September 30, 2013 at 00:00Romo: Pet
Designers, Lego, radio-controlled cars and helicopters, computer games ... The industry produces a lot of goods for children of all ages, but let's be honest: buying and following games for dads is no less exciting (and sometimes much more) than for their favorite children.
Recently, a parcel arrived with my next toy for my son (yeah, I have nothing to do with it!) - Robot Romo:
(iPhone is not included in the package)
I want to introduce all readers to this wonderful, not afraid of this word, pet. We at the office already managed to play enough of it .
Romo is a bright representative of a successful project on KickStarter . The guys from Romotive acted wisely and first (in the fall of 2011) presented a simple project to the public , received about 115 thousand dollars of investments in 45 days (of the requested 32 thousand) and created the first version of Romo: the
robot turned out to be quite plain, the interface for communicating with the phone through The headphone jack caused a lot of questions, but the idea turned out to be fruitful and was favorably received by users: there were a lot of orders and the guys had to collect their own hands in four months and send 2000 devices by mail.
It is not surprising that after some time (in the fall of 2012), the guys launched the second projecton kickstarter and 30 days raised 170 thousand dollars (of the requested 100 thousand). Users were invited to finance the production of a new version of Romo: a more advanced and much prettier one (although to whom, let ’s recall Bender's pron ):
Agree, progress is evident:
I’m sure that the guys will not stop there and we will still hear about their developments.
So, what does this “phone stand" can do? A list of Romo features and specifications can be found on the project page: romotive.com/meet-romo . You can get a good idea of the device by watching the video presentation of Romo at the TED conference .
Firstly, he is “really cool” and “cute” (reviews of my colleagues), everyone is delighted with the robot: fathers and children, bearded uncles and young girls, and even pets show an unhealthy interest in him.
The robot can recognize the faces of users, you can set up a different reaction to different users, and when a stranger gets into his field of vision, Romo gets scared and turns away. He can control the movement of the human head in two dimensions and turn after it, causing a violent reaction in playing children.
Romo is self-sufficient, it does not need any control panels or external devices, since its “brain” is a fairly powerful “computer” in the form of an iPhone. The robot reacts to the user's actions: you can tickle him and he will laugh, if you leave him alone, Romo will be sad and look around for a partner for games. But at the same time, the robot can be controlled via WiFi through other devices: iPhones, iPods, iPads and computers.
Separately, it is worth noting the telepresence system: for example, you can send an invitation by e-mail to any person, and through his browser he will be able to connect to your device and, just like on Skype, chat with you. Knowing the number (code) of your device, you can connect to it on the website www.romotive.tv and drive around the house, entertaining the household, or at the office, scaring colleagues.
By connecting the Romo to the charger, you can use it as an unusual dock and charge for your phone. You can use it as an advanced alarm clock "on wheels": while you catch it already and wake up.
With the help of a built-in, extremely simple graphical “language”, it will be interesting for children to learn the basic principles of programming. Affordable SDKallows you to create much more complex and sophisticated programs and write your own applications. Therefore, the list of possibilities can be continued indefinitely: the published SDK will attract many developers and interesting new programs will appear over time.
An interesting tutorial appeared in the latest firmware version: at launch we will be shown a story about how Romo appeared on Earth, and will be offered to help him adapt to new wheels (tracks). Thus, the user performs the simplest tasks (for example, writing a program for moving the robot along the square) and learns how to interact with it without any instructions (which no one ever reads).
Romo comes in a beautiful box in which you will find the robot itself, a mini-USB cable and a small instruction manual.
Inside the robot there is a 2000 mAh NiMH battery, which, according to the manufacturer, is enough for two hours of continuous play. The battery is charged using the included mini-USB cable, while the iPhone connected to the Romo will also be charged, and when the cable is connected to the computer, the iPhone can synchronize with it.
The case of the device, its design and build quality are excellent.
Children love personalized, inspired toys, just remember the Disney cartoons “Cars” and “Airplanes”, the British series “Paravozik Thomas”, as well as all sorts of transformers and little ponies. From this point of view, the robot with its bright cartoonish interface is an ideal toy. At the same time, Romo compares favorably with any simple human and animal-like toys (the language doesn’t dare to call them robots) like Robosapien and Pleo with a smart, adaptable and updated program, as well as a bright interface with feedback.
