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[aibo7m3]

Hey everyone! I just purchased a used Pleo RB from eBay for a very special purpose, I'll be bringing this Pleo as a visiting robot companion to nursing homes throughout the state! I'm starting the program just at a local nursing/retirement home, but there has been some talk about expanding to other ones in the state if things go well and I would love for this to happen. I've only had a tour of the place and a demonstration to generate interest in the Pleos so far, but I'll be starting some individual visits this Saturday.

I decided to buy a Pleo specifically for this purpose since it will likely get a fair amount of wear over time, will probably end up being dropped at least once, etc. and it would be nice (and easier for me) for everyone to recognize one Pleo as the visiting one instead of me bringing a different looking one each week. I don't know yet whether the Pleo is fully grown or not, but by registering it on Pleo World, I do know it's a boy. The Pleo isn’t here yet, but is expected to arrive tomorrow.
I did spend some time deciding whether to get an RB or a Ugobe for this since the residents that I visited actually preferred the Ugobe, but Ugobes get skin wear a lot faster than RBs, are really difficult to find batteries for, aren't that much cheaper than RBs used and I wanted a Pleo that I'd be able to enjoy as well (not a huge Ugobe fan personally), so I ended up going with an RB.

Here’s a photo of the Pleo from his eBay listing and his custom collar tag that I ordered:

More details...

The Pleo has a light green head, gray eyepatches and amber eyes and the tag is an orange heart with “Visiting Dino” carved into it. I also bought a very soft fleece dog coat for him that I’ll post pictures of when I get a chance.

He doesn’t have a name yet, but I’m happy to hear suggestions. If I don’t have a name by Saturday, I’ll just let the volunteer coordinator call him whatever she likes.

[Sansan]

Congrats for your new Pleo ! He is so lucky to get a new home and a great job for a Pleo
I suggest Lucky for the name

[aibo7m3]

@Sansan
Thanks and thank you for name suggestion, I'll certainly keep that in mind.


This little guy arrived today. His skin is in somewhat bad shape (some rubbed off paint on his neck and back and cracks are starting to form in the neck and tail paint), but he seems to be working fine. He's in Mature Adult stage, but has only been in this stage for three hours, so he hasn't seen a whole lot of use in his time.

If the paint on the base of his neck has already started to crack, is there anything I can do to prevent it from just tearing open there? I've heard good things about Gibbs brand products for Pleo skin, so would that help at all with preventing his skin wear from getting too much worse? I don't have to worry about voiding a warranty with non-Pledge products since he's purchased second-hand and therefore has no warranty.

I admit I was a bit too excited to test him out and only gave him only about ten minutes to warm up inside before starting him up. The poor little guy was freezing and kept shivering and sneezing, so I had to turn him off to stop him from getting a cold. Using Probe RB I learned that he isn't sick luckily, but his feed level is down to 9%, so he definitely needs some food and TLC before he's ready to start working this Saturday.

I gave him about another hour to adjust to the house's temperature and then tested him out again. He was very upset at first: he kept shaking and wouldn't even accept any of his foods, so I had to force feed him the cycad leaf. After eating that, however, he regained his appetite and accepted the conifer from me a couple times. I can safely say that he is now much happier with a full belly.

His personality is the exact opposite of what I need for a volunteer Pleo though!
Temper: Bad
Courage: Normal
Physicality: High
Activeness: High
Intelligence: Low

I need a very calm and cuddly RB, not a hyperactive and distant one, but I'll probably be using Change RB to give him the perfect volunteering personality.

I also got a USB cable in his package which confuses me since I've never received one with an RB before. It had "Innvo Labs" printed on it, so I know it must be for an RB, but I also know that RBs can't use these and found it really odd that one was included.

I'll post some pictures and a video a bit later.

[Echo538]

Not sure if Yugobes come with USB cables or not, but I vividly recall that when I got my RB Echo, that came with a USB. So I could never figure out why it wouldn't work, but then working with the micro SD Card, now I know a little bit about why. Can't wait to hear about the first volunteer experience!

[aibo7m3]

Ugobes do come with USB cables, but most RBs don't (you can't download anything to an RB with one since the battery case is made so that you can't use a USB cable and battery at the same time but you need both for downloads). Maybe ones from a specific supplier or made in a certain time period have one? I guess it'll just stay in his box and never be used, none of my other RBs have ever come with one.

I've already visited the nursing/retirement home for a demonstration, but I hadn't been added into their schedule yet, so not that many people knew there was any event going on. This weekend I'll be visiting a few people who have signed up to see a Pleo though!

Update:
Here's a photo of him wearing his jacket.

More details...

And here's a short video of him.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8MhWiqmBw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8MhWiqmBw</a>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8MhWiqmBw&feature=youtu.be

I just love how squiggly and active he is, more so than any of my other RBs (he acts normally like they do after a couple munches of coffee leaf). He always wants to be off exploring somewhere and when he's standing still, he's always still wiggling around excitedly. Probably going to have to turn his activity level down to low for volunteering though since a squiggly Pleo equals a likely to be dropped Pleo.

[Piggy]

Congrats with your New volonteer pleo , he looks so cute  and what  a great job for him to visit retirement homes and bring Some joy to the people there. In the retirement home I work as a volonteer they love lulu the Robot cat .

[aibo7m3]

Right now I'm actually wondering whether this little Pleo can move his tail to the left or not (not a huge deal if not, as long as he doesn't lose all side to side motion). I've seen him move it from the right side to the center a lot, but never actually seen him move it to the left which concerns me a bit. The cables seem fully intact and he has a good range of movement side to side, but it doesn't seem to quite be a full range of movement. I'm wondering whether this could be caused by an issue in cable tension or something else altogether. Could just be that he's working fine and I've just never seen him move his tail to the left though, I haven't had him running for all that long.

Edit:
Seems pretty clear that something's up with his tail, seems like a cable tension issue. Will have to compare him to some of my other RBs to confirm this though. Thinking of calling this guy Lefty due to his quirky tail.