Robosapien
Cult or Crap?
"Having your own personal Robot is not science fiction. The
technology experts agree: 'Robosapien is here now.' Robosapien
is the 1st humanoid robot with 67 functions and 4 programming
modes, ready to carry out your every command. Program a
combination of moves and Robosapiens interactive reflex system
makes him spring to life with plenty of attitude, responsive,
intelligent, dynamic robotics. Robosapien is the future and the
future is now. Robosapien is here. Batteries not included. From
Woo Wee."
So much for the promises made in the advertisement that can be
viewed on the Wow Wee website ( http://www.wowwee.com ). Perhaps
it's about time to review the seemingly most important toy in
the universe. It was developed by Dr. Mark W. Tilden a former
NASA employee. Dr. Tilden invented BEAM robotics, which is an
acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics and Mechanics. The
general idea behind BEAM is, to use simple analogue circuits
which are directly linked to sensor systems. Microcontrollers
and programming are usually not part of those robots, but you
can gain flexibility if you add a microprocessor and programming
on top of a BEAM robot.
Like many other projects the development of Robosapien was
plastered with all kinds of obstacles like the bankruptcy of
financiers, prototypes catching fire during presentations and
much more. Also the usual 36 hour coding marathon before
finishing a product was exceeded. Rumours say Mark Tilden needed
an 11 day, non-stop coding marathon to program the personality
of the Robosapien. Perhaps wearing tights and using a wormbag to
get some sleep in between would have helped a bit. I wonder what
his co-workers said to wearing the same clothes for 11 days. I
guess legends are made of this kind of stuff :) Apart from that
it might be a good idea to have a close look onto the result.
Wow Wee promises a fusion of technology and personality. If
personality is defined through burping and farting and some
grunting noises, well perhaps then Robosapien fulfils this
criterion, but honestly my picture of personality is not that
simple ;). On the other hand it seems we can find lots of
personality in the sleeping area of every coding party :).
In fact it's a major annoyance that you can't shut up the
Robosapien it always produces some "funny" caveman noises while
executing your commands. Operating the Robosapien makes you cry
for a volume controller. Well it seems there has been lots of
complaints about that and the Wow Wee Website offers an awkward
solution to turn down the volume. Woo Wee honestly suggests to
put some sticky tape over the speaker grill. Now that's hi-tech,
I wonder if the NASA fixes their space shuttles with sticky tape
too :)
Got
Power?
I have tried the Robosapien with different types of batteries.
First I used rechargeable batteries because they usually work in
all my devices. However I cannot recommend these for use with
the Robosapien, even when I tried Panasonic Rechargeable Pro+
mono cells (NiMH, 1,2 V, 3000 mAh) there were some major
problems. Not only do these batteries fail to supply enough
power to let Robosapien lift his arms fully, besides they are so
lightweight, that it has some serious impact on his walking
skills. I decided to buy some normal mono cells from the next
supermarket and what can I say, it solves most of the annoyances
with Robosapien, especially since they add more weight to the
feet (the batteries are placed inside the feet) and make the
Robosapien much more stable that way. Perhaps it's possible to
use rechargeable batteries if you add a big capacitor to the
Robosapien and some weight to the feet.
67
Functions and still
counting, erm
searching
So what about the rest? Let's take a close look at the 67
functions. Robosapien is controlled by a IR remote which offers
21 keys, however one key is used like a multiple shift key and 4
of the others are only used for programming. However 15 keys are
used to operate the Robosapien directly 16 if you count the
functions "Wake Up" and "Power Off" in. At the top of the Remote
10 keys control the arms and hands of the Robosapien. Each key
has 3 functions which can be accessed via the "Select" key.
Another set of 5 keys is used to control the legs; they somehow
remind me of cursor keys with an additional stop key in the
middle and can also be used in with 3 different functions. Let's
do the math 15*3 =45 if you add the Wake Up and Power Off
function we reach 47, so there seem to be 20 functions missing.
