Force Feedback on the motors

[pleopot]

Hi,

Can Pleo measure force?

For example, to distinguish between "touch" and "slap" (hit) ...

:)

I want to make Pleo bites when someone hit/slap it.
:)

[MyCool]

From what I understand Pleo can feel feedback on his motors. Pleo will shut down a motor under stress but he doesn't bite as a defensive measure.

[pleoWhisperer]

Pleo does have touch sensors, but I don't recall any mention of accelerometers or other force sensors other than those that measure the stress on the motors/gears.

[mweed]

The reviews are starting to come in and they comment on the fact that the gears are noisy.

The motors on this thing are loud. Like, kind of distractingly loud. Yet somehow it remains ineffably adorable. -- engadget

Also ever-present are Pleo's motor sounds. Every one of his 14 motors, though muffled, can still be heard under the bot's soft, green and beige skin. -- PC Mag

How do think this will affect your reactions to pleo?

[kianajade]

aaah. It made me sad :( I wonder how bad they really are, or if its just the camera? I hope its just the camera...
it makes pleo seem less-real

[geert]

oh now i hope it is not thru ...is sounds like a wowee robot or a cybie.....!!!!!!!!!!!

[kynan]

Hey they could've put a diesel engine in Pleo, with the smoke & loud engine roar & I'd still love Pleo!

I've owned three "red ring of death" Xbox 360s. When you buy something new & ground breaking,
issues may or may not come up. Ugobe, Microsoft, KitchenAid.... know that the designers have put
their heart & soul into their products.

So don't run something down cause it has a heat issue and/or a noise problem, but embrace it for
the evolution of technology.

Maybe someday there will be a Pleo 5.0 with affordable silent hydrolics,
but today is Pleo 1.0 And today Pleo will be one of the most advanced Robots put out to the masses!

[kianajade]

you're right... I'd still love him too.
I'm sure we'll all find it quite cute actually!

[Primus]

Yeah, I remember getting i-Cybie and recalling how loud the motors were. I don't think this will be any different. Quieter motors would have really made the price spike. I love the idea of a $2000 Pleo that has quiet motors, wifi, better camera, all that stuff, but for $350 I think we are stuck with a "you get what you paid for".

[pleoWhisperer]

Nobody at the Maker Faire complained about the gear noise. Of course the faire was probably too noisy to hear the gears. But there have been several forum members here who have seen pleo in person, and no complaints were made. So I wonder if the prototypes are quieter, or the production models aren't as well made that the gear noise is louder?

I do know that my camcorder does tend to accentuate those quite noises we tend to not notice in real life. If you've ever watched a home movie you know what I mean. So, the videos we're seeing posted by the reviewers probably sound louder than they really are.

Even the PC mag guy said that the noise didn't keep the pleo from being adorable.

Not wanting to minimize the issue, but I guess we'll have to wait and see . . .

[gumbowumbo]

I mentioned this in another post

"On the video Pleo's gears were really loud, then I realized I had the volume up too loud on my surround sound :D I am excited to see Pleo soon! I do not mind that it will take a few updates before he will be able to "evolve" each update will be like a little Pleo graduation, almost like getting a new Pleo each time. At Maker Faire the gears were not loud enough that I noticed or remembered a sound, and I know how camcorders are made to pick up low sounds and amplify them, either way I will be happy, it is PLEO for goodness sakes, I am so excited I could pee :p I think I am going to go make a little baby powder container with a Pleo shaped powder puff and maybe a pleo sticker embedded in the top of the container. So what, I am excited about powdering my baby Pleo, we can't have him chaffing!"

Honestly, at Maker Faire it was not exceptionally loud at the Pleo booth and I didn't even consider his gear noises, so they couldn't have been too bad, but I can see why it was mentioned by the reviewers, they are looking and listening for any flaws so that they can fully review the product. There didn't seem to be any major issues mentioned, and most people find the noise to be the biggest problem. That's great! That means Pleo wasn't smoking or breathing fire or malfunctioning or murdering people!

[mearts]

gumbowumbo...small room without background noise. Pleo's motors/gears will be much louder.

As for the breathing fire and pleo murdering people, those are upgrades you can purchase separately. I'm also looking forward to the optional pleo jet pack with uzi combo but I've heard those are impossible to get in time for Christmas.

