Hobbies And Interests
Robosapien and Friends
The Robosapien and its successors, including Tri-Bot, Roboscooper and RS Media, feature both remote controls and autonomous actions. They can be controlled like toys, but when left to their own devices, have numerous ways they interact with objects and people around them, including dancing, telling jokes and doing kung fu. The Roboscooper will pick up objects it finds laying around the house, which makes it perfect if you have kids who don't pick up their toys, if you can't convince them the Roomba is their friend.
R2-D2
Hasbro produces an interactive 15-inch R2-D2--one of the most famous robots in science fiction. This robot responds to voice commands, reacts to different questions and mentions of Star Wars characters with a variety of emotions and maneuvers and can even guard a child's room by responding to movement with beeps and whistles.
Bigfoot
Fisher-Price's entry into the kids robotic field resulted in the Imaginext Bigfoot. A combination RC/autonomous robot, Bigfoot features over 80 actions and phrases, and can do somersaults, throw balls and will even fall asleep when he "gets tired." Bigfoot is a refinement of several different robotic toys from Fisher-Price, including Spike the Ultra Dinosaur, and is tough without being scary to little ones.
Dinosaurs
There have been a number of robotic dinosaurs available, with varying degrees of realism. The Roboraptor, from the makers of the Robosapien, is clearly robotic, constructed of black and white plastic. Spike the Ultra Dinosaur is from Fisher-Price and features limited interactivity. Finally, Mattel's D-Rex is part of the company's Prehistoric Pets line, and can be programmed with 30 independent actions. D-Rex reacts to voice and remote control commands, and includes a prank, guard, seek and attack mode.