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I-Sobot Build Report - continued
BATTERY INSTALLATION:
Once the batteries are charged, you can install them in the robot. To open the battery case on the robot's chest,
you need to unscrew two screws. It is unfortunate that you have to find a screwdriver every time you want to use
the I-Sobot. After repeated use, it seems likely that you could scratch the paint on the robot while trying to get at
the batteries. It would have been nice if the batteries were easier to get to, and didn't require a screwdriver.
BATTERY INSTALLATION:
Once the batteries are charged, you can install them in the robot. To open the battery case on the robot's chest,
you need to unscrew two screws. It is unfortunate that you have to find a screwdriver every time you want to use
the I-Sobot. After repeated use, it seems likely that you could scratch the paint on the robot while trying to get at
the batteries. It would have been nice if the batteries were easier to get to, and didn't require a screwdriver.
SPECIAL ACTION MODE:
This mode is similar to Remote Control Mode, except the motions the robot performs are more advanced. These
include playing an air guitar, imitating animals, and lengthy marital arts demonstrations. These are the kinds of
displays you might use to impress your friends. However, there didn't seem to be enough motions to warrant an
entire mode.
NOTE: We found an error in the instruction manual on page 26. It lists the codes for the Western Movie Scene as
B, A, B, Go, which is incorrect. Fortunately the Quick Reference card has the correct sequence as A, B, A, B, Go.
VOICE CONTROL MODE:
This is where the I-Sobot truly shines. The I-Sobot is outfitted with a microphone to detect the sounds of your voice,
and the smarts to understand what you are saying. You can give commands to move the robot using simply your
voice. While the robot isn't quite ready to fetch your slippers, this is a step in the right direction. You can also make
the I-Sobot perform special actions, including some mini plays. Again, there are some humorous moments.
We found the voice control mode easy to use. The robot was able to understand our commands when we spoke in
a clear voice, from within a few feet of the robot. The only trouble we had is when we attempted to make a voice
command before the robot had finished the prior motion. You should always wait until the searchlight LED turns on,
which indicates the robot is ready for a new voice command. Voice control is something that all robots should have.
This mode is similar to Remote Control Mode, except the motions the robot performs are more advanced. These
include playing an air guitar, imitating animals, and lengthy marital arts demonstrations. These are the kinds of
displays you might use to impress your friends. However, there didn't seem to be enough motions to warrant an
entire mode.
NOTE: We found an error in the instruction manual on page 26. It lists the codes for the Western Movie Scene as
B, A, B, Go, which is incorrect. Fortunately the Quick Reference card has the correct sequence as A, B, A, B, Go.
VOICE CONTROL MODE:
This is where the I-Sobot truly shines. The I-Sobot is outfitted with a microphone to detect the sounds of your voice,
and the smarts to understand what you are saying. You can give commands to move the robot using simply your
voice. While the robot isn't quite ready to fetch your slippers, this is a step in the right direction. You can also make
the I-Sobot perform special actions, including some mini plays. Again, there are some humorous moments.
We found the voice control mode easy to use. The robot was able to understand our commands when we spoke in
a clear voice, from within a few feet of the robot. The only trouble we had is when we attempted to make a voice
command before the robot had finished the prior motion. You should always wait until the searchlight LED turns on,
which indicates the robot is ready for a new voice command. Voice control is something that all robots should have.
CONCLUSION:
The I-Sobot is truly a cutting edge piece of technology. For an incredibly low price of around $300, it comes with 17 degrees of freedom, a
speaker to play sounds, a microphone to hear your voice, two LEDs, and way more preprogrammed motions than any other robot. This
robot was fun, fun, fun.
Things We Liked:
Using the joysticks in the Remote Control mode allows you to move the robot in any direction for as long as you like. We enjoyed the
continuous motion capability. The robot comes with over 180 preprogrammed motions. The batteries allowed extended use. No other
robot comes with a Voice Control mode as standard equipment. The gyro in the robot allowed for smooth motions with limited falls. The
voice acting and skits can be quite funny. You can't beat the price.
Things We Didn't Like:
The charge time of 6 hours on the batteries was longer than we would have liked. Using a screwdriver to open the battery case on the robot
and on the controller seems unnecessary. The complex method of inputting codes into the controller was tiresome, and took away from the
overall fun of using the robot. The Program Mode was not much fun to use. The robot offers no way for you to add on functionality (like
vision, or bluetooth).
