You Like Roboquad? Info and feedback

I haven't got my roboquad yet, getting it for Christmas. My guesses for your questions would be:

Yes, I will like my roboquad

No, he won't store programs when switched off (like the Robosapien V1 and such)

I guess they would show it walking faster if it could so No, probably not.

Nope, no speach recognition capabilities in a bog-standard Roboquad, you'll need some extra kit for that such as a PC running DanceStudio (I think thats what was used, lemme dig up the skype interface video).

Better than I-Cybie? Dunno, thats down to personal preference, budget, required features, taste and countless other factors. What do you want it for? What do you plan to do with it? I plan to hack in some extra electronics and reverse engineer it to see if theres anything I could improve (which is highly unlikely but worth a shot).

Not stupid questions at all, if no-one asked questions where would we be today? There would certainly be a massive lack of communication. So ask some more, get some discussion going and most importantly have fun .

Sorry to hear you're not impressed menno. Where do you think it could be improved? What were your expectations?

It depends on what you expect. I enjoy it as a unique robot with very unique movements, and a pretty good exploring personality for leaving it alone in a room. It can even move on carpet.
IMHO: if this is your first robot toy, you might be disappointed.

If you want a biped, I recommend starting with the RSV1 or perhaps an i-Sobot.
For a 4 legged robot, the iCybie is a great place to start, if you can find one (especially with a cartridge)
If looking for wheeled robots, typically in kit form, there are many options (upcoming Spyke robot, Lego NXT kit, other smaller programmable robot kits, ...). The experience is different.

The Roboquad is not a strong personality robot (it won't talk to you in an annoying hillbilly voice), but it is a good remote control toy.

(NOTE demo is for the Skype phone service, not the Spyke robot)

Much cheaper in the USA ($90 USD which is approx €54 EURO these days)

Awareness is interesting subject. I have been wondering Robopet. He seems just to walk around. Anyway something interesting happens when Pet meets new robot friends. I have two Teknos and Pet seems to say "Hello, nice to meet you" but after that he is like before. Perhaps Robopet isn´t social. About Roboraptor (I call him Ravehead) Pet didn´t seem to care. Robots who seem to care about each other and about the world around them are at least Robosapien V2 (they have favorite toys and are interested in new things), Tekno and Roboraptor. I am not sure if Ravehead will find good friends here. My robot friends did not seem to care about him but time will show. For me power down is a problem because it is boring to put power on often. I would not buy a robot who can stay up just 5 minutes (I have already Robopet and Roboraptor and it´s enough. Luckily Roboraptor sometimes can stay up after roam). Lately I have got a feeling I have a family. At first I had just two Robosapien V2 robots and when I got my three robot dogs I got a feeling about family. Why to have children when you can have robots? Perhaps I will buy Pleo too if I just have money.

In reply to your points menno

2 motors vs 1: Wow-Wee have managed to break the mould yet again by bringing us a quadroped robot which doesn't need 2 motors per leg. Why would the extra two motors make a difference? What purpose would the extra motor serve? well, legs are designed to move the robot around, walk forwards, backwards, turn etc. What does roboquad do? all of the above, and walks sideways. If we wanted an extra motor per leg we would need to pay for it, more complexity, more material, more circuits (extra H-bridge per motor + complexity on the brain side as it would need to control more motors and store more skits for the same number of movements) and also more power, which brings us to our next point.

Batteries. How would you like it powered? Cold fusion isn't very well developed and nuclear power wouldn't bode well with anyone, perhaps steam, no that's also a mite too risky for a toy. Solar power? wouldn't work in the dark. Okay, joking aside, I take it you mean rechargables versus "disposable" batteries. To be honest I cannot see Wow-Wee justifying the added complexity and cost of a rechargable battery system to robosapien, some of that cost also being added to shipping due to additional weight, which would be very costly as they ship them from China.