Of course there are some demos on the 4 remaining keys, so let's
be generous and count up to 51. From there on it seems to be a
real problems to find more functions, but Robosapien contains
some combo moves. Four of them can be accessed via the
directional pad, like toggle walking slowly forwards (forward
forward combo) or backwards (backward backward combo). This adds
another 4 functions to the existing 51 leaving us with 55, still
12 to go. Since these functions are not that easy to spot we
will have a look at the Robosapien FAQ at
http://64.254.158.14/robosapien/more.html and find the
following:
(P) Master Command Program
(R>) Right Sensor Program
(L>) Left Sensor Program
(S>) Sonic Program
Master Command Program Execute
Right Sensor Program Execute
Left Sensor Program Execute
Sonic Sensor Program Execute
(SELECT) Advance to GREEN Keys
(SELECT) Advance to ORANGE Keys
(SELECT) Return to RED Command Functions
Looks a bit cheated on the counting doesn't it? It wouldn't be a
bad idea to use the real specifications for the advertisements,
but they won't sound such cool I guess. While the voice from the
advertisement still echoes in my ear I begin to feel cheated
somehow...
Implementation
Let's check the quality and accuracy of the Robosapien. Like
already mentioned above, Robosapien uses moving mechanics based
on Mark W. Tildens BEAM technology, which not only means that
simple analogue circuits and sensors are combined; it also uses
lots of simple mechanical parts. For example you find a lot of
springs inside the case which accelerate or decelerate the
motors depending on the current movement. The spring suspension
system also allows generating energy and storing it as a surface
charge in the batteries, which makes them last longer and also
results in variable power sent and consumed by the motors. Last
not least the whole Robosapien is based on theories of dynamic
resonance. So walking straight for example is something the
Robosapien is most likely not capable of, because there is too
much going on within the walking mechanics, there is simply too
much to adjust to make it exactly go straight. This more or less
is also valid for other actions, they work somehow but they are
not very accurate. Depending on the remaining power of the
batteries you might find your Robosapien unable to fully raise
his arms, or having problems to turn. Like stated above some
battery types doesn't work well even if they are fully charged.
A
walk in the Park?
Most of the time, walking works very well, at least if the
surface is clean and even. However if the little rubber pads
under Robosapiens feet have collected dust and dirt they tend to
slip and walking becomes a pain, resulting in waking in big
circles or not getting forward at all. In addition to that you
might experience walking issues if you use lightweight NiMH
rechargeable batteries. Robosapien will most likely get stuck
even on small cables on the floor. If you use the much heavier
alkaline batteries he will walk just over them, slowing down a
bit but making good progress. But keep in mind that the
Robosapien is surely not designed for outdoor usage. It likes
plain surfaces or short carpets; anything else will slow him
down or keep him from moving. Switching back to slow walking
sometimes helps to overcome the problem but it is going at a
snail pace then.
Programming the
Beast
There are 4 different programming modes whose major differences
are the amount of possible program commands and of course the
way to trigger them. Woo Wee speaks of up to 84 steps, well
let's see: I guess since we already know about the "67
functions" of the Robosapien we are a bit careful believing this
advertisement feature.
Fact is the Robosapiens programs can be triggered by its sensors
or by manually calling them on the IR remote controller.
The main program can only be started via the remote; it may
consist of 14 steps or less.
The left and right sensors program can be triggered by the
remote or by touching the sensors on the corresponding side of
the robot. The left and right sensors program may contain 6
commands or less.
Last not least there is the sonic sensor program which can also
be started via remote or by making noises while Robosapien is in
listening mode. Like above the sonic sensor program may consist
of 6 commands or less.
Have you done the math? 14+6+6+6=84? Surely not :) However it is
possible to call the sensor programs as subroutines from the
main program, this also works very reliable if you use the right
button to execute the main program. The only button capable of
executing the main program this way is the P button which is
located all the way down the remote. If you try the "green"
execute function you will notice that Robosapien is gust making
some grunting noises each time he should call the sensor
program.
So let's do the math again. Let's say we call the sensor
programs 14 times from the main program, this would give us
14*6=84 program steps in a row, but they are not freely
programmable. I found this fact really disappointing especially
since a sensor program can't call the main program. So you are
trapped with 18 instructions which can be repeated several
times. Another idea is to write a sonic sensor routine and then
just add 14 "listen" commands to the main program. This way you
can also achieve 14*6=84 repeated steps of code every time the
main program is started. Anyway real 84 steps would have been
ok, but 32 steps and not even in one program? No loops or calls
except from the mentioned ones, well this really disqualifies
Robosapien from any serious attempts to do something useful with
it.
Amnesia...
