Okay, so it isn't as artsy as making gooey bugs in a miniature oven, but HexBug's little micro-robotic tchotchkes are a good time in their own right. The digital entomologists at HexBugs decided to unleash the new Ant Micro and Nano Newton at New York City's Toy Fair, and for some peculiar reason we were quite enamored with watching these autonomous, high speed creatures run around the carpeted show floor. Powered by two button cell batteries, $11.99 Ant Micro has front and rear touch sensors that allow it to maneuver around objects in its path and it's hard, colored transparent exoskeleton casing was durable enough for the little guys to crash into a wooden plank and reverse course. The $9.99 tiny motor powered, 12-legged Nano Newton holds a special place in our heart, and the Jolly Rancher sized caterpillar vibrates uncontrollably and is able to flip itself over and walk forward. HexBugs will also sell different Habitat sets so the creatures can run around on their own without adult supervision. Luckily for you, these little guys weren't camera shy -- check the pics below!
posted February 15th 2010 9:22PM
We've had these at The Source since forever.
good for kids i guess, hardly new technology.
The link to buy it at "The Source" in Canada. They seem to sell fairly well, especially as an impulse buy. http://bit.ly/dp3AMD
@xKNGx ya, these were the big things with my kids this last christmas. in all we have at least one of each of the robot creatures, 13 nanos and two habitats. I saw the habitats going for up to $70 on amazon just before christmas (we got them for $25 each). Oh at we only pay $6-$8 for the nano's. Must be that NY tax, hehe.
Granted, they have pretty much been sold out since the new year most places we've looked.
@jonyah also, you can buy the spare batteries for these on amazon at $1.50 for 10. I picked up 100 before christmas and am glad i did.
BUT GUYS.
all they do is move forward and back...
Yeah, I bought a few of these for Christmas presents... hardly newsworthy lol. They are cute and fun though.
Oh man my cat is gonna love this
@bonecandy Until it gets a whisker caught in a gear.
@bonecandy
Was thinking the same thing. The new ones should have a GPS option so you can track your cat after he eats it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZY9Z6WvSY
That's all I can think about while reading this article.
@ebob9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LULVxYTdx3g
@ Radioshack since last october
@jleete87 Yeah, I bought one. It was fun to watch the cat play with it for about 5-10 minutes. Doesn't do well on carpets though.
Actually, I had it well before last Oct. I'm sure of that.
It's a ZhuZhu Pet without fur.
RadioShack has had them all for a while (except for that cool track)
The robotics team I'm on has been selling these as a fundraiser. They're pretty cool, and we've been able to do pretty well selling them.
Cool critters :-)
you can get them in Radio Shack.... My son loves them...
At the Source, during Christmas 08, we sold the slow-moving hexbug, and we sold a lot.
Then last christmas we got the fast moving ones, and we sold even more. We sold more hexbug/ants than anything else in the store, good stocking stuffers and little gifts.
I bought one for my cat, but the bug just runs in to him, the goes the other way and back and forth, my cat doesn't seem impressed.
Yeah, I have made several toys that probably started this toy. It's called the bristlebot. Look it up on YouTube post date will definitley predate any patents for these toys... I didn't create them but found the vids years ago. People were much more impressed when they saw the head of a toothbrush scurrying around.
@Beachamt Hehe I was just going to post almost the same thing.
I was in Toys'RUs back in December shopping for Christmas presents for my daughter when I saw some of those HexBugs in a bin. When I pulled it out, I saw that it was basically a bristlebot (I'd seen the YouTube video too) and was a little disappointed.
Attaching a pager motor to a toothbrush and watching it scoot across the floor = cool.
Paying $8 for one... kinda lame.
replicators