In summary, the I-Sobot is a lot of fun. There are some really great things about this robot, but other things which limit its functionality. If
you are new to the world of robotics, and are looking for a cheap way to get started, the I-Sobot may be for you. You could get two I-Sobots
for less money than one of the other humanoids in our survey, and play with a friend. For those who are more experienced in robotics, then
the hope for you is that other manufacturers take a lesson from the tiny I-Sobot. If this robot can provide a speaker, a microphone, a gyro
and voice control capability as standard equipment for around $300, then why can't makers of $1,000 robots do the same?
COMING SOON:
We will be subjecting the I-Sobot to the same testing we put our Robonova-1 through as part of our Human Emulation project. Stay tuned
for updates to see which robot more closely mimics human motions. Check out our progress so far here.
The I-Sobot is truly a cutting edge piece of technology. For an incredibly low price of around $300, it comes with 17 degrees of freedom, a
speaker to play sounds, a microphone to hear your voice, two LEDs, and way more preprogrammed motions than any other robot. This
robot was fun, fun, fun.
Things We Liked:
Using the joysticks in the Remote Control mode allows you to move the robot in any direction for as long as you like. We enjoyed the
continuous motion capability. The robot comes with over 180 preprogrammed motions. The batteries allowed extended use. No other
robot comes with a Voice Control mode as standard equipment. The gyro in the robot allowed for smooth motions with limited falls. The
voice acting and skits can be quite funny. You can't beat the price.
Things We Didn't Like:
The charge time of 6 hours on the batteries was longer than we would have liked. Using a screwdriver to open the battery case on the robot
and on the controller seems unnecessary. The complex method of inputting codes into the controller was tiresome, and took away from the
overall fun of using the robot. The Program Mode was not much fun to use. The robot offers no way for you to add on functionality (like
vision, or bluetooth).
In summary, the I-Sobot is a lot of fun. There are some really great things about this robot, but other things which limit its functionality. If
you are new to the world of robotics, and are looking for a cheap way to get started, the I-Sobot may be for you. You could get two I-Sobots
for less money than one of the other humanoids in our survey, and play with a friend. For those who are more experienced in robotics, then
the hope for you is that other manufacturers take a lesson from the tiny I-Sobot. If this robot can provide a speaker, a microphone, a gyro
and voice control capability as standard equipment for around $300, then why can't makers of $1,000 robots do the same?
COMING SOON:
We will be subjecting the I-Sobot to the same testing we put our Robonova-1 through as part of our Human Emulation project. Stay tuned
for updates to see which robot more closely mimics human motions. Check out our progress so far here.
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NOTE: These robots are not meant for children. All of the humanoid robot models discussed on this website use
powerful servos that can pinch or even crush your fingers if you are not careful. Consult the recommended minimum
age from the manufacturer before allowing children to use any of these robots.
powerful servos that can pinch or even crush your fingers if you are not careful. Consult the recommended minimum
age from the manufacturer before allowing children to use any of these robots.
To open the battery case in the chest, you
have to unscrew two screws located at the hips.
have to unscrew two screws located at the hips.
With batteries installed, the robot is almost ready to go
The controller also requires you to unscrew the cover.
This seems a bit excessive. The 3 AA batteries needed
for the controller are not included with the robot.
This seems a bit excessive. The 3 AA batteries needed
for the controller are not included with the robot.
USING THE I-SOBOT:
Finally, after waiting 6 hours for the battery to charge, we can start using the I-Sobot.
The I-Sobot comes with 4 different command modes, detailed below:
REMOTE CONTROL MODE:
This mode allows you to move the I-Sobot around using the joysticks on the controller. This was fairly intuitive, and the robot was
responsive. One nice feature is that if you want the robot to perform a specific action, like walk forward, you just hold the joystick in the
up direction and it will keep walking as long as you push the joystick. As we have mentioned in our Human Emulation testing, we like to
see robots that have a continuous walking cycle! Remote Control mode also allows you to control the robot's arms and head with the
joystick, but we didn't find this to be terribly interesting.
Another way to control the I-Sobot in Remote Control Mode is by inputting a sequence of codes for different actions. There are
numerous punches, kicks, and guard moves for martial arts. Despite the small size of the robot, and its servos, the motions were fluid
and well balanced. Furthermore there are emotional displays and reactions you can activate. Some of these are quite humorous, as
the robot displays some personality.
