Product Description

With his low menacing stride and striking animation, Roboreptile is an impressive mix of mobility, multi-sensory technology and fiery personality. This adventurous beast awakens with a jump, whips his long tail and springs into action. He's capable of high-speed running on all four legs, and he can turn on a dime on two legs.

Roboreptile moves in many ways. He can be controlled directly with the remote, programmed to perform a sequence of functions, placed into guard mode, or put into his "Normal Mode" where he will roam the environment. A full array of sensors - vision, touch and sound - allow him to freely roam and interact with his surroundings. When he gets overly aggressive, he can be calmed with a push of the "feed" button on the controller. And when its time to rest, place the cowl over his eyes to put him to sleep.

Roboreptile includes more than 30 preprogrammed functions, all handled through the remote. Requires 9 "AA" batteries (not included). Measures 33" long. Colors may vary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33545 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Wow Wee
• Model: 8065
• Released on: 2006-06-12
• Dimensions: 33.20" h x 12.10" w x 10.80" l, 8.15 pounds

Features

• The ultimate herpetological species. Don't be fooled by this beast's size -- he is fast, ferocious, cunning and intelligent.
• A sly and ruthless creature, Roboreptile uses advanced technology for greater intelligence. He can be programmed with movements and animations and is packed with personality.
• Roboreptile's powerful infrared vision and sonic sensors swiftly alert him to disturbances in his environment. In Guard Mode they make him a formidable sentry. In Free Roam his sharp sensory systems make him a ruthless predator.
• Roboreptile can be extremely hostile or harmless, alert or asleep. He has four moods aggressive, ferocious, passive or tammed. Can be controlled directly, programmed or put into Free Roam, Demo Mode, Guard Mode or Sleep Mode.

Amazon.com Review
Wowwee's Roboreptile is an often startling robotic toy that, once you get the hang of its wonky controls, is actually pretty fun. Like other Wowwee robots, there's a preprogrammed animation that goes off when it is first powered up. It's impressive: growling, snapping jaws and a whipping tail. In short, Roboreptile looks like something out of the future and moves like something out of the past.

The Roboreptile comes with a remote control and a hood accessory

The Roboreptile has infrared "vision" sensors where its eyes would be and stereo "hearing" sensors on the sides of its face. Its sounds, though a bit tinny, are menacing. During a tail swipe, it lets out a sort of Eagle cry, harkening back to the shared avian/reptile ancestry.

Controlling the Monster
Controlling the Roboreptile with the remote is a bit of a strain. First, because the remote uses an infrared beam and the pick-up sensor is located in its head. You won't be able to control it from far away, and it's difficult to control while walking away from you. Roboreptile will keep executing a command until it receives a new remote command.

Second, each button on the remote has two alternate functions: an attack set and a program set. When the remote is on the program setting, the alternate functions light up in red for each button but, for some reason, when the remote is in the attack setting, we're left to refer to the instruction manual (or our own memories) for that set's functions. For example, to make the roboreptile bite, you first have to get the remote into attack mode by pressing the select button until the remote display turns green. Then you press the button marked "Roam."

Another counter-intuitive thing about the controls is that the left and right buttons respectively make its left and right legs move, turning him in the opposite direction. I expected the left button would make him turn left, but instead it turns him right. The instructions also say that it can make both stationary and forward turns but I could only manage to execute stationary turns.

When using the "feed" button, the Roboreptile will track the remote's movement from side to side. If it moves too much, though, Roboreptile could get dizzy.

Control issues aside, it is genuinely alarming--in a Jurassic Park sort of way--when this little beast lunges at and tries to bite your foot.

From Satisfied to Hungry in 60 Seconds
Roboreptile can be operated in direct control, free roam, and program modes. Direct control is its natural state, where the user becomes puppeteer, moving it with the remote control. There is a surprising range of motion for this robot. It can walk forward on four legs or two, jump, swipe its tail from side to side, bite, shake, and even look dizzy, as though it had just been smacked by a bigger dino. It even has different walking gaits: fast, slow, big steps, small steps.

It'll go into free roam mode after a few minutes without controller input or if the "touch sensor" (actually just a button) on its back is pressed. It avoids obstacles by backing up and trying a different angle and exhibits three different moods: Hungry, Satisfied, and Hooded. Hungry is its natural state, agressive and snappy. Satisfied comes after it's eaten--in this case, gone through a feeding animation cycle where it crows and snaps its jaw--and this makes it lethargic for about a minute before it's hungry again. Using the included hood, or cowl, to snap over its vision and hearing sensors and effectively put him in sleep mode.

