iSobot has arrived

[cdraptor]

Well I got my iSobot from Trossen today in the mail - thankfully it looks crazy easy to work with, granted I'm still waiting for the batteries to charge up. Look for vids soon.

[limor]

It is unfortunate that Tomy have decided not to launch the robot in Europe for this Christmas peiod. Europe has now such severe and costly (to the manufacturer or importer) regulation standards regarding toys that it we will probably see more similar cases of items being launched first in the US market and then only 8 months later in Europe if the US launch was successful.

[RobotServicesGroup]

G4 Tech TV in the US did a 4 minute segment on the I-Sobot on Monday October 29th. They were generally positive, and showed two I-Sobots working at the same time. You can find the review at this link, which includes a copy of the video clip:

http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blo ... l#readmore

[bbrainmonkey]

Did it come preassembled? Preprogrammed?

[srobot]

Did it come preassembled? Preprogrammed?

The i-sobot comes preassembled.

The programming is done by using "subroutines", and placing them in a "program". You can also use an "r/c" mode. No computer used.

Right now with stock programming, i-sobot is not much more than a "toy".

I think we will be seeing 3rd party programming languages for download.

I've heard that Toys R Us stores in the US carry i-sobot.

--Scotty

[bbrainmonkey]

The robot is only like, what, 6 inches tall?
Those servos must be tiny, like a 1/2 inch by a 1/2 inch. Anyone know their torque?

[evaderdjo]

How do you measure torque on robot servos? Do you just stick a weight on the servo and measure how far and how quickly it can move that weight?

If I had a servo I thought was going bad, how could I test its performance against the manufacturer torque levels?

[tempusmaster]

How do you measure torque on robot servos? Do you just stick a weight on the servo and measure how far and how quickly it can move that weight?

Torque is rotational force applied at a specified distance. You could put together a rig to measure it, but unless you're doing research it isn't going to be very useful or informative.

If I had a servo I thought was going bad, how could I test its performance against the manufacturer torque levels?

Almost all servo failures are very binary. They either work, or they don't. You will smoke them, break a geartooth, or blow out a chip. They don't typically loose torque in a gradual manner.