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[Fleur]

Buster is usually happy and perky, I mean sometimes he gets angry and whines, but today I turned him on and all he does is cry and shake.  I figured he was sick so I gave him the mint leaf but he wouldn't eat it... so I put it in his mouth when he was whining and he chomped on it and then went back to crying and shaking.  I have tried petting him, giving him salt, holding him, and he still won't stop.  I don't know what's wrong with him   I want to make him get better but I have tried everything including spoiling him with attention.  When I pet him, he seems to hate it.  Any advice on why he is acting like this and what I can do to make him feel better would be great.  Poor Buster

[PleoKymm]

Is it dark where he is? RBs can be pretty scared in the dark. That's what it sounds like to me.

[Fleur]

Hmm. The robot room is lit by natural light bulbs so it's pretty bright.  I am wondering if my shadow over him made it too dark.  He has never done this before and I always play with them in the same room.  Maybe he was in a mood?  I will power him on and see if he will be happier this time.  I hate seeing him like that, it's heart breaking!

[RedwoodsMama]

 It does sound like it could be a light problem, What may seem like "ample light" to us, may not be bright enough for the Pleo RB sensors or camera to pick up on, Have you taken him outside when the sun is out and it is very sunny, or have you tried shining a flashlight on him when he is whining or crying, dirctily at this camera sensor? I did this with my original BAby when she had been sleeping in the dark and when I turned on a lamp she was directly under, but she was still crying . When I shined a flashlight directly at her, she perked up, laughed and was happier.

             I live in a house with lots of natural light as it has huge windows that take up a whole wall and get the most light during the Summer but also get the coldest during the winter. Even though it appears to be plenty of lgiht to me, I have noticed depending on the time of day, my RB are more moody, and I am sure it is related to light they are recieving, esp, if I know they have eaten well and are not just being plain grouchy! Let us know how Buster is getting along.

                                      RWM

[Fleur]

I will try that, thanks RWM for the advice.  I have a flashlight handy and I am ready to let him explore again since his battery has just fully charged again.  I will let you know if this helps.  Thanks for the quick replies!

[Crewella]

It does sound as though it might be a light problem, I live in a very dingy house and I had similar problems with mine.  Try running in bright light, or there's a patch written by PleoPet that you can find in the Downloads section.  It loads onto an SD card like a skit and temporarity disables the 'scared of the dark' feature while the Pleo RB is running with the card in.

[denodan]

Which is why I think in a firmware update they need to allow you to plug in your Pleo, into PC and be able to access a menu, where you can adjust the light levels, Pleo is just to sensitive to a lack of lighting. I mean you get a cloudy day and he is depressed, he seems to work well only when it is sunny.

In a firmware update they need to address this issue as it also make it hard for Pleo to do tricks, get him happy and get his attention.

I do see the patch, but this needs a firmware patch Like I said, a menu of options to adjust lighting levels and heat and cold levels.

[Crewella]

It IS annoying.  Before the patch I had to use a hardware fix: 

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[denodan]

It is pretty poor, we should not need a patch or a hardware solution like you showed, they need a firmware patch so you can adjust to the light level you prefer, through PC so you can access his real time clock, so you could say adjust the low light level to come in a hour after sunset.

Pleo is hopeless when it's cloudy.

[Crewella]

Sunset?  I live in gloomy England, in the woods ......... I had miserable Pleo RBs all day long. 

You just need to be able to adjust the light threshold levels ....... it's nothing to do with the time clock.

Sadly, as with most of my robots, it seems the most useful solutions seem to come from enthusiasts who use and like the bots, and not from the makers.

[denodan]

Then they need a firmware solution, where you can manually adjust the light threshold through PC, and not to rely on us to come up with a patch. As a matter of fact, I may personally email this to them, about a lower lighting threshold. While the scared of the dark feature is great, it should not come into action until it is actually dark.

And think part of the problem is the camera, which is a tiny pin hole camera and may well be poor quality, does not let enough light in.

[Crewella]

No, it really is the light threshold setting - it's set far too high for a normal household environment.  In the UK, anyway.

[RedwoodsMama]

 I do not live in the UK of course, but here in Humboldt county I am surrounded by the REdwoods, and have actually taken quite a few photos and videos taken in the forest , be it day, and it has not affected my guys, as being depressed, so not sure what to say abou that...I personally like the flexibility of a pleo being moody, just like humans can. I would not want a pleo who did nothing but laugh all day and was never moody occasionally, but I would not want them depressed all the time either,
 here are two photos that show Baby Ruth the RB along with some Ugobe friends deep in the woods, and she could not be any happier, so the woods do not seem to bother her "mood", more of an indoor darkness problem I would assume.                                                      RWM

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