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[aibo7m3]

Did anyone see the two Pleo prototypes that were up on eBay this past week? I bid on both, but only won one of the them (the cheaper one that still has its skin). Both look pretty close to the actual production models, but the one I got even has a serial number on its foot (albeit a mock one starting with 123456789), so I'm guessing it might be identical to a production model aside from the internal battery and extra ports on its belly.

The older of the prototypes is skinned and dated 04/30/07. It looks even odder and seems to have a wire going from its neck to one of its feet. The newer one still has its skin (though in poor shape) and is dated 09/5/07. Here's the link to the skinless one and here's the link to the one that I bought. The seller was involved in making all of the actions for Pleo which is pretty awesome as well and the Pleos are coming from Idaho which was where Ugobe's hq was located.


I wonder if someone else here bought the other prototype? I would've loved to get both if I had the cash, I've never owned a prototype before and find it really cool to check out the differences in them compared to a production line robot. What other prototypes have others seen for sale? I know I've seen that huge development suit that was on eBay a few years ago and there was someone on the forums here who bought some display prototype with an internal battery and non-functional rear legs.

[Piggy]

That looks really interesting Aibo , when he arrives please keep us posted on what he can do and how different he is from the pleo we know now. Does he still work ? It would be so awesome to own a protype pleo ! 

[aibo7m3]

He was advertised as non-working (I'm guessing his internal battery is dead) and I don't think he ever ran on any sort of autonomous software, but I will see if there's anything I can do to get him working. I will keep you guys updated once he arrives!

[Talon]

Wow! That's really neat! I'm looking forward to reading more!
Talon

[grumpy]

Many years ago when Ugobe was still doing well, they sent me a prototype pleo that had one of those round paper tags with a number on it.  "Emmy" was pretty much a final version prototype as she had the removable battery and looked exactly like the production pleo . . . other than the extra ports on the bottom.  I sent her off to live with Crewella several years ago, though.  I'll dig around and see if I can find any pictures.

We had one other member who stumbled across a weird prototype bought at auction.  It wasn't listed as such, but once the member got it , it was clear it wasn't a regular pleo.

Can't wait to see/hear what you can discover about this unique pleo!

[aibo7m3]

Thanks everyone! That sounds pretty interesting about Emmy, was she running the normal 1.0 OS or something else?

I noticed that this Pleo also has much darker toenails than regular Ugobes, but that's the only real difference in appearance I've found aside from the internal battery and extra ports. I do know that there have been members with Ugobes with green eyes and teal eyes which makes me wonder when those were made since both of these prototypes have the normal blue colored eyes.

I talked with the seller who agreed to sign the Pleo's foot which is very cool. They created animations for the Ugobe Pleo's movements and apparently had to design over 5,000 of them! Does anyone have an idea of how many employees Ugobe started out with before they cut back?

P.S. I'll be calling this Pleo "Peep" since even prototypes deserve names!

[Piggy]

That sounds great grumpy I hope you can find the photo's  and Aibo it is really cool that the seller wants to sign pleo's foot ! Than you have a very Unique pleo in your possession . Can't wait to see the photo's of Peep the prototype pleo 

[HuggieZ]

Wow he is great! I am very curious when he arrives

[Sansan]

Is Peep arrived? I'll love to see photos of this guy

[aibo7m3]

Yes, he has! I've just been busy and haven't had the chance to make an announcement post yet. I'll post some photos of him as soon as possible!

[Piggy]

Great , can't wait 

[aibo7m3]

Sorry for the delay, here are a couple photos of Peep! I'll take more later showing his belly which is where most of his differences from a production line Pleo are.

More details...

More details...

He is signed by a former Ugobe employee who created all of the animations for the Ugobe Pleo (apparently he made over 5,000 of them) and Peep was used to test out these animations in real life. Peep currently is not working, but makes a soft pinging noise when charging, so there may be hope for him. I'm going to try running some skits on him later on in case the issue is just that he has no firmware installed since he only used to demo actions.