Another major downside of the Robosapien is the fact that it
loses all programming if it is powered down. However you can
send him to sleep mode to preserve your coding for around two
hours, that's the time when Robosapien will deactivate itself.
Fashion Dolls
Since the day I ordered mine Wow Wee brought out differently
painted models, beside the black and white model you can buy it
with chrome or metallic blue paint, also it seems the normally
red LEDs have been replaced by blue ones in some of these
models. On the NBC computer channel GIGA ( http://www.giga.de )
I have spotted a transparent one and of course there is a
downscaled little brother called Mini Robosapien (17,5 cm
height) available too.
Overall
The fact is, the Robosapien is a toy, nothing more, nothing
less. Perhaps it's a cool toy, but even if the Wow Wee website
is stating something else, it can't do housework, even simple
pickup and carry jobs are difficult because most objects simply
slide through the hands while closing them or they are just to
low for the Robosapien to reach them. Besides Robosapien is no
iron pusher, its arms are really weak. Robosapien is barely
capable to lift the weight of his own arms, not to mention a
possible cargo. So if you need a nicely designed doorstopper go
out and buy one, otherwise wait until a real Robot will be
released to the market. In fact these self operated vacuum
cleaners a la Trilobite (
http://trilobite.electrolux.com/node217.asp ) seem to make more
sense to me.
The
Future is here
But wait, what's that? The Robosapien V2 has been announced. It
currently costs at least twice the price of the "classic"
Robosapien but seems to offers a lot more:
- 60 cm of height and ugliness while the original Robosapien was
only 35 cm but cute :)
- Different Personalities can be downloaded from a PC, I guess
you can customize the farting noises with a WAV editor :)
- Improved movement, including the ability to sit down, lie down
and of course stand up again
- Redesigned hands with improved strength, so he will hopefully
be able to pick up heavier objects than the original.
- Infra Red Vision, capable to detect obstacles, track movements
and prevents it from walking off table edges
- Colour Vision enabling it to detect skin tones and to
recognize its owner, we will see how accurate these
descriptions are. Personally I have strong doubts about that.
- Laser Tracking allows it to follow a laser path traced on the
ground, now this could be nice making the robot patrol around
the house :)
- Interacts with other Robonetic products like Roboraptor and
perhaps even Robosapien V1
- Ability to speak, and detect sound. We will see if there will
be more than simple grunting noises or predefined "funny"
comments.
Well all these advantages won't come for free, we already
mentioned the price and there is something else, the Robosapien
V2 seems to be quite hungry, there are reports on the web that
it runs only 6 hours on a set of batteries.
Cyclone / X-Troll for Alive, 2005-09-03
Appendix A
Built-in
Functions
Tilt Body Right
Tilt Body Left
Lean Backward
Lean Forward
STOP Button
Walk Forward
Walk Backward
Forward Step
Backward Step
Forward, Forward Combination "Slow Walk Forward"
Backward, Backward Combination "Slow Walk Backward"
Bulldozer Walk Forward
Turn Right
Turn Left
<, < Combination "Right Walk Turn"
>, > Combination "Left Walk Turn"
Right Turn Step
Left Turn Step
Right Arm Up
Right Arm Down
Right Arm In
Right Arm Out
Left Arm Up
Left Arm Down
Left Arm In
Left Arm Out
Right Hand Thump
Right Hand Pickup
Right Hand Throw
Right Hand Sweep
Right Hand Strike 1
Right Hand Strike 2
Right Hand Strike 3
Left Hand Thump
Left Hand Pickup
Left Hand Throw
Left Hand Sweep
Left Hand Strike 1
Left Hand Strike 2
Left Hand Strike 3
Reset
Listen
Sleep
Wake Up
Power Off
Roar
Whistle
High 5
Talk Back
Burp
Oops! (Fart)
All Demo
Demo1
Demo2
Dance Demo
(P) Master Command Program
(R>) Right Sensor Program
(L>) Left Sensor Program
(S>) Sonic Program
Master Command Program Execute
Right Sensor Program Execute
Left Sensor Program Execute
Sonic Sensor Program Execute
(SELECT) Advance to GREEN Keys
(SELECT) Advance to ORANGE Keys
(SELECT) Return to RED Command Functions
Appendix B -
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Tilden
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/6897/beam2.html
http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20050201/upfront.html
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6567169/
http://evosapien.com/
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