Romo: pet
Designers, Lego, radio-controlled cars and helicopters, computer games ... The industry produces a lot of goods for children of any age, but let's be honest: the purchase and subsequent games for dads are not less exciting (and sometimes much more) than for their beloved children.
Recently I received a parcel with another toy for my son (yeah, I have nothing to do with it!) - robot Romo:
(iPhone not included)
I want to acquaint all readers with this wonderful, not afraid of the word, pet. We in the office have already played enough of it .
Romo is a bright representative of a successful KickStarter project. The guys from Romotive acted wisely and first (in the fall of 2011) presented a simple project to the public, received about $ 115 thousand of investments (out of the requested 32 thousand) in 45 days and created the first version of Romo:
')
The robot turned out to be rather clumsy, the interface of communication with the phone through the headphone jack caused a lot of questions, but the idea turned out to be fruitful and was accepted by users favorably: there were many orders and the guys had to assemble their own hands in four months and mail 2000 devices.
It is not surprising that after some time (in the fall of 2012) the guys launched the second project on a kickstarter and collected 170 thousand dollars in 30 days (of the requested 100 thousand). Users were asked to finance the production of the new version of Romo: more advanced and much prettier (although to whom, let 's remember Bender's pron ):
Agree, progress is evident:
I am sure that the guys will not stop on their laurels and we will hear about their developments.
So, what can this "phone stand"? A list of features and characteristics of Romo can be found on the project page: romotive.com/meet-romo . A good idea of ​​the device can be obtained by watching the video presentation of Romo at the conference TED .
First of all, he is “really cool” and “mimic” (reviews of my colleagues), everyone is delighted with the robot: fathers and children, bearded guys and young girls, and even domestic animals show unhealthy interest in him.
The robot is able to recognize the faces of users, you can configure a different reaction to different users, and when a stranger gets into his field of vision, Romo gets frightened and turns away. It can control the movement of a person’s head in two dimensions and turn after it, causing a violent reaction in the children playing.
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 user 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 via other devices: iPhones, iPods, iPads and computers.
Separately, it is worth noting the telepresence system: you can, for example, send an invitation by e-mail to any person, and he can connect to your device through his browser and, just like in Skype, talk to you. Knowing the number (code) of your device, you can connect to it on the site www.romotive.tv and go around the house, entertaining household members, or around the office, scaring colleagues.
By connecting Romo to a charger, you can use it as an unusual docking station and charging for your phone. You can use it as an advanced alarm clock "on wheels": until you catch up with it and you will wake up.
Using the built-in, extremely simple graphical “language”, it will be interesting for children to learn the basics of programming. Available SDK allows you to create much more complex and clever programs and write your own applications. Therefore, the list of possibilities is endless: the published SDK will attract many developers and, over time, new interesting programs will appear.
An interesting tutorial appeared in the latest version of the firmware: when launched, they will show us the story of how Romo appeared on Earth and offer to help it adapt to the new wheels (tracks). Thus, the user performs the simplest tasks (for example, write a program for moving the robot squarely) and learns to interact with him without any instructions (which no one reads anyway).
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 is enough, according to the manufacturer, for two hours of continuous play. The battery is charged using the included mini-USB cable, while the iPhone connected to Romo will also be charged, and when the cable is connected to the computer, the iPhone can synchronize with it.
The device body, its design and build quality are excellent.
Children love personified, inspired toys, just remember Disney’s “Cars” and “Planes” cartoons, the British TV series “Paramozik Thomas”, as well as all kinds of transformers and little ponies. From this point of view, the robot with its bright cartoon interface is the ideal toy. At the same time, Romo favorably differs from any simple human-like and animal-like toys (the language doesn’t turn to call them robots), like Robosapien and Pleo, by the presence of a smart, adaptable and updated program, as well as a bright interface with feedback.
I will not dwell on the merits of the robot, it’s all too subjective. In addition, everything that I listed in the paragraph “Opportunities” can be attributed to the advantages of the device and I do not want to repeat myself.
On the shortcomings dwell in more detail. Since the device consists of two parts: hardware (actually, Romo) and software (iPhone application and Romo firmware), cons can be divided into fixable (firmware and application) and uncorrectable (hardware, i.e., tracked platform).
You can order Romo at romotive.com - the “Adopt a Romo” button.
The cost of the device is $ 150, plus $ 50 direct delivery to Russia.
I waited for a parcel from England via Royal Mail (with tracking) for a little more than two weeks.
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 pumped up. The interface is illogical in some places, the application is constantly buggy, sometimes it crashes and works in a completely different way than the user expects. Most of the advertised features of Romo you will not see in the official app, and the 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 a huge potential, all the flaws are reparable, and the more copies are sold, the more popular Romo will be with ordinary users and developers, the better it will be for everyone: the creators will be able to correct their shortcomings, third-party developers will write other cool programs for the robot, and users will enjoy all this and rejoice.
I do not regret buying and even advise the robot as a gift to geeks, IT people and children, but I want to warn all readers: buying Romo today, you just get a beautiful “phone holder”, 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 I received a parcel with another toy for my son (yeah, I have nothing to do with it!) - robot Romo:
(iPhone not included)
I want to acquaint all readers with this wonderful, not afraid of the word, pet. We in the office have already played enough of it .