I will not dwell on the merits of the robot in detail - this is all too subjective. In addition, everything that I listed in the “Features” section can be attributed to the advantages of the device and I don’t want to repeat it.
I will dwell on the shortcomings in more detail. Since the device consists of two parts: hardware (in fact, Romo) and software (iPhone application and Romo firmware), the minuses can be divided into removable (firmware and application) and unrecoverable (hardware, i.e. tracked platform).
You can order Romo on romotive.com - the “Adopt a Romo” button.
The cost of the device is $ 150, plus $ 50 direct delivery to Russia.
I waited a little more than two weeks for a parcel from England via Royal Mail (with tracking).
The guys from Romotive managed to make a truly revolutionary device. The design is great, the hardware is decent, but the software component is very disappointing. The interface is illogical in places, the application is constantly buggy, sometimes it crashes and does not work at all as the user expects. You will not see most of the advertised capabilities of Romo in the official application, and unofficial ones simply do not exist in nature. As a developer, it hurts me to look at the program that I downloaded from the AppStore.
Here is a video from one of the buyers that best confirms my opinion: the first part and the second .
The device has enormous potential, all the flaws are fixable, and the more copies it sells, the more popular it is for regular users and developers get Romo, the better it will be for everyone: the creators can fix their shortcomings, third-party developers will write other cool programs for the robot, and users will enjoy it all and enjoy it.
I do not regret buying and even recommend the robot as a gift to geeks, IT specialists and children, but I want to warn all readers: buying Romo today, you get just a beautiful “phone stand”, however, with great potential, nothing more.
I am sure that the device has a great, bright future, I wish you success, prosperity and more good Romotive programmers.
Recently, a parcel arrived with my next toy for my son (yeah, I have nothing to do with it!) - Robot Romo:
(iPhone is not included in the package)
I want to introduce all readers to this wonderful, not afraid of this word, pet. We at the office already managed to play enough of it .
History of creation
Romo is a bright representative of a successful project on KickStarter . The guys from Romotive acted wisely and first (in the fall of 2011) presented a simple project to the public , received about 115 thousand dollars of investments in 45 days (of the requested 32 thousand) and created the first version of Romo: the
robot turned out to be quite plain, the interface for communicating with the phone through The headphone jack caused a lot of questions, but the idea turned out to be fruitful and was favorably received by users: there were a lot of orders and the guys had to collect their own hands in four months and send 2000 devices by mail.
It is not surprising that after some time (in the fall of 2012), the guys launched the second projecton kickstarter and 30 days raised 170 thousand dollars (of the requested 100 thousand). Users were invited to finance the production of a new version of Romo: a more advanced and much prettier one (although to whom, let ’s recall Bender's pron ):
Agree, progress is evident:
I’m sure that the guys will not stop there and we will still hear about their developments.
Opportunities
So, what does this “phone stand" can do? A list of Romo features and specifications can be found on the project page: romotive.com/meet-romo . You can get a good idea of the device by watching the video presentation of Romo at the TED conference .
Firstly, he is “really cool” and “cute” (reviews of my colleagues), everyone is delighted with the robot: fathers and children, bearded uncles and young girls, and even pets show an unhealthy interest in him.
The robot can recognize the faces of users, you can set up a different reaction to different users, and when a stranger gets into his field of vision, Romo gets scared and turns away. He can control the movement of the human head in two dimensions and turn after it, causing a violent reaction in playing children.
Romo is self-sufficient, it does not need any control panels or external devices, since its “brain” is a fairly powerful “computer” in the form of an iPhone. The robot reacts to the user's actions: you can tickle him and he will laugh, if you leave him alone, Romo will be sad and look around for a partner for games. But at the same time, the robot can be controlled via WiFi through other devices: iPhones, iPods, iPads and computers.
Separately, it is worth noting the telepresence system: for example, you can send an invitation by e-mail to any person, and through his browser he will be able to connect to your device and, just like on Skype, chat with you. Knowing the number (code) of your device, you can connect to it on the website www.romotive.tv and drive around the house, entertaining the household, or at the office, scaring colleagues.
