I think this is the prettiest of the robots I’ve bought. I went through five eBay auctions to get one at a reasonable price and finally did. Too bad it was broken. When I first got it, I hoped that its problems might be weak batteries, but found out that while its eyes lit up it did nothing else. Once again a victim of hogwash descriptions on eBay.
The late i-Cybie
I disassembled it. No easy feat; it has security screws that no usual screwdriver will fit and so I had to make my own. I yanked it apart and tested all of the components. I found that the gearboxes in 4 of its sensors were stripped, and the micro controller that runs the programming was bustificated as well. It is now reduced to a collection of parts, the good ones standing ready to be used in some future project. The bad ones are gracing a landfill somewhere if they couldn’t be recycled. I kept the head though, I just may put that on something. It’s sort of Sphinx-like and regal. That is, if the Sphinx could move its head and bark. I have no intention of spending any more money on trying to get a working version of the i-Cybie. It has too many problems ranging from a terrible lack of durability to its oddball sized battery. From what the manual says, it’s quite the robotic dog. But you simply can’t prove that by me.
Well, maybe you can. As I add this update to my i-Cybie report I must say I bought another one. Yes, on eBay. In my favor I must say that it works just fine and does the things the manual says it will. But not quite as I envisioned it. The robot makes no pretense not to be robotic. On the contrary, it capitalizes on it. All of it’s movements are almost exageratedly robotic.
Upon getting to spend some time with one that actually worked has been almost anti-climactic. Frankly, I view this puppy (literally) as on a par with the Robosapien. Having ripped into and disassembling the first one I got, I have to say that the producers of the dog, Silverlit, sure took the long way around with the unnecessary complexities they put into i-Cybie. It’s fragile when the Robosapien is hearty as well. But I’m not going to complain too much; I paid way too much for the first one and a mere $31 for this dog. While that nears the $200 price for the dog back in the days it was new, it is less and it works as well as it did the first time it was turned on.