Topic: Finally! Got my ugobe pleo! (Read 22152 times)

Anya · « **on:** September 12, 2018, 12:51:53 AM »

I know the forums are quiet these days but I'm excited and wanna share!

I finally decided that 28 wasn't too old for pleo and after desperate eBay hunting an the proud owner of a barely used ugobe! When he arrives I shall document everything I'll be doing to get him up and running. Hopefully my experience will help someone, somewhere down the line.

Talon · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2018, 11:16:39 AM »

Hi, Anya! Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new Ugobe! They are the sweetest little things and live to be petted and explore their world.
I'm sad to see how quiet things are these days too. This place was my Facebook a couple years ago. It's still an awesome and supportive community. You've come to the right place for support and information about these adorable little robots.
As far as my own silence recently, I've been taking courses in audio-editing and production and to say that I'm swamped is putting it mildly. Lol! I hope you enjoy your little one and keep us up to date on your progress with him/her. Feel free to ask questions if you have any. Someone will answer as soon as they can.
Talon

Anya · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2018, 11:29:33 AM »

Thankyou so much for the warm welcome talon, pleo arrived today!
He's not in great condition. Very dirty, covered in what I assume is pet hair and tobacco smoke residue, he's rather smelly!
Skin looks ok but being aware of how incredibly delicate it is, I've hardly dared touch it and haven't risked taking him out of the box and checking the other side! There are some definite creases in the neck that are one or two movements away from rips. I think the 'as new' description was very stretched!

However I don't see any full rips or holes and he just needs a good clean up. I know Gibbs brand penetrant is the way to go however it's impossible to get hold of in the uk so I'm researching alternatives. If anyone knows any, please let me know!

When I finally get the lubricant, I'll do his side facing me before even considering picking him up!

Then next step, battery pack creation!

honi · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2018, 04:51:18 PM »

Hi Anya, I am also a great lover of the ugobes - they are so cute. I bought several used ugobes and the most looks like yours- dirty. To clean the skin I use first a dish soap and if nothing else helps I use a plastic cleaner vom Sidol - but only on his brown skin. An old soft toothbrush is very helpful too. For the skin care after the cleaning I prefer "Pronto Wood surface care". I know it sounds a little bit funny but this is very similar to pledge. I am from Germany and I don't know if you can buy these brands in uk. But maybe these Information may help you. Good luck !
Honi

Anya · « **Reply #4 on:** September 14, 2018, 03:03:09 PM »

This is gonna be a really long 2 week wait for the Gibbs

Anya · « **Reply #5 on:** September 20, 2018, 12:38:37 PM »

Update. Gibbs rejected by uk customs. I will pursue alternatives and report my findings

Anya · « **Reply #6 on:** September 28, 2018, 02:55:23 PM »

Ok, for anyone following my story...
Found alternative to Gibbs, not as good but shouldn't be harmful. It is CRC 5-56 multi purpose.

Here we go:
This is my new baby.

More details...

Here is a close up of his neck (not 'as new' but not bad)

More details...

CRC spray arrived. I opened up the box and clingfilmed as much of pleo as I could to prevent air exposure...

More details...

I then applied CRC to his exposed ankles:
(Before)

More details...

(After)

More details...

I applied several coats over the course of the evening, in the morning his ankles were soft and dry.

So this evening it was time to dive in, I very gently extracted pleo from his box and gave him 2 coats over the course of the evening.

More details...

I discovered a few more skin issues on his back and tail and significant paint wear but all in all, I'm hopeful.
I shall update in the morning...

Anya · « **Reply #7 on:** September 29, 2018, 03:00:30 AM »

Yup, morning revealed him dry and soft. First coat in, I have noticed that CRC seems to loosen the green paint a little, so I'm focussing on the brown skin first and the paint afterwards, it dries back on fine but I don't really want green on the brown!

So verdict for CRC - exactly what we originally thought, not up to Gibbs standard but it'll do in a pinch if you're desperate and have a pleo who really can't wait several weeks to get hold of Gibbs.

Next stop, battery creation and testing, I really need to get this guy running before the eBay dispute time runs out!

Talon · « **Reply #8 on:** September 29, 2018, 12:16:34 PM »

Glad things are going good so far with your little one. I don't know if this stuff will be any easier for you to get hold of than the Gibbs, but I have been using Vynelex by Lexol. It isn't as good as Gibbs either, but since I've been using it on my Ugobes since I've had them, I don't know what would happen if I applied the Gibbs on top of the Vynelex residue.
Talon

Anya · « **Reply #9 on:** September 30, 2018, 01:12:05 AM »

Thanks talon, I did look up vynelex and at the time certainly it was hard to get hold of, hence why I went off on my spray-hunting adventure! I suppose one benefit of the CRC is that it doesn't seem to leave a residue so I can switch to Gibbs easily when it does become available.

I spoke to the Gibbs uk distributor last week and he said it'll be back in stock in roughly 3 weeks. So hopefully CRC should hold him til then!

