Roboquad, WowWee's latest robot pet, is a four-legged "spider-like" bot capable of identifying and pursuing a moving object. The chassis is designed to allow Roboquad to move easily in any direction.
Roboquad has three speeds, but is always quick to respond to its environment. It's head swivels, sweeping the room with an infrared beam used to identify movement and even the relative sizes of objects.
Roboquad will be in stores by fall of 2007 and is expected to retail for about $100.
Roboquad does look more spider-like than you might expect from a robot with four legs. Science fiction fans may recall the spider robot from Charles Sheffield's The Web Between the Worlds (even though it had the standard eight legs). Or, perhaps the Jumping Spider Tank Robot Tachikoma is more your speed? In terms of movement, these Autotelematic Spider Bots seem to move similarly. Hopefully, the Roboquad will work better than the N.S.E.C.T. Robotic Insect that seemed to have a variety of mechanical flaws.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/7/2007)
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.' - Neal Asher, 2008.
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Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'