Robosapien Robot

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Julie

September 03, 2004

 

What fascinates we humans so much about robots? From the menacing Gort in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, to the lovable Rosie the robot maid in the Jetson's, robots continue to amuse and capture our imagination. Is it that we want to use them as beasts of burden, or as friendly companions? Whatever the reason, I've personally  always had an interest in robots and robot toys. I never had one as a child (unless you count the one I made from my Dad's old Erector set...), so when Scott from ThinkGeek.com asked if I would like to review Robosapien, it didn't take me long to say heck yeah!

A week or so later, I arrived home after work to see that the UPS person had dropped a big box off on my doorstep. Inside was the Robosapien package.

Photo courtesy of Thinkgeek.com

 

Included In The Packaging:

The Robosapien robot
User's manual
Handheld infrared remote control
Black plastic cup

My first thought upon seeing this robot was that it reminded me of a Star Wars Storm Trooper. Only on steroids and really little. ;o)  The Robosapien is made of similar looking shiny white plastic with black accents.

Even though his height is only about 14 inches tall, Robosapien is a hefty little robot. He weighs in at approximately 4.5 pounds with batteries installed. Speaking of batteries, I was quite disappointed when I realized that none were included with the robot. He requires 4 D sized cells and 3 AAA sized cells for the remote. I actually had to wait an extra day and shell out approximately $12 before I could even see this product in action.

Once the batteries were in hand, I was ready to play. The two D sized cells install in a cavity located in the bottom of each of the robot's feet. A small sized Philips screwdriver is required to remove the battery covers. The 3 AAA batteries install into the handheld remote.

Pressing the power button on the back shoulder of the robot wakes him up. His first actions are to stretch his arms, swivel his hips and make a little uh-huh sound. Too cute! If you ignore him for 2 minutes or so, he'll go into a sleep mode. After 2hrs, he'll shut off automatically. You should get about 6hrs of continuous play from one set of batteries.

Not one to read directions before proceeding, I picked up the remote and began pressing buttons. Like a keyboard, each button on the remote has multiple functions. Three to be exact. Each button performs a function after just pressing the button. Pressing the Select button once and the same button causes a different action to execute, and pressing the select button twice with the same button enables a third function. The buttons and functions are labeled and color coded to enable ease of use. 

Photo courtesy of Thinkgeek.com

The top grouping of buttons controls the arm movements, while the middle section of buttons control foot movements. The lower section of buttons controls the programmable features.

The IR receiver is built into the top of Robosapien's head. Two red LED eyes blink at you whenever he executes a command. The head even moves as he walks or swings his arms. A visor can slide down over the 'face' of the robot to help when lighting may be too bright (outside in the sun) for the IR remote to work.

Robosapien has several sensors including one on each heal and toe and one on the longest finger of each hand. Pressing the sensors can wake up the robot when it is sleeping, or cause it to stop and say ouch when it runs into something. There's also a sonic sensor on the front which senses sounds while in listen mode. More about that in a minute. It's too bad that Robosapien can't 'see' things, recognize objects or words like the Sony AIBO can.

Each arm has a different shaped 'hand' attached to the end of it. One hand has flat style fingers while the other one resembles a claw. An LED is located in the palm of each hand. It doesn't really do anything other than look cool. The different hand shapes facilitate the ability to pick up different types of objects. A small black plastic cup is included. Check out the video clip that I made of Robosapien picking up and throwing the cup.

Click image to see .wmv movie (700k)

Robosapien has 67 functions that are available through the handheld remote control. These functions include both movements and sounds:

1) Right Arm Up 2) Right Arm Down 3) Right Arm In ( LFT) Left Spin/Walk Button 4) Right Arm Out (FWD) Forward Walk/Slow 5) Tilt Body Right (BK) Backward Walk/Slow 6) Left Arm Up (RSD) Right Shoulder Down 7) Left Arm Down (LSD) Left Shoulder Down 8) Left Arm In (RSU) Right Shoulder Up 9) Left Arm Out (LSU) Left Shoulder Up 10) Tilt Body Right (RFO) Right Forearm Out 11) Turn Right 12) Walk Forward 13) STOP Button 14) Turn Left 15) Walk Backward 16) (R>) Right Sensor Program 17) (S>) Sonic Program 18) (L>) Left Sensor Program 19) (R>) Right Sensor Program 20) (P) Master Command Program 21) (SELECT) Advance to GREEN Keys 22) Right Hand Thump 23) Left Hand Pickup 24) Lean Backward 25) Right Hand Throw 26) Sleep 27) Left Hand Thump 28) Left Hand Pickup 29) Lean Forward 30) Left Hand Throw 31) Listen 32) Forward Step 33) Right Turn Step 34) Backward Step

35) Right Sensor Program Execute 36) Master Command Program Execute 37) Wake Up 38) Reset 39) Left Turn Step 40) (SELECT) Advance to ORANGE Keys 41) Left Sensor Program Execute 42) Sonic Sensor Program Execute 43) Right Hand Sweep 44) High 5 45) Right Hand Strike 1 46) Burp 47) Right Hand Strike 2 48) Left Hand Sweep 49) Talk Back 50) Left Hand Strike 1 51) Whistle 52) Left Hand Strike 2 53) Bulldozer 54) Right Hand Strike 3 55) Oops! 56) Demo1 57) All Demo 58) Power Off 59) Roar 60) Left Hand Strike 3 61) (Select) Return to RED Command Functions 62) Demo2 63) Dance Demo 64) <, < Combination "Right Walk Turn" 65) >, > Combination "Left Walk Turn" 66) Forward, Forward Combination "Slow Walk Forward" 67) Backward, Backward Combination "Slow Walk Backward"

Besides these simple functions, you can also program Robosapien to execute 'macros'. These macros can include 14 commands (steps). Although they can't be saved, they will be retained for up to 2hrs after the robot goes to sleep.

There are 4 programs that can be created:

1. Master Program. General control programs
2. Right Sensor Program. Triggered by touch to finger, toe or heel sensor on right side
3. Left Sensor Program. Triggered by touch to finger, toe or heel sensor on left side
4. Sonic Sensor Program. Triggered by a sharp sound or tap on his body

You can extend the 14 step limitation by linking in a program from all 4 sensors. If you visit the Robosapienonline website, there is even a set of program instructions that you can download to turn your robot into a sentry guard.

I didn't really get into creating programs for the robot since I knew they would be lost as soon as I turned him off. I enjoyed just pushing buttons and experimenting with different objects to see if I could get him to pick them up.

Arm and body movements are surprisingly smooth and make a really cool hydraulic type noise. He can also walk well on any hard flat surface. Some of the demo modes will actually cause you to laugh out loud. The many sounds that he can make are also amusing, like the hiiiiiya! karate chop sound. Check out a movie that I made of the Robosapien in dance mode. He's even playing his own music!

Click image to see .wmv movie (2mb)

Robosapien makes a great toy for both kids and adults. Kids ages 6 and up will have no trouble pressing buttons on the remote in order to control his movements. Just don't let the kids drop Robosapien. Although he feels pretty sturdy, I'm quite sure that a short fall onto a hard surface would damage him.

Adults can take controlling Robosapien to the next level by using a Palm PDA and an application called SapBench. This program turns the Palm PDA into the handheld remote.

I had a ton of fun playing with this robot. Even my kitten Max made friends!

Even though I've never had a robot toy before, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that Robosapien has to be one of the best available.

 

Price: $89.99 from ThinkGeek.com

Pros:
Fun!
More fun!

Cons:
Batteries not included
Programs aren't retained after robot shuts off