picked up. For adults at home he can be fun or maybe modify the little guys speaker so hes not so loud or has sound on a switch. At that point he would be fun to run around the office floor at times. This robot really should have been a 40-50 dollar robot.
Robopet begins shipping in September 2005. Sold for 99.99 when released.
Pictures Obtained from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,1853583,00.asp
Thanks to pcmag.com
2 comments:
Hi do u know where I can buy parts for this model? I need paws my little one broken them .. Thank u
Hi I have one of these I saved from my kids years ago and still works great, but I am missing the battery cover. where can I get on. Thanks
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