Roboquad
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Referred to as "The first true robotic arthropod," Roboquad is one of the 5
robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
s that
WowWee WowWee Group Limited is a privately held, Hong Kong–based Canadian consumer technology company. History Initially from Canada, the two founding brothers (Richard and Peter Yanofsky) moved to Hong Kong to form the company in 1982, as an indepe ...
announced at CES in January 2007. It is a 4-legged robot that somewhat resembles a
spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
and a
dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
. Also designed by
Mark Tilden Mark W. Tilden is a robotics physicist who produces complex robotic movements from simple analog logic circuits, often with discrete electronic components, and usually without a microprocessor. He is controversial because of his libertarian Tilde ...
, the Roboquad, like other WowWee robots, has multiple
personalities Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: * Describing what per ...
, awareness of its surroundings, some
autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...
behaviour and can be controlled via a remote.


Features

*Five Scanning Sequences :#Smart Scan: examines its surroundings and reacts to changes :#Scan Left and Right: turns and faces any nearby object :#Approach Nearest Object: moves towards the closest object it detects :#Escape Walk: moves towards the largest open space it finds :#Flinch Response: reacts to rapidly approaching objects *Five Usage Modes: :#Direct Control: user controlled movement :#Autonomous Mode: self-directed interaction with its environment :#Guard Mode: similar to Guard Mode on other WowWee bots, Roboquad reacts to noises and movement with
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
. :#Sleep: falls asleep after 5 minutes and powers down after 24 hours. :#Demo: features a dance routine *Edge Detection *Remote Control: for controlling movement, programming, and adjusting personalities *72 Preprogrammed functions *40 programmable moves *Demo Mode


Hardware

*4x leg
motors An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
*4x leg motor position
sensors A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...
*2x head and neck motors (its head can swivel around completely) *2x lens-focused, face-mounted deep
Infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...
vision (13 ft range) *1x
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...
*1x light sensor *1x
Infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...
remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...
* Requires 4 x C and 3 x AAA size batteries


Personalities

Like other WowWee robots, the Roboquad has multiple 'personalities' which are dubbed 'States'. Those states are State of Awareness, State of
Aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...
and State of Activity, and they can each be set to low, medium or high. In the
Awareness In philosophy and psychology, awareness is the perception or knowledge of something. The concept is often synonymous with consciousness. However, one can be aware of something without being explicitly conscious of it, such as in the case of bli ...
state, it spends more time scanning its surroundings. When its Aggression state is increased, its behaviour simulates anger and aggression and finally the higher the Activity state, the further and faster the Roboquad will wander. With its light, sound and IR sensors, Roboquad is pre-programmed to simulate reactions to external
stimuli A stimulus is something that causes a physiological response. It may refer to: *Stimulation **Stimulus (physiology), something external that influences an activity **Stimulus (psychology), a concept in behaviorism and perception *Stimulus (economi ...
and acts accordingly.


Movement and Autonomy

The Roboquad's legs all swivel around and so it is able to walk forward, backwards and sideways at about the same rate and mobility. Its head is also able to swivel around completely, so it is able to scan its surroundings without turning its body. In addition to its adjustable personalities (States), Roboquad's 5 different scanning sequences (described above in Features) are
modulated Signal modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform in electronics and telecommunication for the purpose of transmitting information. The process encodes information in form of the modulation or message ...
according to how the personalities are tuned. The documentation states that Roboquad's infrared sensors are sensitive enough to allow it to navigate doorways.


References


External links

* {{WowWee Robots Toy brands Robotic spiders Entertainment robots Robotic dogs WowWee 2007 robots