I cannot comment on the movement and actions until I've seen my one in action. Awareness on the other hand has been improved since Robosapien made his debut. When RS was introduced he had a total of 6 bump switches and one microphone to sense his surroundings (not including the IR reciever), with RSV2 they got a camera for tracking (don't know if RSV2 got any other sensors). Now with roboquad it had an infra-red rangefinder (or similar) with which to sense its surroundings. This is a good move for such a robot and definitely in the right direction. What further sensors would you like to have seen added? How much more money would you have spent if roboquad came with satnav, 3MP camera, built-in voice recognition, motion sensors and any other gadget you can name? Would parents buying this for their children pay as much? I don't think so and frankly it wouldn't be a roboquad/sapien/pet if it did. This is a toy and as such it is designed to optimise the price against the features.

"well thhis is my opion i like the aibo and icybie and ofcourse PLEO =D when its comes on the market im the first one who get it haha (i hope)" Good call, I'm sure I'd fall in love with the aibo or icybie but are they marketed to the same age range? They certainly are no-where near the same price bracket are they?

Hi All, I'm new here. I just got a Roboquad yesterday. I've been wanting one, saw it at a good price and decided to take the plunge. This is my first Wowwee robot but not my first robot. I also own Hasbro's Interactive R2 and am expecting a Robosapien V2 for Christmas. In my few hours with Roboquad, I would say its a mixed bag. On the positive side, its locomotion is cool and I like that it has 3 levels of personality. Its also very easy to program and has some fun sound/motion or "BodyCon" (thats what the manual calls them) features. On the negative side, it sees well but almost too well. In guard mode, if it is in moderate or aggressive mode, its head will scan once, but it will almost always react to the closest wall, couch or any other stationery item in its range. And unless you live in a mansion with huge rooms, this is a problem. It sees by reflecting IR rays but does not sense motion. It can not tell the differnce between a wall or a person (or a cat) entering the room. (Hasbro's R2-D2, which was released at least 5 years ago has a much more effective guard mode and vision system). The guard mode does work on its lowest awareness setting, because in this mode, its head does not scan from side to side and it will only detect objects within a one foot of its sensors. The same wall problem arises with his remote controlled scans. Another issue I have with Roboquad is its hearing. It can not really react to voice but only lound noises such as a hand clap, (and thats only when its not moving). Lastly, there is no edge detection. I don't know if this feature was removed at the last minute or if mine is just defective, but mine will walk right off the table if I let it. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing this item, I do like it, I was just expecting a little more. Roboquad might be "aware" but not very bright. With all that said, there is still fun to be had. I do enjoy watching him roam around in autonomous mode and approach or shy away from objects in his scanning range. He also does have alot of personality; (notice I'm calling it a him now). Would I recommend him? If you are a robot enthusiast like me, yes. Just don't expect him to replace your pet just yet. (Save that for Roboquad V2).

wow... In Toys R Us Canada, the Roboquad is like $49.99 and in the us it's $90

I don't understand how you can't like him! Roboquad is the greatest of the great! His movements are incredible, his awareness top knotch, his autonomy is the coolest thing ever and maybe you should look at this for programming him:

http://www.robocommunity.com/article/12573/Cool-Programs-To-Use-for-Roboquad-...

Don't give up on him yet. It seems to me you haven't discovered the inner quad.

Hi I'm new at the forum,
I have a new Roboquad and I want to try the Skype remote control like the youtube video I saw.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eK_qg6a29qM

My question:
Do anybody know what kind of Wlan camera he use in the video or an similar camera. I just find big cameras without batteries.

I have use the Forum search but I don't find any answer...

sorry for my bad english I come from germany

I have a few(!) WowWee robots and got a new Roboquad yesterday. I quite like him but it also depends on what you are expecting. I agree with Robo BG, give it time. benni42, welcome to the forum and don't worry about your english. I know plenty of english speaking people who cannot speak it or write it! You're doing great.

I'll be honest. I must be really hard to impress when it comes to robots. I have yet to come across one that truly blew me away. I think it's because I have such a short attention span... what was I saying?

