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[Talon]

I first became acquainted with this robot in two thousand five when I walked into a Best Buy. I was after a new laptop bag but a snarling snapping robot was after me! The casheer was quick to apologize for his plastic pet's behavior. He told me his name was Romeo and he apparently liked the look of me.
I recently came into the posession of one of these guys. I traded one of my old Furbys for it. I was able to find a manual for it but I'm having trouble getting any sort of response from this guy. He comes on and does this wild snarling snapping animation but after that he goes very still and just snarls for a few seconds before going to sleep. I'm pressing all sorts of buttons on the remote but I'm not getting any sort of response. I'm operating it from in front of him as the instructions say. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks,
Talon

[aibo7m3]

Wow! I remember I got a Roboraptor in 2005 and I used to absolutely love it. I even remember bringing it into school with me a few times, but at that age I loved basically any robot I could get ahold of.

I just pulled my old Roboraptor out of the attic, but he isn't responding at all, so I'll replace his batteries and see what reaction I get from him. I don't really remember what the normal behavior from these guys is, but I'l get some fresh batteries for mine and his remote and test him out to see if I can figure anything that might be helpful to you.

Edit:
I just ran mine for about half an hour after replacing his batteries. At first when I started mine up, he didn't do much unless something moved in front of him in which case he'd roar and walk toward it and sometimes seemed to explore a little bit before stopping. However, I when left him alone for a bit, he started exploring on his own for about five minutes. He does seem to freeze every now and then (go into a mode where he'll only respond to being petted and sensing motion), but seems to snap out of it after 5-10 minutes or so. He'll also play tug-of-war if I put my hand in his mouth. The bad news is that the remote which I thought was his actually belongs to my Roboreptile, so it seems his remote is missing and I can't test the normal reactions to the remote. I'm not sure what is wrong with yours, but maybe if you leave him alone for 5-10 minutes, he might switch modes and become active and more responsive. You should see if he'll respond to any of the touch sensors as well. Also, I know this is an obvious solution and you've probably already done so, but if you haven't replaced the batteries in both the robot and its remote, it would be a good idea to do so. Hopefully yours isn't broken and you can figure out what the issue is!

[Talon]

Thanks, Aibo7m3! So far, mine also seems to only respond to someone touching the round touch sensor on his back and gives this happy sort of sound while flicking his tail? After that when I leave him alone, he makes this repetative sound as though he's breathing- that will go on for about thirty seconds or so-, then he will give a very soft contented snarl and then he remains perfectly still. I can pick him up, I can touch his back sensor again but he just stands there. I did change all of the batteries in both him and his remote. My nephew told me the remote is very fiddly and you have to be in just the right place for him to register the signal so... it's probably user error. Lol! Just curious though, are you on Skype? Maybe he's flashing some lights or something that I'm not seeing. Maybe if you saw him you could tell me what's going on? In the meantime, I'll try leaving him alone for a while and seeing what will happen.
Talon

[aibo7m3]

Oh, I think you actually might have a Roboreptile, not a Roboraptor and I might know what's going on if that's the case. Roboraptors don't have a circular back sensor, but Roboreptiles do. One difference between Roboraptors and Roboreptiles is that Roboreptiles will go to sleep if put in a very dark room or if their face is covered. The behavior you're describing sounds like what happens when I cover the sensors on my Roboreptile's face with my hand to make him think it's dark. I'm guessing it's either too dark for him or he has his face cover on (Roboreptiles are sold with a hard plastic cover that you can put over their faces to make them fall asleep).

For the record, I do have a Skype, but neither Roboraptors or Roboreptiles have any lights on them or anything like that, so I'm not sure if I'd be any help.

[Talon]

Oops. I think you might be right. I'm a little disappointed that this guy isn't my copy of Romeo but the hood thing sounds right. I remember now that my nephew said the robot he had was missing his. I'll try brightening up my room if I can and see if I get anywhere. Sorry for the confusion.
Talon

[Echo538]

Aw Talon, you have a Wowwee dinosaur? I saw it on youtube today... it's cool. just imagine... pleos, Wowwee, and that Stormy thing from Spinmaster running around all at once!

