Roboreptile

The Roboreptile is a robotic dinosaur sold by WowWee.

Package Contents
The Roboreptile package contains the Roboreptile, its remote controller, a hood and its instruction manual.

Batteries
The Roboreptile takes 6 "AA" batteries and its remote controller takes 3 "AA" batteries.

The Sensors
The Roboreptile features a variety of sensors that allow it to interact with you and the environment. It features two IR sensors mounted in the tip of the nose, two sound sensors located in the rear of its head, and one touch sensor located on the top of its back.

The two nose mounted IR sensors allow for the Roboreptile to detect objects in its path and movement. It can discern the differences between movement on its left and right. These sensors have limited range when it comes to typical surfaces, thus the robot will not be able to detect you across the room. They do have sufficient range to detect walls and obstacles in its path as well as your hand should you be foolish enough to put it in front of its head when it’s hungry.

The two auditory sensors work well to endow the Roboreptile with stereo hearing. While not particularly effective at hearing things behind it, it is quite capable of detecting sounds coming from its left and right or in front and pursuing the source of disturbance.

The single touch sensor located on its back is a small round “button” that is very easily depressed and triggered. By default, the touch sensor will put the Roboreptile in Free Roam mode if triggered. Only when the Roboreptile is hooded will the touch sensor trigger any sort of positive reaction. One touch elicits a happy yelping sound followed by a few swishes of its tail. Two touches cause the Roboreptile to emit a contented gurgling sound reinforced with a few head movements. This is quite possibly the only remnant of “playful mood” left in the Roboreptile as it spends the rest of its time aggressive, hungry, and quite angry at you and the world.

Modes
The Roboreptile is capable of several modes that include Free Roam, Programmable, Guard, and Direct Control.

In Free Roam mode, the Roboreptile explores its environment. It moves about very quickly if hungry (default) and navigates very well, especially compared to the Roboraptor. This is due to the fact that the Roboreptile is now able to turn in place and do so very quickly. He is also able to back up almost as fast as he can run forward. This means the Roboreptile will able to get around the desk or table that much faster and continue in its explorations. While moving, every object it detects will count as an obstacle so it isn’t really capable of interacting with you when moving (except to dodge you). Periodically, the Roboreptile stops moving and pauses to listen and activate its vision and touch sensors. At this point in time, if you or an object is detected in front, the Roboreptile will rear up on its hind legs and let out a roar. If it continues to detect you in its path, it will get down on all fours and perform an attacking animation. What is particularly interesting is that you can move your hand from left to right and the Roboreptile will track your hand. If your hand (or object) is detected to its side, the Roboreptile will shimmy on its rear legs to face the object. Should the object be stationary for a few seconds, the attacking animation will follow. If the object is removed, he eventually gets down and continues walking around. Any sounds heard during that period will cause the Roboreptile to move its head in the direction of sound and then pursue it. During free roam mode, the Roboreptile will also continually switch between its quadruped and bi-pedal modes and even bite at the air occasionally (a testament to its constant aggressiveness). There seems to be more animations and reactions the Roboreptile is capable of during Free Roam,

Program Mode is new to the Roboreptile and allows you to enter in a sequence of actions and then play them back. When you press “PROG,” the robot rears on its hind legs and awaits your commands. It emits a sound after each action until it can accept no more. At that point you may execute the program and watch it perform the sequence of actions you gave it.

Guard mode: The Roboreptile is equipped with a guard mode to watch over its surroundings. Compared to the Roboraptor, the Roboreptile doesn't make sounds while it's guarding.

Direct Control mode is performed through the IR remote controller.

Moods
The Roboreptile is capable of several moods. By default, the Roboreptile is hungry and aggressive. It wakes up hungry at power-on and will probably stay that way until you do something about it. While hungry, the Roboreptile will behave aggressively towards objects. It will act as described above in Free Roam mode. The worst thing you can do at this point in time is to attempt to hood it. The cowl is cleverly designed to provide a false sense of security. There is actually no real connection between the hood and the robot as it just simply slides on very very loosely. As soon as the hood slips on, the Roboreptile lunges forward to shake it off. If this hasn’t dislodged the hood, the robot will shake its head left and right vigorously all the while screeching and getting very upset. Finally, if all efforts have failed, the Roboreptile will submit to hooding and will calm down.

The only way to get Roboreptile to enter “Satisfied” mood is to feed him. The IR remote controller has the “Feed” function which initiates the feed sequence. The Roboreptile will open its mouth and vocalize, more or less telling you that it wants to eat. Then it will get up on its hind legs and make a screeching noise that sounds like a bird. The robot will begin to scan for food by moving its head left and right. You can move the remote controller (acting as the food source) from left to right and the Roboreptile will follow your movements. If the food moves out of its front vision, it will actually turn to accommodate. Doing this too much will cause it to get “Dizzy”. Once the food has been locked on, the robot will get down on all fours and run towards the food. At this point in time, you can choose to walk around with the remote controller food and make the Roboreptile follow you or you can release the button and the Roboreptile will perform a chewing animation and make chomping sounds. Once the Roboreptile has "eaten", it will resume Free Roam mode shortly, but its movements will be significantly slower. Unfortunately, Satisfied mood never lasts long enough. You only have a small window of time while the Roboreptile isn’t attacking everything around it. This is also your prime opportunity to hood the creature. If you slip on the cowl now, the Roboreptile will not attempt to shake it off. There is simple shortcut to getting the Roboreptile into Satisfied mood: just press and immediately release the Feed button.

Once the Roboreptile is hooded, it will be calm and stop moving around. He will make periodic breathing sounds and be very accepting of input through his touch sensor. The IR sensor/sound sensors are disabled so you’re more or less left with a lethargic lizard than anything else. As noted before, touching the receptor now will initiate a positive response. After about a minute, the Roboreptile makes a pseudo-snoring sound and falls asleep. At this point in time, the Roboreptile looks like if it passed out. If you remove the cowl, the Roboreptile is supposed to wake up slowly. Luckily, Roboreptile never stays in it's "Berserk" mood for long, and it occurs only after an unsuccessful hooding. Should the cowl fall off, the Roboreptile enters into a frenzied stomping followed by a frontal charge.

Other features
The Roboreptile features a volume control. Press SELECT once followed by either the left or right buttons to turn down or up the volume respectively.