I’ve been busy the past three weeks with personal affairs but managed to tinker a bit with the Robosapien V2. Although he is a new addition (thanks, eBay!) to my small collection of hobby robots, the RS V2 is actually a relic from 2005, a discontinued 22-inch tall, walking robotic wonder that has been superceded by cutesy robo-critters that now litter Wowwee’s product line. Despite being obsolete, I still think the RS V2 could serve as a  versatile robot base for doing interesting experiments.

Before I can do the fun stuff, I must first grapple with the RS V2′s Archilles heel (no pun intended). You see, the Robosapien V2 is an engineering marvel– a sophisticated walking, talking, gesturing humanoid that achieves these complex behaviors using simple DC motors and inexpensive toy chips. Unfortunately, it was also plagued by problems from poor manufacturing. The wires that connect the motors and batteries to the electronic boards are shielded with cheap plastic insulation that frays and slowly falls apart as the wires bend and stretch when the robot moves. Eventually when enough insulation falls out, the bare wire strands inevitably touch together then POOF!!! … as plenty of irate Wowwee customers have complained.

Luckily, I saw the flaking wires in my RS V2 before any serious damage could happen and he is now under surgery.

I’m hoping to finish the rewiring this week. Stay tuned!

Posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 and filed under Blog