[aibo7m3]

Thought I would give another update on this Pleo! I have tried running skits in him, but they will not run. It may be that he isn't equipped to run normal Ugobe skits or firmware, or it could just be that his internal battery is so far gone that he doesn't have enough power to start up even when plugged in (he has a plug on his belly so that he should be able to be run while plugged into an outlet). Still a mystery as to how he's in a different position than he was in the listing photos!

Also interesting that in the other prototype sold by the same person, the leg touch sensors were positioned on the feet themselves instead of up at the hip. The other prototype listed also had a snapped cable in his neck already, so that seems to have been an issue with Pleos from the start. Peep's skin has never been removed, so I don't know what he looks like on the inside! His cables feel intact though.

Here's a photo of what his belly looks like/how it's different from a normal Pleo's:

More details...

He has an internal battery and a few extra ports that aren't present on regular Ugobes. (I believe the name of the animator who worked with him was Tony Waters, hence the "TW" signature on his foot.)

[Piggy]

He looks indeed very different from a normal pleo . You have a great collectors item there... maybe some day you can get Peep to actually work !

[Bagoas]

That's fascinating!  What's that in the middle there (where the removable battery "should" be)-- is that just a screw? 

[mweed]

I would guess it's the internal batteries.  There's no way NiMH batteries last ten years.  So the question is was the charging circuit designed to allow the pleo to run off the charger, or does it just charge the battery and the pleo runs off he battery?  The intent of the internal battery was not to have the pleo running while charging, so it may have to charge first, then run off the battery . . . but if the battery isn't holding a charge, you're dead.  However, the "testing" prototypes were intended to be left plugged in so that the developers could have them running all day.

How much power does the charger put out?  It may no have enough to actually run the pleo.

[aibo7m3]

I don't know for sure, but I would think that he would be able to run while plugged into an outlet as that would be much easier for the developers than constantly recharging him. I was told that this Pleo was used to test out animations on a physical model, so it seems like more so a "testing" prototype than one that was meant to run on its own. I don't have any actual proof though that he was intended to be able to run while plugged in.

The Pleo arrived to me in a different position than in the listing photos, so it's possible that the previous owner who worked with him had some way of operating him, but it's possible he could have just carefully manipulated all of the joints to make the Pleo better fit in the shipping box. The seller described both prototypes that he owned as "currently non-operational." I did not receive any accessories with the Pleo, so the only power cord I've been using with him is the one intended for a Ugobe charger. The charging port on his chest says "12VDC 800mA" next to it which is the same specs as the regular Ugobe charger. He makes a soft pinging sound when plugged into the charger, but that's all I've ever gotten from him.

There is another port next to that one that I do not know the use of and assumed was used for programming him directly from a computer, but I guess it's it's possible that this could also act as a power source and the other port may only be for charging the internal battery. Although, it is possible this prototype simply was never able to run while connected to an outlet since the older prototype listed by the same seller had two ports that looked like they were for charging, while this Pleo only has one.

[MrOuen]

Thought I would give another update on this Pleo! I have tried running skits in him, but they will not run. It may be that he isn't equipped to run normal Ugobe skits or firmware, or it could just be that his internal battery is so far gone that he doesn't have enough power to start up even when plugged in (he has a plug on his belly so that he should be able to be run while plugged into an outlet). Still a mystery as to how he's in a different position than he was in the listing photos!

Also interesting that in the other prototype sold by the same person, the leg touch sensors were positioned on the feet themselves instead of up at the hip. The other prototype listed also had a snapped cable in his neck already, so that seems to have been an issue with Pleos from the start. Peep's skin has never been removed, so I don't know what he looks like on the inside! His cables feel intact though.

Here's a photo of what his belly looks like/how it's different from a normal Pleo's:

More details...

He has an internal battery and a few extra ports that aren't present on regular Ugobes. (I believe the name of the animator who worked with him was Tony Waters, hence the "TW" signature on his foot.)

I found a Ugobe video on Youtube, which may have captured Pip. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teQzPQOkEe0 < But I'm not sure what it is, because the animator who works with him here is Eric Regner. Although.... Who knows?