Robopet

The Robopet is a robotic dog produced by WowWee that is based on the biomorphic work of Mark W. Tilden. The Robopet has IR, audio and tilt sensors and is able to wander around autonomously detecting and reacting to objects and sounds. It also performs random 'tricks' such as howling, begging, rolling over and playing dead. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 69 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) author: kjhosein I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 69 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) author: kjhosein I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU... In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs automated tasks, either according to direct human supervision, a pre-defined program or, a set of general guidelines, using artificial intelligence techniques. ... WowWee Toys Ltd. ... Biomorphic robotics is a subdicipline of robotics focused upon emulating the mechanics, sensor systems, computing structures and methodologies used by animals. ... Image:Mark Tilden(43) Oslo. ... A sensor is a technological device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ...

Hardware and Software

The Robopet has 5 equal custom gearboxes using 2 and 3 bit position switches. The robot runs from a single processor board in its back and is controlled by autonomous routines and IR (Infrared) signals from a thirteen button remote control. The CPU is a custom-designed 16bit RISC processor with 512k of built in sound and 12k of program space and 128 bytes of onboard RAM. It requires 4 x AAA batteries and battery life is on the order of 4 hours with Alkaline batteries. A gearbox is an assembly of gears allowing the rotational speed of an input shaft to be changed to a different speed. ... A network switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments. ... Processor can mean: A central processing unit of a computer. ... Close-up photo of one side of a motherboard PCB, showing conductive traces, vias and solder points for through-hole components on the opposite side. ... Image of two girls in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false-color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... A television remote control A DVD player remote control A remote control is an electronic device used for the remote operation of a machine. ... CPU can stand for: in computing: Central processing unit in journalism: Commonwealth Press Union in law enforcement: Crime prevention unit in software: Critical patch update, a type of software patch distributed by Oracle Corporation in Macleans College is often known as Ash Lim. ... Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), is a microprocessor CPU design philosophy that favors a smaller and simpler set of instructions that all take about the same amount of time to execute. ... 2 AAA Alkaline batteries Alkaline batteries are a type of power cell dependent upon the reaction between zinc and manganese dioxide (Zn/MnO2). ...

The software code is 12k of assembly language based around an operating system written in the 1980s by the inventor, Mark Tilden. Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... An assembly language is a low-level language used in the writing of computer programs. ... An operating system (OS) is a set of computer programs that manage the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

Features and Tricks

When left by itself for a few seconds, the Robopet enters its autonomous mode and starts exploring the room, responding to I/R reflected signals from objects and the floor.

The tricks that Robopet performs are: roll over, play dead, howl, paw, relief, jump, "whoops", rock and scratch. These can be activated by the user via the remote control and are randomly performed by the Robopet when in its autonomous mode. In ordinary language, the word random is used to express apparent lack of purpose or cause. ...

The Robopet also features an edge-detection mode which has to be either on or off via the power switch, so it can be placed on a table without falling off, although it is not 100% successful.

The 2 axis tilt internal sensor detects whether the robot has fallen over, and it can automatically right itself. The word axis has several meanings: In mathematics, axis can mean: A straight line around which a geometric figure can be rotated. ...

Colors

Robopet is available in white, pink and purple.

Programming

Like the other WowWee products to date, the Robopet can be programmed. It has 9 remote-control accessible tricks and 5 direction functions (forward, backward, left, right, and stop) which can be sequentially placed into a 20 step program. A computer program is a collection of instructions that describe a task, or set of tasks, to be carried out by a computer. ...

It also features "Good Dog" and "Bad Dog" buttons which either encourages or discourages it from performing recent "tricks".

External links

• WowWee Robopet's Official Home on the Web
• Robopet Home on RoboCommunity - The official WowWee Robotics user community
• Unofficial WowWee Hacks and Mods site
• The Evolution of the Robopet (in pictures)