There's also a program mode where you can enter a series of up to 20 steps. Think of it as dance choreography, only with tail swipes and biting. You can put Roboreptile into guard mode, where it'll sit upright, poised for attack. If anything gets picked up by its sensors (passes within inches of its face), it will let out a growl and lunge in that direction. Its hearing is better than its sight (wasn't that the case with dinosaurs, too?), so in the guarded state, it'll react to a slamming door or a whistle with a howl and swinging its neck from side to side.

Parents should note that Roboreptile comes with two volume settings: loud and soft. We tested it on a hardwood floor and kitchen countertop and noticed that, even on the soft setting, its hard plastic thumps and servo motor whirs still created a sizeable ruckus. --Porter B. Hall

From the Manufacturer
Roboreptile has realistic biomorphic motions and advanced natural dynamics which enable him to move in two emotionally aggressive gaits and two different speeds. His serpentine movement as he stalks on four legs hides the terrifyingly explosive force of Roboreptile.

Customer Reviews

They're getting better, but still not the perfect artificial pet.
I picked up a Roboreptile last night (the cats were getting too complacent after all) and it's definitely a big improvement over the earlier Roboraptor (from what I've seen of that one).

I'm not sure how much long term entertainment one can get from one of these, but it's an interesting novelty item. When I was like five years old this would have been just the coolest thing though. Robophiles and younger kids will love them.

The one caveat I wanted to offer is that the Roboreptile does not work so hot on carpeted floors. His main locomotion technique is basically "shuffling" and this tends to fail on a soft surface. On any hard surface though he gets around pretty good.

So three out of five on this one I think.

Oh, and the cats took to him surprisingly well. Doesn't look/smell enough like anything that evolution has programmed them to be afraid of I guess :-)

One more thing: Getting him out of the box was a major pain. Apparently they're concerned about packs of them escaping and running amok devouring Barbies in the stores at night or something, since he's wired, taped, and screwed to the cardboard which is then glued into the outer box, so set aside a good 20-30 minutes for the unpacking process. And a philips screwdriver that's less than 1/4" in diameter and at least 3 inches long to unscrew him (and get the battery doors open).

G.

evolution in action
The roboreptile is about as capable as my old ers-110 aibo, but cost a lot less and is reptilian. Also a bit slower. By reptilian, I mean that it doesn't want to interact, it just wants to hunt, or guard. In themselves, these modes are worth the price of the toy.

It has 4 modes - roam, guard, remote control, and programmable. Remote control is OK, but quickly bores because the critter isn't fast. It lets you check what it can walk on/over.

Roboreptile has a program mode, which is the biggest change from roboraptor. (It's also a little faster when turning.) Stringing behaviors together, however, also quickly bores because the critter can't run. or fight

One little pleasure is hooding. It usually doesn't like being hooded and acts that way.

Roaming/hunting is when it wanders around and occasionally roars or snaps at the air. Interesting. Feeding is not that interesting because you just poke a button on the remote. Too tomagachi for me.

Guard is fun because it can spook the unwary.

Battery life is not impressive, use rechargeables.

After a while, time to take it apart. Type "roboreptile hack" into a search engine. Then dig in. It's easier than getting the critter out of the packaging. Now the real fun begins! I've met Tilden, the designer, and I suspect one of his goals was to flood the world with little motors, controllers, and sensors. Those are the building blocks of robotics. That and legos. Can the body plastic fit together another way? Can the tail be modified into a tentacle?

Way more attitude than the Roboraptor - Sturdy
WowWee's Roboreptile isn't artificial intelligence - it does what it wants. It has way more attitude than the Roboraptor. The good thing is that you can turn the volume down. You can guide it by the remote if you are directly in front of him. It gets around with decent speed. Left alone the reptile will make its way around corners, tables and chairs. Turn off the light and the IR sensor will put the beast to sleep. I set mine down on the table (thinking it was off) it woke to life on the floor. Perfectly sturdy - it didn't break. I've heard there are those that scramble these guys for their innards - sensors and such. There are 20 known "programmable" functions. Hacks can be had by the capable. That's not me. The batteries lasted about 45 minutes - the neck slows its swagger when they get low. Roboreptile was a hit for the nieces and nephews, dogs and cats too.