WowWee Roboreptile Robotic Reptile

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.

Roboreptile looks like something out of the future and moves like something out of the past.

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

Product Description
Roboreptile is an advanced fusion of technology and individuality. Watch as he stalks his ball with a homing beacon, or breaks into a sprint, rising from four legs up to two. He explores his environment, using advanced artifical intelligence, and moves around with realistic biomorphic motions and a cool tail-whipping action. Requires 9 AA batteries (Not Included)



Reader Reviews
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. Comments (5) | Permalink | (Report this)