The i-SOBOT robot from toymaker Takara Tomy managed to score an honor upon its release — i-SOBOT is the 2008 Guinness Book of World Record's smallest humanoid robot in production, standing at just six and a half inches tall.
Just because it's small doesn't mean the i-SOBOT skimps on being a fun toy, however. It has 200 different phrases to say (our favorite: a hammy monologue while the robot fakes a slow Western-style death) and its 17 servos, coupled with a gyro sensor for stability, enables the i-SOBOT to take on an impressive number of poses. Check out the gallery below for some of our picks. i-SOBOT can be controlled and programmed with a remote, and can recognize 10 different voice commands.
At $350, though, this toy will probably only find itself in the hands of big kids with big wallets. Click through for a snazzy video showcase of the i-SOBOT.
i-SOBOT, via Loving the Machine
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By DarrianAshoka at 4:04 AM ON 11/02/07
That was very impressive and tempting, but I will wait for the cute version to arrive. This one looks a bit crude. I see they were going for the basics of what is essential to keep the weight low. They should take some design pointers from the makers of the I-Dog and all the other cute versions they have made along those same lines.
They also should be powered with a rechargeable lithium battery.
When I look at the computing power of the I-Pods, I see this is still very limited. Even the tiniest I-Pod has a lot more memory and computing power. I imagine we will see these sold for half the cost before long, but it is a good step forward.
By Roboman at 7:53 AM ON 12/01/07
Humanoid robot costs are driven by the power and the number of servos in each robot. I think that it would be very hard for Tomy to lower the price with out losing money. There are 17 servos and one gyro in the bot. If anything the cost may go up as more abilities are added to the robot.