The Wowwee Roboquad

This is one of the most versatile of Wowwee. It looks like an arachnid and walks like an arachnid but is four legs short of being an arachnid. Its body has been compared to an airport hanger and its head, perched high on its long neck can rotate  360 degrees, reminiscent of the Exorcist movie.

TheRoboquad can be controlled by his remote or from a PC, equipped with an IR transmitter running Robodance. He can move in several directions and is one of the most stable of robots in the Wowwee family. He is also a versatile dancer and puts on a fine show when you hit the demo function on the remote.

Shown below is a video of the Roboquad equipped with a webcam and controlled by Robodance to make a neat surveillance device. This video was created by Robert Oschler, the creator of Robodance.In the video we see Mr. Oschler control his Roboquad using Skype commands.

Wowwee has since created the Rovio which is customized for surveillance.



Related links:

The Roboquad on RobotsRule

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The Wowwee Tribot

Tribot




Released in 2008, the Tribot is another cool robot from Wowwee. It comes in twocolors, red and white. Unlike the Robosapien or his mate the Femisapien, the Tribot does talk. This is quite a detriment as it can be quite annoying.

He has three wheels and can move in six directions. He can also panic and sound an alarm by thrusting out his ears and screaming.

One of the modes he can be put in is the guard mode. Here he says quiet until he dectects motion in his path. When he does, he screams and raises his alarm.

Remote controlling of the Tribot is one of his most advanced features. The remote comes with buttons to move him in different directions and perform impressive routines. However, the coolest feature is that one can control the Tribot's motion simply by holding down a button at the bottom of the remote and then waving the remote in the direction he wants the Tribot to take.

Mr. Personality, another Robot made by Wowwee is an advanced version of the Tribot.

Related Links:

 Tribot on RobotsRule

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The Femisapien and the Robosapien

As mentioned earlier, I dig robots. Having done a few personal projects and one at MIT on Lego Mindstorms, I have now gotten into the world of WowWee, makers of some of the best robotic toys this decade.
Robosapien


 This robot, initially conceived by Mark Tilden was first released by Wowwee in 2003. It incorporated some of the most advanced capabilities for its time walking with legs, and  grasping and even throwing small objects.

It created a huge hacker community that has over the years created many hardware are software hacks.  Among the most popular of these is Robodance created by Robert Oschler.

Using Robodance, one may control the Robosapein from a PC using key strokes, voice control or by a Wiimote.  The Robosapien does not speak words. He grunts, farts and groans. This is fine with me. Some of the newer robots from Wowwee do come with speech but many of them simply have annoying voices.

Wowwee has since released several cool robots, one of which is featured below.

Femisapien

In 2008, Wowwee released  a mate for the Robosapien, the Femisapien. The Femisapien is a beautiful robot that moves with an elegant feminine grace. It does not come with a remote, for good reason.

There are many ways to interact with the Femisapien. One his through her joystick arms. Another by waving a hand in front of her face. Thirdly, one may control her using the remote control that comes with the Robosapien.
Infact, one can use the Robosapien remote to control the Femisapien to run joint interactive routines between the Robosapien and Femisapien.

Like the Robosapien, the Femisapien does not speak words.Unlike him, she squeals and giggles.And boy, can she dance? This robot moves with feline grace and and dance beautifully. Hold down her head for a couple of seconds and she will perform some beautiful moves to music.






Related Links
Robosapien on Wikipedia
Robosapien in RobotsRule
Femisapien on RobotsRule
Femisapien  on Wikipedia 

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Robots of Christmas Past - I

While kids of all ages embrace the Pleo as a companion, an almost forgotten robot dog from almost a decade ago, I-Cybie demands attention for being a technological marvel and for manifesting the talents of its creators, Silverlit Electronics.

Released in 2000 and marketed by Tiger Electronics and then by Hasboro, the I-Cybie packs personality along with its innate cuteness factor. Along with the soon to be reviewed Wowwee Robopet, I-Cybie was intended to be a cheaper alternative to the then famous Sony Aibo.

The I-Cybie, like its cousin the Aibo is now discontinued. I was lucky to get my hands on on. There are three ways to make the I-Cybie obey its human lord-master. You are hereby warned that none of these ways is guaranteed to work all the time. The I-Cybie responds to sound. You can use your voice to give it simple commands or use claps to make it respond to you.

Like most other robots, the I-cybie can also respond to a remote control. The I-Cybie also came with a charger but unfortunately a four to six hour charge could disappear after a two hour play with the I-Cybie.

These two hours could however, be two hours of indulgent fun as you watch and play with the I-Cybie. I-Cybie is e effortlessly and realistically walks about, negotiating obstacles in his environment using his eyes that pack light sensors. His eyes can change from yellow to green to red.

His limbs are among the most amazing mechanical marvels I have seen. As he comes to life after a fresh charge, he goes through a few amazing motions which include push ups and some dexterous twists and turns.

His master can also set his moods to friendly, disobedient and so on. When commanded either by voice, clap or a remote the I-Cybie responds, often, in unpredictable ways.

Growing up, I remember an old TV ad that said, ' A thing of quality has no fear of time.' Undoubtedly the I-Cybie qualifies as such a 'thing'.

While the I-Cybie was not intended to be hacker friendly, some brave souls have actually managed to hack it. The bravest among them have actually taken I-cybie apart and dug deep into his wiring. This is a realm I will avoid... for now.

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