The RS Media is similar in many ways to the previous Robosapien, but there are some noticeable improvements. The motions are now divided into three modes, Control Mode for walking, Arm Mode for…arming, and Media Mode for media playback. In some ways this is a good thing, as you are always aware exactly what functions you’re controlling at any one time; but on the other hand it doesn’t make for the same seamless combinations of walking and picking things up we could create on the previous model.

It’s worth it. The RS Media is a remarkably engineered creation. Its movements are precise, it can pick things up (as long as the things are ‘just the right size’, but still, impressive). It can sit down, lie down, and get back up again. And it’s solid and heavy. Qualities we’ve decided are important in a robot. The RS Media is also big. Well over half a meter tall at 575mm. It could look eye-to-eye with a small child. Big, we have also determined, is another must-have robot quality. Build quality seems to be excellent. It feels solid and withstood our rough treatment.

The RS Media has a huge number of arm functions available to him, including karate chop, pick up, push, throw, drop and roll. In addition, all of these can be performed with either the left or right hand. Like the rest of the unit’s performance, we found them a little sluggish to be truly useful, and the pickup function can be quite fussy with regards to what it can and can’t pick up (the item has to be rather perfectly positioned), but the motions are entertaining nonetheless.

The specification list for the RS Media is simply stunning, whilst its no PlayStation 3, this robot simply wipes the floor of any other robot of equivalent cost on the market today.

Building on the success of the Robosapien V2, the RS Media incorporates (hence the name), more media-centric functionality. The 1.9-inch TFT screen features a 176 x 132 resolution display which allows for video and photos to be taken and displayed, audio playback or for playing on the built-in games. The motion tracking camera has the ability to take photos and record MPEG4 video, but it’s also a more clever use. One of the built-in programmed functions is called the Guard mode. Put your RS Media in to this state and it will sense any audio with its two room-sensitive microphones as well as movement with its camera and activates its alert system.

Programming worked smoothly, though the instructions do not make it clear that if you want to program actions, you need to exit from the remote level that shows “program” and then reenter it to execute the routine. All other controls worked as promised. I put the Roboreptile on guard mode, and it waited for something to pass in front before attacking. I easily controlled the sweep of its ever-moving tail and its head, mouth, volume, and walking speed. The Roboreptile has four speeds, including walking on its two hind legs, but its front legs do not assist in motion, even when it’s walking on all fours. The bottoms of its two front feet have hard, slick plastic pads that slide along the floor while the back legs do all the work. The Roboreptile and its remote take a total of ten double-A batteries. In 45 minutes of play (and additional few-minute-long sessions after that), the robot showed no signs of slowing down.

The two nose mounted IR sensors allow for the Roboreptile to detect objects in its path and movement. With two sensors, it can discern the differences between movement on its left and right. These sensors have limited range when it comes to typical surfaces, thus the robot will not be able to detect you across the room. They do have sufficient range to detect walls and obstacles in its path as well as your hand should you be foolish enough to put it in front of its head when it’s hungry.

The Roboreptile doesn’t ship with any toys, but you can make it follow the remote if you hold down the “feed” button. Its sensors do help it get around objects: It successfully navigated its way under my dining room table and between chair legs, but because the robot’s head is constantly sweeping back and forth and it can really only “see” what’s directly in front of it, it often whacks its head into objects and walls over and over again. The Roboreptile is made of pretty tough plastic, so there was no real damage, but its head—and its tail, which is also always sweeping—got scuffed up rather quickly.

When seen in the store, it’s hard not to be impressed by Roboreptile. It’s striking black and white design and colorful packaging promise a “cool” experience. It is very long and takes up a large amount of shelf space. Due to its size in relation to other toys, it’s usually fairly easy to find. There is also something to be said about the fact that it is a robotic dinosaur. I’m over 30 yrs old now, but when I was 10, I dreamed of someday owning a robotic dinosaur similar to this, even though the technology didn’t exist yet. This is cool stuff!

Using five motors, touch sensors (on its chin, back, and tail, and in its mouth), infrared (on its head and snout) and stereo audio sensors (in the head), Roboraptor can, whether you set it in “Roam” or control its locomotion, move about, avoid obstacles, and even inspect and react to its environment. For a toy, this level of interaction and environmental capability doesn’t come cheap: Roboraptor sells for around $120. But as a low-end robot, it’s priced right.

Touching the chin sensor when the raptor’s in Playful mode causes it to make a slow, almost purring, sound (though it’s rougher and louder than a purr) and push its head against your hand. Roboraptor’s mouth sensor lets it play tug-of-war. We did have to shove the T-shirt into its mouth (the robot barely opens its mouth on its own), but once the shirt was in there—pressing up against the sensor, which is nestled in the roof of the raptor’s mouth—the robot engaged in a spirited struggle to gain control of it. The only issue we encountered was that the 3-pound robot has a tendency to tip over on its head.