By connecting the Romo to the charger, you can use it as an unusual dock and charge for your phone. You can use it as an advanced alarm clock "on wheels": while you catch it already and wake up.
With the help of a built-in, extremely simple graphical “language”, it will be interesting for children to learn the basic principles of programming. Affordable SDKallows you to create much more complex and sophisticated programs and write your own applications. Therefore, the list of possibilities can be continued indefinitely: the published SDK will attract many developers and interesting new programs will appear over time.
An interesting tutorial appeared in the latest firmware version: at launch we will be shown a story about how Romo appeared on Earth, and will be offered to help him adapt to new wheels (tracks). Thus, the user performs the simplest tasks (for example, writing a program for moving the robot along the square) and learns how to interact with it without any instructions (which no one ever reads).
Scope of delivery and specifications
Romo comes in a beautiful box in which you will find the robot itself, a mini-USB cable and a small instruction manual.
Inside the robot there is a 2000 mAh NiMH battery, which, according to the manufacturer, is enough for two hours of continuous play. The battery is charged using the included mini-USB cable, while the iPhone connected to the Romo will also be charged, and when the cable is connected to the computer, the iPhone can synchronize with it.
The case of the device, its design and build quality are excellent.
Advantages and disadvantages
Children love personalized, inspired toys, just remember the Disney cartoons “Cars” and “Airplanes”, the British series “Paravozik Thomas”, as well as all sorts of transformers and little ponies. From this point of view, the robot with its bright cartoonish interface is an ideal toy. At the same time, Romo compares favorably with any simple human and animal-like toys (the language doesn’t dare to call them robots) like Robosapien and Pleo with a smart, adaptable and updated program, as well as a bright interface with feedback.
I will not dwell on the merits of the robot in detail - this is all too subjective. In addition, everything that I listed in the “Features” section can be attributed to the advantages of the device and I don’t want to repeat it.
I will dwell on the shortcomings in more detail. Since the device consists of two parts: hardware (in fact, Romo) and software (iPhone application and Romo firmware), the minuses can be divided into removable (firmware and application) and unrecoverable (hardware, i.e. tracked platform).
So, fixable flaws:
- very raw and buggy application on the iPhone
- extremely limited functionality of the "native" program
- low fame Romo, hence the lack of third-party applications
- no version for iPhone 5 (promise to do soon, there is a pre-order)
- no Russian language
- the platform periodically malfunctions (for example, it does not always execute the “turn” command)
The flaws in the current version:
- no sensors that allow the robot to avoid falling from surfaces (for example, from a table to the floor)
- no platform hardware reset button
- strange behavior of the mechanism that controls the tilt of the iPhone: it can be easily tilted with your hands and the system will incorrectly position the phone, it will be very difficult to fix it
- only for iPhone (Android again in flight)
Order, payment and delivery
You can order Romo on romotive.com - the “Adopt a Romo” button.
The cost of the device is $ 150, plus $ 50 direct delivery to Russia.
I waited a little more than two weeks for a parcel from England via Royal Mail (with tracking).
conclusions
The guys from Romotive managed to make a truly revolutionary device. The design is great, the hardware is decent, but the software component is very disappointing. The interface is illogical in places, the application is constantly buggy, sometimes it crashes and does not work at all as the user expects. You will not see most of the advertised capabilities of Romo in the official application, and unofficial ones simply do not exist in nature. As a developer, it hurts me to look at the program that I downloaded from the AppStore.
Here is a video from one of the buyers that best confirms my opinion: the first part and the second .
The device has enormous potential, all the flaws are fixable, and the more copies it sells, the more popular it is for regular users and developers get Romo, the better it will be for everyone: the creators can fix their shortcomings, third-party developers will write other cool programs for the robot, and users will enjoy it all and enjoy it.
I do not regret buying and even recommend the robot as a gift to geeks, IT specialists and children, but I want to warn all readers: buying Romo today, you get just a beautiful “phone stand”, however, with great potential, nothing more.
I am sure that the device has a great, bright future, I wish you success, prosperity and more good Romotive programmers.