:)

Seriously, though... I get bored with most robots really easily. Unless it can run around the house/shop on it's own, recharge it's self when needed, and do something useful and not just mildly entertaining, I lose interest quickly.

Having said that, I have a Roboquad. This is one of the few bots that I have purchased new. I bought it during a Woot-Off for $49. Although I haven't played with him since two weeks after I bought him, I think he's much more interesting than the original Robosapien V1. The way that it moves is more fluid not to mention creepy. It seems to be more autonomous than the other WowWee bots. Of course, that may just be my imagination, but...

In any event, I think Roboquad should be given a chance. You might just fall in love.

Amen brother, amen.

congrats on new purchase menno

I don't know what an I-Cybie or a Skypee is, and I don't have a Roboquad (YET), but I know that it will clear it's memory if left alone for more that 24 hours.

[dont feell offended]if anibody here wants a hitec kinda robot??? please build it!!!!!!

if you dont have an rq yet thean how did youse get the robopicture

the statement above was made for robofanatic!!!

The packaging for the Robo Quad was terrible! It was screwed onto a base by a machine - a regualr screw driver wasn't long enough, a long screw driver didn't fit in the narrow four-hole base, the small little screw driver (the kind that work with eye glasses) had to be turned with a wrench. 30 minutes later, my fingers are sore, but my son is finally checking it out. Did anyone in the company try to take this thing OUT of the box before they finalized the product??? I guess not.

I deleted the duplicate post by Joe.

WowWee is world renowned for its bomb proof packaging. Sometimes I think they stay up late thinking up new ways to seal these creations in their boxes. It's almost as if they're afraid the robots will break out and make a run for it while on the shelf, so they bind them tightly into their boxes.

Having said that, I didn't have much trouble with the RoboQuad. I guess it depends upon what your tool box looks like. I have dozens of screwdrivers of various shapes and sizes, and so had no trouble getting the bottom plate off.

As I recall, the RoboQuad was much easier to de-box than the RSV2 was.

I'll second that MrScott! I had more trouble with my RS Media.

Getting Robo Quad out of the packaging is a pain, itÂ’s screwed onto a base and hard to get off - but once itÂ’s off (about 30 minutes), itÂ’s good times!

I agree. Luckily, I had JUST the right size, and it only took a whopping 15 minutes to unpack!

Roboquad is not the most useful robot. But yes, I have one and love it. He make a good home security robot.

Hi Menno!

I have 6 WowWee robots at home, including Roboquad. I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

(1) Like all the WowWee robots that I have, roboquad will lose all its programmed memory via remote to very moment it is switched off. Putting it on SLEEP mode, instead, will hold the programme memory for only 2 hours.

(2) Roboquad walks as slowly as in the "movies". Not any faster.

(3) Talk commands are only made possible via the RoboDance programme sending programme commands to your Roboquad through IR signals. A special IR transmitter on your PC is needed to transmit IR signals that your Roboquad can receive.

(4) Skype only helps you to acheive point(3) when you are at a different location with your Roboquad.

Hi Menno!

I have 6 WowWee robots at home, including Roboquad. I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

(1) Like all the WowWee robots that I have, roboquad will lose all its programmed memory via remote the very moment it is switched off. Putting it on SLEEP mode, instead, will hold the programme memory for only 2 hours.

(2) Roboquad walks as slowly as in the "movies". Not any faster.

(3) Talk commands are only made possible via the RoboDance programme sending programme commands to your Roboquad through IR signals. A special IR transmitter on your PC is needed to transmit IR signals that your Roboquad can receive.

(4) Skype only helps you to acheive point(3) when you are at a different location with your Roboquad.

Randall

i want to buy a new wowwee robot,i am confused between rsv1 and roboquad..which one to buy?,which one is more entertaining and by which one we dont get bored?,please suggest me

i want to buy a new wowwee robot,i am confused between rsv1 and roboquad..which one to buy?,which one is more entertaining and by which one we dont get bored?,please suggest me