We won't beat around the bush: there's just no way that
Takara Tomy's claim of "the world's smallest
robot" for its new Omnibot2007 i-SOBOT humanoid is even remotely true, but as far as fairly well-articulated humanoid biped toy bots that are about to be available for sale, we could see the 6.6-inch tall i-SOBOT taking
that crown. Now that we've got the extravagant claims out of the way, there's a lot to love about the i-SOBOT, including an LCD-equipped remote for having the bot act out programmed motions, and voice control for dictating simple actions. The bot can play music, dance, and respond to applause and other user actions. The bot can also make its own punching and kicking sound effects, so we can imagine some entertaining robo-duels with a pair of these things. If that's not quite enough excitement for you, Takara Tomy is also prepping the Omnibot2007 i-SOBOT CAMVersion (pictured), which includes a camera that can beam pics to your PC or phone via WiFi, and whose head can swivel 60 degrees in each direction. The cam-free model should be out in July for 31,290 yen (about $258 US), while the CAMVersion bot will run you 41,790 yen ($344 US) when it debuts in October. Check a pic of the cheapo-version and his remote after the break.
Read - Impress Watch formal announcement
Read - Japanese handsize robot seeks to lure adults
posted Jan 23rd 2007 2:43PM
It looks like the price has recently dropped to make it much more affordable. I saw it at Hammacher Schlemmer for $99.00:
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/75494.asp
The price just dropped to 59 dollars on Amazon.. is there something wrong with this thing?
Fifty bucks to the first guy who sends the cammed-up version strolling into a women's locker room.
Is it just me, or does this look like "Shockwave" from one of the earlier American "Transformers" series?
i've still got an original omnibot...anyone interested?
stephen: how much for the o.g. omnibot/what condition?
A video is worth a thousand promises.
This reminds me of the Robosapien I bought at Best Buy. While it was a mighty fine dancer, the walking was not as smooth. The claim that it could throw its custom-designed throwing bucket was also absurd. I tried for hours to make it throw the thing before my roommates destroyed it in a drunken rampage.
that's pretty damn cheap as far as fairly well-articulated humanoid biped toy bots go.
I for one welcome our well-articulated humanoid biped toy bot overlords.
(sorry, I just _had_ to do that once)
COOL!!! I want one!!!
How long before we get to the Robotech stage??? I want my VF-1 dammit!!!!!
I have a couple little wind-up robots (Robby and B-9) that are about 2-1/2 inches tall. Seems they qualify for world's smallest robot. ;)
Why is it that whenever someone makes some kind of robot with a camera, the first use I think of for it is spying on hot chicks? Am I the only one?
>>Why is it that whenever someone makes some kind of robot with a camera, the first use I think of for it is spying on hot chicks? Am I the only one?
There's another use?
Hahaha, nice.
And no, I can't think of one.
I would so mod this to look like a Zaku
Too expensive to sit on the shelf. I would probably get bored of it after a week.
To be fair, Takara-Tomy doesn't claim that this is "the world's smallest robot" of any kind, but rather (roughly translating from the Japanese) that this is the "world's smallest bi-pedal humanoid shaped robot" and I think that mass production is also implied. I saw this robot at Takara-Tomy's Toy Forum last week and, unlike Robosapiens, which technically only hobbles, this robot uses multiple servos in the legs and gyro technology to actually walk. The Takara-Tomy website has a press release in Japanese here:
http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/ir/release/press/index.html
Btw, back in 2005 Takara already claimed the smallest mass produced programmable robot (at the time) with their "Walkie bits" turtle robot. See June 21, 2005 link here (English):
http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/ir/english/press_takara.html#002
Does somebody have some technical specs about this robot? The price is really low compared to the other servo-based humanoids like Robonova!
Albert van Breemen
http://www.personalrobotics.nl
Does the robot motion will like human action,jumped or runned.If he can,this is too magic
No need to beat your bush anymore. Guinness World Records has recently certified i-SOBOT robot from Takara-Tomy as "The world's smallest humanoid robot in production." Robots Dreams has a funny photo of the actual certificate and a video:
http://www.robots-dreams.com/2007/07/tomy-i-sobot-ro.html
Congratulations Takara-Tomy!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/23/takara-tomys-omnibot2007-i-sobot-the-worlds-smallest-robot/
Youtube video of the white one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMBJ4mSlkpg