January 11, 2008 6:05 PM

I hope so. And on the tri bot front i cant see for the life of me how this is a technilogical advancement. I mean come on the cave men invented the wheel millions of years ago. I also think that wheels on a robot look cheap and tacky and makes it easier for the people to make knock offs.

So i dont believe that the tribot is the v3 we have just lost to many functions.

However, looking at the robots that have come out, there is a suspicious amount of technology on the seperate robots thats rumoured to be used in the v3. Im going to make a prediction that the v3 will come out next year with knees, joke telling ability, language abilitys, rechargable battery and so on...

January 11, 2008 9:12 PM

Some of us are applauding the addition of some more serious "tools" to the robot arsenal.

Tilden's original Beam Bots and Biobots were a lot more Rovio in nature than a bi-pedal robot.

So, it would be good for everybody to remember that there is a diverse audience, with diverse desires. WowWee is a company looking to sell to an audience. I think their proposed line of robots for 2008 is diverse enough to offer something for just about everybody.

bugs

robo-dog

fuzzy-bots

wise-cracking playmate (tribot)

programmable mobile playmate (Mr.P)

and a higher end robotic platform (Rovio)

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

January 11, 2008 9:35 PM

I didn't follow the RSV3 thread but if there was to be a V3 added to WowWee's line-up I'm sure they'd wait a good 2-3 years from the release of V2/Media. It wouldn't make sense as a company to continually release new robots which supercede your previous line until you've sold the required number to break even (as far as research and tooling investments) and hit profit targets etc. There was definitely a big jump from the V1 to the V2 which might set a precident for the move to V3. How many more features can they include, how much more intelligence can they incorporate and can they keep it within budget for the target consumer?

markcra.com

January 14, 2008 3:54 PM

The only bots i like from the 2008 line is the femasapian because of its ability to control all of the other bots and her almost "human" movements. the second one is Wrex the dog it's cute,has a funny eye,and can be programmed to be something else...like a cat, which is kinda weird considering...

"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

February 17, 2008 12:08 AM

Now that is a nice picture, JustinXrox. I personaly like the V2, RQ, Rovio, and Roboboa.

February 17, 2008 9:41 PM

i think we were all kidding ourselves to think there was a V3 that could do everything Tilden said with a 2008 release date.  I bet someday teh V3 will be here, but probabky not for a couple years at least.  The V3 seems like the homogenization of many of teh 2008 releases (having something like teh rovio's navigation, femisapiens improved walk etc).  Plus the cost of a robot that could do all teh things Tilden suggested is prabably far greater than 500. 

    I am not against teh idea of the V3 being on wheels btw.  Wheels would probably drive the cost down and are really a better opton in terms of manueverability.  Stairs would be an issue, but carrying drinks and such would be much easier.  I think that by now wifi should be a pretty obvious accessory.  If teh V3 could give driving directions and weather and news etc it would have more mainstream appeal which would improve marketability.  I would rather wait for teh holy grail of wowwee robots to be top notch tahn release a V3 that can slowly and unreliably climb stairs and probably not do simple things like grab a drink until the technology improves.  I'm fairly happy with the 2008 line because i think it wil be a good testing ground for future v3 features.  

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke

February 20, 2008 3:59 PM

Eh I'd place bets on next year but, as Billboard said, Wowwee can be unpredictable.

"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

February 20, 2008 11:10 PM

Nocturnal said:

Billboard said: This is the only the begining of 2008. Remember how the RS Media was released at the end of 07 and the RSV2 was released a year before and in the middle of the year? And our burping little friend was towards the middle of the year before the v2 was released also. I would look around July.

Funny, I could have sworn I'd had my RS Media since the end of 2006, and my V2 since the end of 2005 (it had been out for a little while at that point).

I was talking about when they were released. Not when some people snuck (meaning buying a lot to make some kind of a profit) some RS robots from CES and stuck them on eBay for people like us to buy and enjoy at a very very lo...high price.

February 23, 2008 10:50 PM

I think that WowWee decided to bring out a bunch of smaller robots this year with many different features as a testing ground. They will use bits and pieces of the most popular robots to make the V3 the most intuitive and popular consumer bot out there. The V3 will probably retail in late 2009 to early 2010 for about $600 to $700. I am crossing my fingers for this robot to be able to move fluently in all directions and go up and down stairs with realistic legs with very flexible knees. I am also hoping for this bot to be able to do some chores around the house and connect to the internet wirelessly, or by usb every day to bring you updated news and entertainment information. And my last 3 wishes are that it can use the phone, talk fluently in 10 languages and speak without text to speech, or studder.

February 24, 2008 11:37 AM

Jake33677 said: I am crossing my fingers for this robot to be able to move fluently in all directions and go up and down stairs with realistic legs with very flexible knees. I am also hoping for this bot to be able to do some chores around the house and connect to the internet wirelessly, or by usb every day to bring you updated news and entertainment information. And my last 3 wishes are that it can use the phone, talk fluently in 10 languages and speak without text to speech, or studder.

My expectations are that your expectations will not be met. About the only thing on that list that I see in the works is the wireless LAN connection.

Stair navigation? From WowWee? As a first step, they might want to make a robot that doesn't fall down a staircase when it fails to notice there's no floor to take its next step onto.

On a slightly more positive note, I think crawling up stairs, rather than walking upstairs would be an acceptable first achievement.

It takes a long time before a toddler can safely navigate stairs on their feet. Variations on hands and knees climbing, and bottom scooting are more stable ways to ascend and descend staircases. Part of this has to do with the physical size of a toddler.  The stair riser is usually higher than the distance from their feet to their knees. It's very hard to step up onto  something that is higher than your knee. Hoisting up the leg to put the knee on the next step is the usual technique.

The same technique is used by adults climbing uneven surfaces. When the next step up is higher than your knee, you put your knee on it, then bring up the other foot, then stand. Repeat as needed.

That means the hands are usually involved in the climbing motion, if only to steady the center of balance, if not to physically pull or push to the next level. 

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)