Robots Blog

I can't remember the singer, but the song "fly like a bird" comes to mind! The Cybird Robotic Bird does look realistic and packs a how-capacity, lithium polymer battery to power it upto 10 minutes of continual flight.

What you can't tell from the picture is that it's wings actually do flap.

Also, you don't have to spend five hours to put it together as it comes almowst ready to fly!

You'll probably want to see the Technical Specs:

Product Dimensions: Wingspan: 29” (725mm) Body Length: 15” (375mm).
Product Weight: 225g, including Flight Battery.
Rechargeable Flight Battery: High capacity 700 mAh Lithium Polymer battery.
Charger: UK Mains Charger supplied.
Charging Time: Approximately 60-90 minutes for a full charge.
Flight Duration: 8-10 minutes between charges.
Batteries Required: 6 x 1.5v AA Alkaline Batteries for Transmitter.
(Not included)

R/C Specification: Supplied almost ready-to-fly with pre-installed 2 Channel FM Radio, providing motor speed control and steering by tail surface movement.

Range: Up to 100m (300ft).

Instruction Manual included: Providing helpful tips for both the new Ornithopter Pilot or experienced R/C enthusiast, and informative CD Rom.

Age Recommendation: 13+ Adult supervision recommended.

Buy it from PrezzyBox for just £95.

See the Cybird in Action:

This is a fantastic new robot football game! Basically two robots play football and have the ability to defend, kick, intercept, and shoot at goal!

You should try to control the robots using the infared remote control to obviously try and score more than your oponent and you can choose between two balls so you can either have fast or slow play.

The pitch is 60 x 42cm and is suitable for children 8 years and up.

You can get it from Gadgets UK for just £29.95.


You can also try the Mr Soccer Robotat Football from Firebox for just £14.95.

WowWee have now extended it's range of 'Alive' robot animals beyond Elvis and a chimpanese to include a panda, polar bear, white tiger cubs and a lion.

These new robot animals have realistic fur, an animated face and life-like sounds which are activated by touch and tilt sensors.

I think they'll cost around £60 when they come out some time this year.

Read more about the new range of robotic pet animals from their press release.

Check the lion out:

The Wrex The Dog is a new, improved, Robopet robotic dog. And this is a rough and ready pet dog t hat will blow your socks off! He'll walk around your house on it's own, or will obey your commands via a remote control.

Following on from the tradition that other robotic pets have started, Wrex the Dog will have three personality modes - happy, crazy and angry, but he'll also desire exercise, food and to go to the toilet - yes you read that right!

He's due around September, October and will retail for around £80.

This is another weired robot - perhaps I'm just not used to such personification of robots yet?

The Tri-bot is a joke-telling robot with eyebrows that wiggle up and down! But you can control it with a wiimote sytle controller that affects the Tri-bot as you tilt the controller.

The Tri-bot will be released this summer in the 2008 in the US and will cost around £60.

See it in action here:

The Rovio is an absolutely fantastic toy robot. And is probably one of Wowwee's best of the year.

The Rovio is basically a mobile webcam that incorporates a mini GPS system that allows it to move around your home with fantastic accuracy!

OMG - it get's even better it has Wifi capability so you can watch your home from where ever you are in the world!! Now I've already got the Motorola Homesight system but the version I have won't work with Vista, but this should not only provide a fantastically interactive toy, but help protect your home too!

You can create routes for the Rovio to navigate around via your pc then when you're out he can keep guard!

The Specs:

• Built-in rechargeable battery
• 1 recharge power base
• 3 motors for the wheels
• 3 omnidirectional wheels
• 1 motor for the camera
• 1 VGA CMOS sensor for video recording
• LED illumination
• 1 speaker for sound playback
• WiFi connectivity using the 802.11b/g protocols

It'll be due around October and should cost around £200.

See it in action here:






You can find the best shops to buy the Rovio here.

The Mr. Personality robot is a weired one! It's an interactive robotic companion that tells jokes and your future (supposedly).

The interesting aspect of Mr. Personality is that his face moves as he interacts with you on an LCD screen.

Features:

• Fully animated upper body
• Color LCD screen, displays face with synchronized expressions
• Various play modes including Bits, Crystal Ball, Fortune Cookies, Demo modes
• Can detect and avoid obstacles, tells when it falls and when the batteries are running low
• Three-wheeled omni-directional motion base
• 7 motors
• 4 IR sensors
• Built-in microphone for voice memos
• 64 MByte of built-in memory
• Audio input connector
• LED battery indicator
• SD memory card slot
• Requires 6 “C” size batteries
• Remote controller requires 3 AAA size batteries

It'll be released around September in the US for around £150.

See the Mr Personality in action here:

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the popular toy makers at Wowwee have unveiled a new flying machine - the FlyTech Bladestar which has a fantastically smooth flight.

But the most interesting thing about the Bladestar is that its got Infra Red sensors which, they say, allows it to fly anonymously - I'd love to see this!

And if that isn't enough! The Bladestar can engage in dogfights with other Bladestars! Now that deserves the "Wowwee"!

The Wingspan is around 12 inches so its fairly big.

It comes out in the US in February and should cost around £30.

See it in action here: