Roboraptor History & Teardown WowWee Remote Control Raptor Dinosaur
98WowWee's lovable Roboraptor dinosaur toy robot has become the must-have gadget of the 2005 Christmas season. With its toothy mouth, blue reptile eyes, and Apple inspired body more than two feet long, the Roboraptor is a surprisingly lifelike bot, with just enough autonomy to make it really cool for both kids and adults.
Using five motors, touch sensors (on its chin, back, and tail, and in its mouth), infrared (on its head and nose) and stereo audio sensors (in the jaw), Roboraptor can, whether you set it in "Roam" or control its motion, move around, avoid things, and even inspect and react to its environment. For a toy, this level of interaction and environmental understanding is cheap: Roboraptor sells for around $120. But for a small robot, it's priced about right.
Like the Robosapien, Roboraptor needs a remote to take commands from the user. This remote is stylishly designed, and it matches Roboraptor's body appearance.
Roboraptor is a robotic toy invented by Mark Tilden in 1999, and then distributed by Wow Wee Toys International. It is the successor to the RoboSapien robot and uses motion technology based on realistic biomechanics that give it fluid and natural movements. It has a multi-function remote control that uses infrared technology to talk to it. Unlike the original RoboSapien, the Roboraptor is capable of autonomous movement, using 3 realistic gaits.
Roboraptor comes with several sensors that allow it to monitor and interact with its environment. It has infrared and stereo sound sensors on its head, and touch sensors on its chin, tail, and in the mouth allowing for more fun and interactive play.
Sensors
Roboraptor comes with several sensors that allow it to monitor and interact with its environment. It has infrared and stereo sound sensors on its head, and touch sensors on its chin, tail, and in the mouth allowing for more fun and interactive play.
Flexible behaviors
When one touches one of Roboraptor's touch sensors, its reaction will vary depending on its mood. Touching its face when it is hunting will make it react angrily and most likely attempt to "attack" the person touching it. But if it is feeling playful, it will nuzzle the person's hand and then "attack", using its jaws.
Autonomous behaviors
It has four different modes of behavior or moods: hunting, cautious, playful, and free-roam. In hunting mode, it will react to sharp sounds and progressively focus its attention more intensely on repeated sounds coming from the same direction. In cautious mode, it will react oppositely and move away from sounds it hears. In playful mode, it will react to sounds in a more whimsical fashion but neither approaching nor avoiding them. In free-roam mode, it will explore its own environment, avoiding obstacles and stopping occasionally to listen for loud sounds to investigate. The Roboraptor does not walk well on carpets and cannot be programmed.
Laser targeting
Early versions of the Roboraptor could also follow a laser-like target pointed on the ground. This could be used this to lead it around a room under direct control. However, this feature was removed from later units.
Common Name: RoboRaptor
Species: Mecharaptor argentelapis
The RoboRaptors are genetically enhanced cyborgs with DNA crossed between tyrannosaurs and maniraptorians. The construction of these true advancements of technology dates back to the year 1999, when WowWee Corporations were in the middle of a great war; several paleontologists were sent on expeditions to various dig sites in places like Hell Creek and the Gobi Desert to uncover tyrannosaur and raptor fossils and make swift, powerful, and intelligent war machines out of the bones(Project: RoboRaptor). Several companies from around the world funded this project, and it proved a great success. However, in the year 2010, the RoboRaptors' feral instincts were mysteriously unleashed, and they successfully escaped their enclosures. It's 2018 now, but the machines' whereabouts are still unknown, though there have been reports of civilians coming up with stories of strange "metal lizards".
A fully-grown RoboRaptor can reach an average size of 35 feet long, 18 feet tall, and 12,000 pounds; however, one elder male specimen, affectionately codenamed Iron Giant(after the movie), measured over 40 feet long, over 20 feet tall, and weighed roughly 15,800 pounds.
RoboRaptors are sexually chromatic, meaning their color depends on their gender. Females are a light gray with black stripes, while males are a dazzling blue with sapphire-blue stripes that are astoundingly iridescent; scientists that were once part of Project: RoboRaptor theorize that males use these glimmering stripes to woo females and intimidate other males. These cyborg saurians also possess two long, sharp horns pointing backwards from each side of their heads, which scientists theorize are used in combat over food, territory, or breeding rights.