It is a (very) interactive show program, and not a theatre play, so there is not much of a storyline, plot or such elements that hold children's attention while watching. This is because most of the time the audience is involved, and at all times they are on the stage with "actors". It is all about surprise, spontaneity, and actual play, individual, and in teams. What else would you expect when "actors" are toys? Robots are mostly biomorphic, resembling animals and humans. The show has 5 segments, roughly 10 minutes each, arena is populated with pairs of robots, sometimes of the same kind, sometimes similar, other times very different, Robots and Robomaster (guide) are in the arena, children on the perimeters, outside, in four concentric circles, smallest children are closest sitting on pillows on the floor, taller are behind them in chairs, and oldest children are third circle, while teachers, parents and guests are in the fourth circle. Arena measures 3 meters in diameter, and the scene can be any space with daylight, area greater than 5 by 5 meters (usually a partly cleared classroom). Based on arena size that was tailored to robot size and dynamics, number of spectators is 50 to 70 per viewing. Since 10 or so robots are involved, the show usually repeats for the second group, making the maximum of 140 visitors per day possible. Not all children from the school are expected, the enrollment should be voluntary, based on expressed interest. You Tube video clips with excerpts from an actual show will be provided for children to consider joining.
Most of the robots are made by WowWee before the start of the Global economic crisis, some of them are still available in stores, others are collector's items. They are known as state of the art in category around 100 euros, and are still unsurpassed in many respects. The only non-WowWee robot, Zoomer dog, is last year's robot toy of the year, and it supplements WowWee's classical robots in this show. They all are remote controlled (except Zoomer, who is voice controlled), but also have autonomous mode when they roam free, look for things and avoid obstacles with interesting and funny reactions.
Segments:
1. Tri-bot is a red humanoid robot
38 cm tall on a 3-wheel base, that enables him to easily move in every
direction, change his position fast, and spin, while making funny comments
in English. He also has facial expressions (moving eyebrows, flashing eyes
and mouth, popping ears, and head top with spot light), light and sound
effects and reactions (that he demos on startup). Most prominent function
is ability to play memory games with the audience where he shows a motion
pattern, and expects you to reproduce it by driving him with a remote.
He also aids you in this with his comments, but if you make too many mistakes
he stops and restarts the game. His remote is also Interesting since it
has regular driving buttons, but also one button underneath that enables
commanding his moves from your wrist - twisting the remote left-right and
pitching it up-down. Kids play games and compete with him, and among themselves.
Featured is also his Guard mode, when he reacts to any intrusion of his
guarded space both in front and back, interacting with him then also amuses
children, as well when he is in the free roam mode.
Someone else's video www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGkkZwf-uuQ , games start at 4:13 minutes from the start of the video. |
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2. Robosapien is a white and black humanoid robot 34 cm tall, most widespread and well known WowWee robot, has 3 sing-and-dance demos (Someone else's video www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0qJIIh9G44). He walks, moves arms, makes noises (does not talk), reacts to touching tip of his hands and toes. After he introduces himself, we invite children to play with him and challenge Tri-bot in football. Robots at this stage in their development are still not fit to play football, but brawls over the ball between stocky and slow Robosapien with strong arms and slender and fast Tri-bot are sure to make the crowd cheer. After the game robots go to the Robomaster's corner where they are loaded with candy that they carry to their teams. Robosapien brings candy in bags hanging from his hands, while Tri-bot has a tray in his hands. |
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3. Roboscooper, vehicle 44 cm long, is
in fact an open box truck with arms, collecting small boxes and other things
in his path. Two robots for two teams are present in the arena where they
autonomously go about their business, competing which one is going to collect
3 items first. This is when the game ends, and the winner unloads his cargo
automatically. As they go, they comment in their native tongue, one being
German, the other French (just as a healthy mix and juxtaposition to other
mostly English speaking robots). Rewards for teams whose trucks won may
be hidden as candy in the small boxes, or scooper boxes may be loaded by
the Robomaster and driven to the team and unloaded in front of them. Several
games can be played within segment's length of 10 minutes, so each team
stands equal chance of winning (this is a game of chance, not skill, since
scoopers are autonomous. At the end of segment they both drive a full arena
circle, distributing more candy, and after this, in later segments there
will be no candy more.
My video www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmEfZIaXtiY |
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4. Roboquad, crab or spider, it is up
to your imagination. Two quads autonomously
roam the arena while children prevent them from escaping out. As they scan surroundings they move their heads and necks, blink lights, and emit space-like sounds. They are full of surprises, with several demos to show, dancing and strange moves. They are good in escaping obstacles like chairs, finding ways around their legs in fully automated roam. My video www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDhP-UqrP0c |
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5. Roboreptile, big prehistoric lizard,
70 cm length, with very articulated neck and
tail, swings fast across the arena, attacking everything in his path - scary, but not too much www.youtube.com/watch?v=__5gEjz2aes The other robot in this segment, in hard contrast to Roboreptile, is a cute puppy Zoomer (25 cm long). Kids alternate playing with one and the other toy as they approach their end of the arena. Robots are at all times in autonomous mode, while Zoomer occasionally shows tricks when Robomaster invokes voice commands he understands. Zoomer loves to be petted on the chest and chin, barks and swings, waggs his tail. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz6uEFdJckA |
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APART FROM PLAYING
WITH ROBOTS, CHILDREN WILL LEARN ABOUT ROBOT'S SENSORS, HAVE DEMO OF THEIR
PROGRAMMING,
AND SEE HOW IT INFLUENCES ROBOT'S BEHAVIOR. Playing will be in the forefront,
but educational content
will be delivered
along that as well.
author and Robomaster, highly proficient
in spoken and written English, Belgrade, Serbia, 2014.
Mihailo Aliæ, Master of Science
in Computer Science, Master of Fine Art, Electrical engineer, and New technologies Pioneer
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mihailo-alic/15/4ab/aa6
011 328 1131, 064 229 1911