The i-SOBOT remote control has a built-in LCD display with intuitive icons for easy motion sequence entry. The controller/robot communication is done using a well known IR format similar to television remote controls.
Takara/Tomy will be offering the "i-SOBOT," a fully functional humanoid robot for approximately $300 (USD) in Fall 2007—a breakthrough in pricing that is significantly less than half the retail cost of similar humanoid robots. For only $50 to $70 more, a follow-on version, scheduled for later in the '07, will include a head-mounted camera and LAN capability. Each of the 17 servos has its own small cpu built-in. The rest of the electronics, including a cpu totally dedicated to voice recognition, are enclosed in the robots main body. The speaker is located at the bottom of the chassis, behind the three slots. Ready to go right out of the box, the robot will ship with several hundred pre-programmed motion sequences, dialogs, and built-in voice command recognition.
The “i-SOBOT” is a significant new robot in the humanoid bot marketplace, and the company offering it has quite a history. Based on it's long, successful, history as a global toy manufacturer, Takara/Tomy knows the importance of creating a distinctive personality for each of its products. Takara/Tomy views the i-SOBOT as a natural extension of a decades-long series of animated and robotic products, including the original Omnibot, the TXR-002 4-channel radio controlled robot, and more recently best sellers like the Walkie Bits robotic turtles.
Takara/Tomy Ltd. was formed in early 2006 when Tomy merged with long-time rival, Takara Co., Ltd. The combined new company has many decades' experience with the successful production of animated and robotic products. Separately, the two companies produced a number of popular robot products, Takara is perhaps best known for producing the Transformer toy line first marketed by Hasbro in the ‘80s. The combined company is often referred to as Takara/Tomy, and the i-SOBOT is a highly capable, very competitive entity that is worth watching in the robotics marketplace.
Latest updates:
i-SOBOTs will be on store shelves in the US by October - in time for Christmas!
17 custom designed servo motors, 19 custom ICs, built-in gyro-sensor, 2 LEDs, voice command recognition, speaking vocabulary of over 200 words and phrases (English).
Suggested retail price of $350
Fully assembled-ready to play, matching IR remote control.
Can execute pre-programmed actions, user programmed actions (programmed using the remote), real-time remote control, or voice commands.
Takara/Tomy views the i-SOBOT as a natural extension of a decades long series of animated and robotic products.
Takara/Tomy has been experimenting with different color schemes, including this strikingly attractive pink model. It's also highly likely that some promotional versions could be released.
Kimi Watanabe, General Manager of the Seeds Product Development Group, is really excited about bringing the i-SOBOT and follow-on products to market. His wife is creating special costumes for the robot!
Yosuke Yoneda, Deputy Manager, is by nature rather shy and introverted, but becomes extremely excited and animated when he explains or shows off his robot creations. He started the original i-SOBOT development project in 2001, and never lost faith in the project, even when it was put on hold for a year and a half when the two companies merged.
Yoneda carries his i-SOBOT around in a small plastic tool case that he modified to protect the robot. The 100 yen coin in the upper right hand corner is roughly the same size as a US quarter, which should give you an idea of the robots size.
Each of the 17 servos has its own small cpu built-in. The rest of the electronics, including a cpu totally dedicated to voice recognition, are enclosed in the robots main body. The speaker is located at the bottom of the chassis, behind the three slots.
A Transformer toy originally produced by Takara in the '80s.
The robot features 17 degrees of freedom, using servos that were custom designed by the Takara/Tomy development team. Special attention was paid to even the smallest detail. For example, there are almost no exposed wires or cabling.
The robots hands, while not controlled by servos, can be rotated and have two moveable fingers. The company expects to create a number of accessories that would use the hand.
Based on it's long, successful, history as a global toy manufacturer, Takara/Tomy knows the importance of creating a distinctive personality for each of their products. Ready to go right out of the box, the robot will ship with several hundred pre-programmed motion sequences, dialogs, and built-in voice command recognition.
Originally designed almost twenty years ago, the Tomy TXR-002 was ahead of its time, but taught the company lots of valuable lessons that were eventually incorporated into the i-SOBOT design. The TXR-002 was a four channel, R/C controlled robot that was sold up until 1994 in Japan and the UK for aproxiamately USD$ 500. The robot is still well known in Japan and remembered quite fondly by its fans.