While it is great to have such a vast supply of motions to choose from, the problem is the interface with the robot is clumsy, and not
very intuitive. For example, if I wanted the I-Sobot to perform a right high kick, I would enter the codes 2, 4, K into the remote.
Unfortunately the codes 2, 3, K have absolutely no meaning to me. Furthermore, if I accidentally type 3, 4, K by mistake, then the robot
does the splits. It seems to me that a better method would have been to hit the K or kick button, and move one of the joysticks in a
direction to get a specific kick. With a dizzying array of motions to choose from, you will either spend most of your time referring to the
Quick Reference card, or you might memorize a few favorites motions and just replay those over and over.
Finally, after waiting 6 hours for the battery to charge, we can start using the I-Sobot.
The I-Sobot comes with 4 different command modes, detailed below:
REMOTE CONTROL MODE:
This mode allows you to move the I-Sobot around using the joysticks on the controller. This was fairly intuitive, and the robot was
responsive. One nice feature is that if you want the robot to perform a specific action, like walk forward, you just hold the joystick in the
up direction and it will keep walking as long as you push the joystick. As we have mentioned in our Human Emulation testing, we like to
see robots that have a continuous walking cycle! Remote Control mode also allows you to control the robot's arms and head with the
joystick, but we didn't find this to be terribly interesting.
Another way to control the I-Sobot in Remote Control Mode is by inputting a sequence of codes for different actions. There are
numerous punches, kicks, and guard moves for martial arts. Despite the small size of the robot, and its servos, the motions were fluid
and well balanced. Furthermore there are emotional displays and reactions you can activate. Some of these are quite humorous, as
the robot displays some personality.
While it is great to have such a vast supply of motions to choose from, the problem is the interface with the robot is clumsy, and not
very intuitive. For example, if I wanted the I-Sobot to perform a right high kick, I would enter the codes 2, 4, K into the remote.
Unfortunately the codes 2, 3, K have absolutely no meaning to me. Furthermore, if I accidentally type 3, 4, K by mistake, then the robot
does the splits. It seems to me that a better method would have been to hit the K or kick button, and move one of the joysticks in a
direction to get a specific kick. With a dizzying array of motions to choose from, you will either spend most of your time referring to the
Quick Reference card, or you might memorize a few favorites motions and just replay those over and over.
PROGRAM MODE:
The I-Sobot comes with a way to enter a string of different action commands into the controller, and either send them to
the robot to execute, or save the commands into memory. This seems like a good idea, but again the user interface is
clunky. You have to key in long sequences of button pushes without making mistakes. There must be a better way. At
this point we should mention that the I-Sobot does not come with any software so that you can program actions through
your computer. With the dizzying array of possible motions, it seems that using a computer interface would be an ideal
way to control the robot. Having a piece of software that has drop down menus for each action (punch, kick, guard,
emotion) with a listing of each motion beneath it (left punch, right punch, left chop, right high kick, Excited 1, etc.) would
be a much faster and intuitive way to interact with your robot. At around $300, I guess we can not expect fancy software
in addition to the robot. Perhaps the user community will develop such software on their own.
NOTE: If you want to find out how to control your I-Sobot in a more intuitive way, check out www.robodance.com and
learn how to use your Nintendo Wii instead of the clunky Remote Control Mode or Program Mode. Or you can try the
version we created by signing up for our Test Drive.
The I-Sobot comes with a way to enter a string of different action commands into the controller, and either send them to
the robot to execute, or save the commands into memory. This seems like a good idea, but again the user interface is
clunky. You have to key in long sequences of button pushes without making mistakes. There must be a better way. At
this point we should mention that the I-Sobot does not come with any software so that you can program actions through
your computer. With the dizzying array of possible motions, it seems that using a computer interface would be an ideal
way to control the robot. Having a piece of software that has drop down menus for each action (punch, kick, guard,
emotion) with a listing of each motion beneath it (left punch, right punch, left chop, right high kick, Excited 1, etc.) would
be a much faster and intuitive way to interact with your robot. At around $300, I guess we can not expect fancy software
in addition to the robot. Perhaps the user community will develop such software on their own.
NOTE: If you want to find out how to control your I-Sobot in a more intuitive way, check out www.robodance.com and
learn how to use your Nintendo Wii instead of the clunky Remote Control Mode or Program Mode. Or you can try the
version we created by signing up for our Test Drive.
