JP
Over the past couple of days, RobotsRule’s Robert Oschler – long-time tipster of all things servo-actuated – has been dancing a taunting dance before my jealous eyes, and crowing about having received his TOMY i-SOBOT robot. I’m surprised to report that I’ve kept my cool, and instead drowned my sorrows in the new English version of the TOMY website and these unboxing photos and videos of the diminutive ‘bot from waziwazi.
waziwazi seem pretty impressed with their new toy: the smooth movements and sheer range of flexibility are incredible for a robot at the $299 price point, as is the potential for longer-term play thanks to voice command functionality, the ability to have two i-SOBOT units operating simultaneously on different frequency bands and the ease of operation (thanks to the damn sexy remote). They’re not totally starry-eyed, though; the lack of on-board programming [Edit: Tomy have let us know that this specifically refers to PC programming being absent; you can combine 240 actions in a macro using the remote itself], reliance on IR line-of-sight remote control and absence of robot autonomy come in for some mild critique.
Robert is already trying to hook up his i-SOBOT to his Robodance software, which allows far greater macro and voice control as well as operating your robot via a Wiimote. He’s promising us videos of the ‘bot in action when he manages it.
i-SOBOT Hands-On Review [waziwazi]
3 Responses to “TOMY’s i-SOBOT lands, is unboxed, dances”
kgitch October 2, 2007
I don’t think that WaziWazi meant that i-SOBOT was not programmable at all, just that i-SOBOT is not PC programmable. In fact, he even discusses the programming features in his review. (Though he only mentions 80 actions, when actually a total of 80×3=240 actions can be programmed). Takara Tomy has tried to make programming as simple as possible by eliminating the need for a PC, putting an LCD on the controller and allowing the user to either string together any of the hundreds of pre-loaded actions or to get a bit more creative with user-created, original actions or even combining the two. Traditional hobby robots allow complex PC programming, but i-SOBOT is meant to be user friendly for the avg person and much more affordable.
NeutralChris Davies October 2, 2007
Thanks for the clarification; I’ll update the post accordingly. Much as I’d love to see PC programming built into i-SOBOT, I also love that low price-point!
NeutralGeorge McNeil February 12, 2008
I love the i-SOBOT, and whats even better is I found it for only $256.00 with free shipping at Dragonusaonline.com. Wow is all I can say. I wish I knew were to find the Drums for this. Any ideals.
–George
Neutral