[pleoguy101]

:Dgumbowumbo...small room without background noise. Pleo's motors/gears will be much louder.

As for the breathing fire and pleo murdering people, those are upgrades you can purchase separately. I'm also looking forward to the optional pleo jet pack with uzi combo but I've heard those are impossible to get in time for Christmas.

??????:D:)??!!! your joking, right...??:D

[pleoWhisperer]

What about the heat seeking missile backpack? Will that be ready to order before Christmas? I heard the they had trouble with the uzi jamming. Don't know if that was just poor quality bullets or the feeder mechanism since they had to route around the jet pack's fuel line. :p

[junkroxy]

i dont think the gear noises are like i-cybie or the wow wee robots. I saw Pleo in september for a preview for my blog and sincerely i think he's the most quietly robot on the market! The Wow Wee robot gears are very loud! I had I-Cybie and his gear noises and feet were very loud too! (i hate plastic noise and scratches on the carpet) :(

[mearts]

I was surprised only because the ugobe home page video of pleo did not have any motor sounds. Ugobe removed them for some reason. I guess they thought it was a bad selling point.

Wowwee's products look like robots and are sold as robots. Loud motor sounds are acceptable. The products are completely different.

[junkroxy]

I was surprised only because the ugobe home page video of pleo did not have any motor sounds. Ugobe removed them for some reason. I guess they thought it was a bad selling point.

Wowwee's products look like robots and are sold as robots. Loud motor sounds are acceptable. The products are completely different.

The Wow Wee Robots doesn't have any gear noises in their commercials too!;) I think it's normal, but in the pleo home page you can listen gear noises in the back ground!

[kchamster]

I'll love my pleo no matter what...:D soft noise is only a plus! :D

[kchamster]

That is a question I was wondering

[Nicoledm]

I'm slowly getting used to the gear noise, it is a little distracting...

[pleoguy101]

I dont really mind it at all!!! I got over it quickly:)!!!

[BauerMECH]

Noise? :) It's much quieter than the electric motors of my other robots... even the really expensive ones. I'm rather impressed that they're this quiet in fact.

[alainboston]

My pleo seems to be very aware that he is upside down not just off the ground.

[Lu Bu]

I think Pleo will be able to detect a slap, I know that Pleo has forcefeedback sensors that way he can know if one of his legs or any part of his body is being restricted.

[mweed]

But do the touch sensors measure the amount of force being applied? I don't think they do, which would mean a slap would be the same as a gentle touch.

Hopefully someone at Ugobe can answer. ;)

[PleoPet]

> But do the touch sensors measure the amount of force being applied?
No, all or nothing. They are capacitive with a single triggering threshold (ie binary on or off)
> I don't think they do, which would mean a slap would be the same as a gentle touch.
Yes, but a gentle pat will register differently than a single slap or single touch. Patting/petting has to be long enough so the switch goes on/off/on...

> My pleo seems to be very aware that he is upside down not just off the ground.
Pleo has the 4 foot sensors as well as a tilt sensor (BB-style)

[cmadmacs]

The noise doesn't bother me.

[strawberryjam]

ok...first off-it's gear... not "gaer"

second off... the motors are sorta loud...but it doesn't make it any less adorable!!! :p

[Eeyorefan]

I was also surprised that Pleo's motors and gears weren't louder. Pleasantly surprised, actually. Of course, I'm more used to Robosapien. :-) I think the behaviors (so far) have been so fascinating that I don't think we even noticed the extra noise.

[mweed]

Bob has had several outings to visit friends, family, and co-workers. All of whom knew nothing about pleo until I brought mine. Not one person has commented on the gear noise. So, I would say it's not much of an issue.

[Ridgeback]

I agree with mweed. no one has mentioned the gear sound as bing an issue. The room is a bit noisy but since the guys are walking around imitating pleo's "vocal" noise then the right sound is what's heard.

[degers]

Has anyone actually noticed any implementation of the force feedback motors yet?

UGOBE! What am I meant to see?? Anyone??

Many Thanks all!

[ryane]

not yet. it must be a feature they hope to implement in the future. the sensors are there just no programing.

[Lu Bu]

The sensors may be activated when the OS upgrade comes out. Wait....It will be activated when the upgrade comes out. Man my brain is so messed up now...

[degers]

Sorry guys I have a more relavent thread on this in the suggestions for UGOBE forumn.