[Piggy]

They are so cool  I have a wrex the dawg from wowwee which is a great hit with our friends and their children .

[Talon]

At Echo: we'd have a prehistoric food chain going on. Poor pleo wouldn't have a chance with two predatory monsters stalking him. Roboreptile looks like he would be capable of some amazing jumps and quick movements with those legs!
*Sigh* I've left this Roboreptile on for the past ten minutes and he hasn't moved since going to sleep. I've opened my curtains and my light detector is squealing at its highest pitch so there has to be plenty of light in here. Still nothing new when I press buttons on the remote. Any more ideas?
Talon

[Talon]

Hi, everyone. I'm sad to report that either my remote isn't working or this poor Roboreptile is broken. I turned him on and left him for ten minutes by himself yesterday. He did give a very vicious roar after a while but he never moved. I've been pressing all sorts of buttons on the remote, I've made sure both sets of batteries are fresh, I've even ran him directly underneath my florescent light that I use so that my Aibos can play with their balls even late at night. I've tried clapping next to his head and he just isn't responding. His motors are all functional. He comes on and springs violently at me so there's nothing mechanical going on. I think it might be his sensory system. He's... deaf and blind I suspect. As I said I'm a little sad he wasn't that beautiful predatory creature who chased me in that Best Buy store all those years ago. Now that I think about it a little, I think the Roboraptor was taller, too.
Now I'm in a bind. I traded a working Furby for this robot and it isn't working. My nephew is really enjoying his toy and I don't want to take it back. I guess I'll just take out all the batteries and display the Roboreptile as a really wacky paperweight. Lol!
Talon

[Echo538]

Sorry to hear your roboraptor isn't working anymore. has it died? I had a creepy dream last night about flaurescent lighting.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

I had a quick google of the problem but I can't find anything conclusive. Apparently you can take the back off and check the cabling, which is all very well if you are tech savvy and can see but not very helpful otherwise.

Can your screen reader read PDF manuals Talon? http://www.wowwee.com/static/support/roboreptile/manuals/Roboreptile_Manual.pdf

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Just in case you can't, it has this section:

Roboreptile starts in Direct Control Mode and is in this state whenever he is waiting for, or performing, a controller command.
Roboreptile enters Free Roam if his Touch Sensor is pressed, after reacting to sound, if the Free Roam button is pressed, after reacting to infrared vision, after feeding, after the hood is removed, or if he is left standing for about 30 seconds.
While in Free Roam mode, Roboreptile will avoid obstacles using his Infrared Vision System. Occasionally he will stop moving and listen for sharp, loud sounds using his Sonic Sensors. During this time his vision and touch sensors are active.
Roboreptile’s response to environmental stimuli depends on the mood he is in - Hungry Mood or Satisfied Mood.
If left in Free Roam Mode for about 5 minutes without any user interaction, Roboreptile will power down. The only way to power him back up is to turn him OFF and then ON again.

[Talon]

Yes, IMR, my screenreader will read most PDF documents. He acts like he can't see any light and he doesn't respond to sound either. After his start-up animation, he stands there and breathes for about twenty seconds, gives a soft snarl and then stands still without moving anymore. He doesn't enter free-rome mode. He doesn't do anything. I've left him on for about fifteen minutes. He roared once- probably about ten minutes in but he didn't move or do anything else. I've tried pressing all sorts of buttons on the remote as I've said and he doesn't respond to that either. Not sure what to make of this.
Talon

[Piggy]

I think the remote is defective 

[aibo7m3]

I looked up some more info on the Roboreptile and I think all of the issues could actually be due to a faulty CDS sensor (what's used to tell if the hood is on). When the robot thinks it's time to rest, I don't think it responds to sounds or remote control commands. I could be wrong though and unfortunately I don't know of any way to fix this.

[Talon]

Arg. Sounds like he's well on his way to being a paperweight. I'm not taking that  boy's Furby back though. Is this sensor a tiny button or something? Something I could try depressing with a pin if it's stuck?
Talon