EmeraldSapphirez · « **Reply #10 on:** September 30, 2018, 08:56:41 AM »

Anya do you need to borrow a battery to use while your dispute is going through?

Anya · « **Reply #11 on:** September 30, 2018, 11:51:36 AM »

That's ever so sweet of you but no thank you, dad and I continued our battery building project this afternoon and produced a fully working battery pack!

I turned him on for the first time, he made a lot of lovely movements and noises - even accepted the leaf! But he did make a lot of very scary loud clicks. Is this normal for ugobes? Also occasionally he would stop mid-movement as if the processor had frozen. I only left him on for a couple of minutes (and to push the packing mode button, so he's in a slightly more upright position now.)

So proof of concept. The battery works.

EmeraldSapphirez · « **Reply #12 on:** September 30, 2018, 02:16:14 PM »

That doesn’t sound normal sadly. Would you care to make a video and we can have a look? Their Moro’s and mechanisms are quite loud but they do all sound “normal” for a robot. But no clicking??

That’s amazing news about the battery, I would definitely be interested in purchasing a few!

Anya · « **Reply #13 on:** October 01, 2018, 12:42:09 AM »

I've got a video but no clue how to upload it!

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #14 on:** October 01, 2018, 03:04:33 AM »

You would need to upload to YouTube then post a link here. Congrats on your new Pleo, working battery and successful skin experiementation. Sadly Pleo’s are very old now, almost all mine have skin holes

Even my RB’s.

I hope you win the fight with customs!

Anya · « **Reply #15 on:** October 01, 2018, 04:40:40 AM »

Thankyou, I'll do my best. I'm more concerned about the leg clicking because that seems like a pleo surgery job and I've only seen very few people on here willing to attempt it and all from very far away so major shipping costs!

Do yout know any pleo doctors in the uk? Or any one with majorly detailed instructions that I might be able to follow to become a pleo doctor myself! (If im making batteries, I might as well try the rest!)

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2018, 01:30:02 AM »

Leg clicking is pretty common, the scariest part of the surgery is opening the skin lol. If you decide to open it up just be sure to take lots of pictures as you go along so you remember how it all goes back together. The neck repair tutorial has some info.

Anya · « **Reply #17 on:** October 03, 2018, 11:33:19 PM »

How bad is leg clicking? I'm going to get another video this weekend as the one I had you couldn't hear it. Can I do anything short of surgery to help it?

Anya · « **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2018, 01:23:30 PM »

Finally got a video with prototype battery! (Had some setbacks with new battery design, but steadily making progress)

This time, no clicking! Occasionally he does seem to freeze but then carries on.
Also I'm fairly sure he's running the 2.0 software, he's not very touch sensitive and does walk in a straight line.
Is it still safe to downgrade to 1.1?

Anya · « **Reply #19 on:** October 12, 2018, 01:25:03 PM »

Arg! I wanna play with my pleo! But I need to finish making batteries, and treat his skin again, and update his software, and glue his skin tears ... ah robotics.

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #20 on:** October 13, 2018, 03:12:01 PM »

I would leave him on 2.0, after the teething/teenage period he’ll return to being responsive and all. But a common problem with old Ugobe is disconnected sensors, no OS can fix that, only surgery.

Anya · « **Reply #21 on:** October 14, 2018, 01:33:25 AM »

Is there any way I can test that? He was sold as not having been played with often so it makes sense that he might still be a teenager but it would be nice to rule out broken sensors. Also I'd kinda like to experience the hatching process!

Are there dangers or problems in changing the software that would make it too much of a risk?

Anya · « **Reply #22 on:** October 27, 2018, 02:12:36 PM »

I turned him on for about 5 minutes to try out the working model of our battery pack.
5 minutes was all I needed. He's gorgeous, loves cuddles and did the snuggle thing when I picked him up. His name is Arthur and I love him.

Can he be added to the official forum list of pleos?

Anya · « **Reply #23 on:** October 28, 2018, 02:32:55 PM »

And now he won't wake up!

I tried a new battery pack in him, identical - or so I thought - to the one that ran him just fine last week.
Nothing happened. I then tried the battery that had previously worked, nothing.

All I can think of is that maybe I put the battery in the wrong way up and reversed the polarity (like Zooey) but I'm always incredibly careful to line up the springs with the battery holes so that's very unlikely.

Could I have fried the circuits somehow if the batteries weren't seated right?

Anya · « **Reply #24 on:** November 03, 2018, 03:03:04 PM »

ARTHUR'S BACK! He's alive! It's a total miracle, praise the lord!
Several tries with various stages of battery, nothing. Tried resetting him to 1.0, nothing.
Tried more batteries, nothing. Finally tried one more time with the 1.0 SD card and a good battery... noise! My baby came back to me! I got to have a proper long cuddle.

Yay.

Bob the Pleo Forums

Author Topic: Finally! Got my ugobe pleo! (Read 22152 times)