History of creation
Romo is a bright representative of a successful KickStarter project. The guys from Romotive acted wisely and first (in the fall of 2011) presented a simple project to the public, received about $ 115 thousand of investments (out of the requested 32 thousand) in 45 days and created the first version of Romo:
')
The robot turned out to be rather clumsy, the interface of communication with the phone through the headphone jack caused a lot of questions, but the idea turned out to be fruitful and was accepted by users favorably: there were many orders and the guys had to assemble their own hands in four months and mail 2000 devices.
It is not surprising that after some time (in the fall of 2012) the guys launched the second project on a kickstarter and collected 170 thousand dollars in 30 days (of the requested 100 thousand). Users were asked to finance the production of the new version of Romo: more advanced and much prettier (although to whom, let 's remember Bender's pron ):
Agree, progress is evident:
I am sure that the guys will not stop on their laurels and we will hear about their developments.
Opportunities
So, what can this "phone stand"? A list of features and characteristics of Romo can be found on the project page: romotive.com/meet-romo . A good idea of ​​the device can be obtained by watching the video presentation of Romo at the conference TED .
First of all, he is “really cool” and “mimic” (reviews of my colleagues), everyone is delighted with the robot: fathers and children, bearded guys and young girls, and even domestic animals show unhealthy interest in him.
The robot is able to recognize the faces of users, you can configure a different reaction to different users, and when a stranger gets into his field of vision, Romo gets frightened and turns away. It can control the movement of a person’s head in two dimensions and turn after it, causing a violent reaction in the children playing.
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 user 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 via other devices: iPhones, iPods, iPads and computers.
Separately, it is worth noting the telepresence system: you can, for example, send an invitation by e-mail to any person, and he can connect to your device through his browser and, just like in Skype, talk to you. Knowing the number (code) of your device, you can connect to it on the site www.romotive.tv and go around the house, entertaining household members, or around the office, scaring colleagues.
By connecting Romo to a charger, you can use it as an unusual docking station and charging for your phone. You can use it as an advanced alarm clock "on wheels": until you catch up with it and you will wake up.
Using the built-in, extremely simple graphical “language”, it will be interesting for children to learn the basics of programming. Available SDK allows you to create much more complex and clever programs and write your own applications. Therefore, the list of possibilities is endless: the published SDK will attract many developers and, over time, new interesting programs will appear.
An interesting tutorial appeared in the latest version of the firmware: when launched, they will show us the story of how Romo appeared on Earth and offer to help it adapt to the new wheels (tracks). Thus, the user performs the simplest tasks (for example, write a program for moving the robot squarely) and learns to interact with him without any instructions (which no one reads anyway).
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 is enough, according to the manufacturer, for two hours of continuous play. The battery is charged using the included mini-USB cable, while the iPhone connected to Romo will also be charged, and when the cable is connected to the computer, the iPhone can synchronize with it.
The device body, its design and build quality are excellent.
Advantages and disadvantages
Children love personified, inspired toys, just remember Disney’s “Cars” and “Planes” cartoons, the British TV series “Paramozik Thomas”, as well as all kinds of transformers and little ponies. From this point of view, the robot with its bright cartoon interface is the ideal toy. At the same time, Romo favorably differs from any simple human-like and animal-like toys (the language doesn’t turn to call them robots), like Robosapien and Pleo, by the presence of a smart, adaptable and updated program, as well as a bright interface with feedback.
I will not dwell on the merits of the robot, it’s all too subjective. In addition, everything that I listed in the paragraph “Opportunities” can be attributed to the advantages of the device and I do not want to repeat myself.
On the shortcomings dwell in more detail. Since the device consists of two parts: hardware (actually, Romo) and software (iPhone application and Romo firmware), cons can be divided into fixable (firmware and application) and uncorrectable (hardware, i.e., tracked platform).
So, correctable defects:
- very raw and buggy application on the iPhone
- extremely limited functionality of the “native” program
- Romo’s low profile, hence the absence of third-party applications
- no version for iPhone 5 (promise to do soon, there is a pre-order)
- no russian language
- the platform periodically podglyuchivaet (for example, does not always execute the command "turn")
Unrecoverable flaws in the current version:
- no sensors that allow the robot to avoid falling from surfaces (for example, from a table to the floor)
- there is no hardware reset button for the platform
- the strange behavior of the mechanism that controls the tilt of the iPhone: you can easily tilt it with your hands and the system will incorrectly position the phone, it will be very difficult to fix it
- only for iPhone (Android is back in flight)
Order, payment and delivery
You can order Romo at romotive.com - the “Adopt a Romo” button.
The cost of the device is $ 150, plus $ 50 direct delivery to Russia.
I waited for a parcel from England via Royal Mail (with tracking) for a little more than two weeks.
findings
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 pumped up. The interface is illogical in some places, the application is constantly buggy, sometimes it crashes and works in a completely different way than the user expects. Most of the advertised features of Romo you will not see in the official app, and the 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 a huge potential, all the flaws are reparable, and the more copies are sold, the more popular Romo will be with ordinary users and developers, the better it will be for everyone: the creators will be able to correct their shortcomings, third-party developers will write other cool programs for the robot, and users will enjoy all this and rejoice.
I do not regret buying and even advise the robot as a gift to geeks, IT people and children, but I want to warn all readers: buying Romo today, you just get a beautiful “phone holder”, 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.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/195722/
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