Tux Droid is a wireless robotic

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

figure based on the

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

mascot, Tux, released around 2007. It was manufactured by a company named KYSOH.

Description

The Tux Droid measures 210mm × 180mm × 140mm with lowered wings. It supports

Linux kernel The Linux kernel is a Free and open-source software, free and open source Unix-like kernel (operating system), kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the k ...

2.4 or later and needs an 800 MHz

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

and 128 MB

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

. Communication from Tux Droid to the computer is via signaling operating in the 802.11 WLAN band, but not compatible with

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. The Tux Droid receives signals from a plastic fish-shaped

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

receiver. An infrared remote control is supplied; signals from this are received by Tux Droid and sent to the host software over the wireless link. It needs an internet connection for media detection. The mascot is driven by

Atmel AVR AVR is a family of microcontrollers developed since 1996 by Atmel, acquired by Microchip Technology in 2016. They are 8-bit RISC single-chip microcontrollers based on a modified Harvard architecture. AVR was one of the first microcontroller ...

RISC microcontrollers. The Tux Droid only supports Linux computers.

Functions

The Tux Droid can spin around, flap its wings, and light up its eyes. It came with bundled open source software to customize its functionality. It can announce events by its gestures such as dancing, flapping, and spinning, and by ALSA driven sound. The events are detected by specific gadgets, which are handled by the Tux Gadget Manager.

Reception

The Tux Droid received positive reviews for its functionality, the open source software, and its humor and novelty value. Some reviewers did note the high asking price at the time, at £89.95, and that the software only worked on Linux.

References

External links

{{Commons, Tux Droid * https://www.tuxdroids.com/
Original Homepage (archived)
Linux Free software culture and documents Virtual pets Pets Entertainment robots Open-source robots 2007 robots

Description

Functions

Reception

See also

References

External links