Roboraptor is not a cuddly robot toy. It is, after all, a dinosaur. It doesn’t stand upright; it’s horizontal from the tip of its tail to the end of its nose. Picking up the long and somewhat unwieldy bot can be difficult. You almost wish it had a handle.

His head and tail can be swung from side to side, and if he walks up to something he can try to pick it up in his mouth. Aside from that, he really has no cool functions. He has a tendency to roar a lot, at pretty much everything, which may appeal to some people by adding some authenticity, but it wasn’t a patch on the hilarious repertoire of the Robosapien. The controller was fairly easy to get the hang of, largely due to having less buttons than its predecessor. There is a single pad that controls walking, and a second pad to move the head and tail. The shoulder buttons control the targeting system, allowing RoboRaptor to move towards a specific target, assuming you can get him moving at all.

AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt, homonymous with “companion” in Japanese) was one of several types of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony; there have been several different models since their introduction in 1999. Able to walk, “see” its environment via camera, and recognize spoken commands, they are considered to be autonomous robots, since they are able to learn and mature based on external stimuli from their owner or environment, or from other AIBOs. Artist Hajime Sorayama created the initial designs for the AIBO.

The AIBO has seen use as an inexpensive platform for artificial intelligence research, because it integrates a computer, vision system, and articulators in a package vastly cheaper than conventional research robots. The [RoboCup] autonomous soccer competition has a “RoboCup Four-Legged Robot Soccer League” in which numerous institutions from around the world participate. Competitors program a team of AIBO robots to play games of autonomous robot soccer against other competing teams.

A colour camera (350,000 pixels), sensors, stereo microphones and speakers allow full interaction with your new companion - Numerous touch sensors, you can use to train your AIBO - Built-in Wireless LAN - AIBO can playback MP3 music files, internet radio, call out your schedule, record movie clips with its camera and be remotely controlled via PC - Faster reactions to voice commands and improved obstacle avoidance - House sitter mode - AIBO records and emails pictures and sounds of any movement or sound whilst you’re out - Supplied with AIBO Mind 2 Software so that your AIBO is ready to live and learn The robot also comes with Wi-Fi on board, so that it can connect wirelessly to the Internet, or be managed by the owner from a remote PC.

Specifications

Components Body, Head, Leg x 4, Tail - CPU 64bit RISC processor - Main Storage / MB SDRAM - Program Storage Medium Memory Stick™ Media for AIBO - Input/Output PC Card Slot Type 2 In/Out - Memory Stick™ Media Slot In/Out - AC in Power Supply Connector Input - Image Input CMOS Image Sensor (300K pixel) - Audio Input Miniature Stereo Microphones - Audio Output Miniature Speaker - Built-in Sensors Temperature Sensor - IR Distance Sensor - Acceleration Sensor - Pressure Sensors (head, face, back, legs and tail) - Vibration Sensor Power Consumption approx. 9W

The Robosapien V2 is the next generation of Mark Tilden’s Robosapien robot. It’s nearly twice the size of the original Robosapien robot. Instead of the original caveman grunts the V2 can speak a reasonably large list of pre-recorded phrases. It has infrared and basic color recognition sensors, grip sensors in its hands, touch or contact activated hand and foot sensors, and sonic sensors as well. For movement the V2 has an articulated waist, shoulders, and hands giving him a wide variety of body animations.

All four of its limbs, as well as its head and torso can all be manipulated using the second thumb-stick. This includes the ability to pick things up at two different heights and to throw them. The highlight of our time with the Robosapien was when a colleague placed a toy dog in front of it. Robosapien contemptuously picked up the poor creature, crushed its head and threw it away. We would have liked the optical sensors to extend to the limbs as picking things up is extremely difficult in general, and has more to do with the actual position of the robot in relation to the item than control of the hands. The ability to sense nearby objects on the floor and move the arms towards them would take this toy to the next level.

Programming the original Robosapien was difficult, and it forgot the program the instant it was turned off. This one is easy to program in Puppet Mode. Wag its limbs, turn its head and twist its torso, and it memorizes all of the moves for later. You can also execute more complicated programs, as with the original, only this robot remembers its moves until you program in a new plan. Unlike its predecessor, this one speaks understandable English, too—speaks, in fact, of many things: Its likes (world domination) and dislikes (when you press Shift1, Shift2, Shift3 and D at the same time). It can ask for a hug or spare change, and will either shout for you to remain calm or startle you to action with its “Lost in Space” style “Danger! Danger! Danger!” But it?s clearly still related to the old Robosapien: It roars, dances and suffers the same audible bodily afflictions.

Main Features of Robosapien V2 Robosapien

• V2 responds verbally to the environmental stimuli as well as to controller commands.
• It has 2 demonstration modes and 6 programming modes.
• The robot comes with 100 pre-programmed functions.
• The robot requires 6 “D” and 7 “AAA” batteries, which do not form a part of the kit.
• The remote control requires 3 AAA batteries, which again do not come with the kit.
• Robosapien V2 comes with sleep and auto-shut off functions.