Pleo is a squirrel robotic dinosaur toy that senses its surroundings, reacts to touch, walks about on its four legs and shows emotion. It is modeled after a 1-week-old Camarasaurus sauropod, or long neck dinosaur.
When you turn it on for the first time you will need to pet him a little bit - to encourage him to explore the environment. Pleo will first stretch and look around. Continue to touch him and he will start to play with you.
Pleo incorporates all the basic traits of autonomous life. It is specifically engineered and enhanced to mimic life and relate to his owner on a personal level. It responds to the vocal intonations of its owners. It is not able to understand vocal commands; instead, its mood is dictated by the tone of voice used at it.
The robot expresses sadness and disappointment by gently lowering its head and tail when it's ignored. Rub its rubbery back or poke its feet and the toy springs back to life. You can determine its "mood" by how it walks and moves, just the way you can tell if a human is happy or sad by how he moves.
Its movements are lifelike, and it reacts to its environment in an amusing, unpredictable way. It will be cautious when it walks to the edge of a table. It may cry when frightened. Pleo will stretch when it first wakes up and will stomp his foot for food when hungry.
Pleo has eight processors that control 14 motors and receive signals from 38 sensors (touch, light, sound ). It also can learn from its experiences. Pleo's personality will change and grow according to its environment and the programming built into him.
Pleo is a one-week old infant Camarasaurus from the Jurassic period. Camarasaurus were born and raised in giant fern forests. They evolved camouflage that allowed them to blend with their environment of ferns, moss and ruff, the detritus that littered the forest floor. The first Pleo created is a Fernback.
When Pleo grows tired, lay him down and attach his 'dream cord' so he can sleep, dream, and gather energy for more exploration.
Technology
Pleo is stuffed with high-technology: a soft-polymer-based skin that cover a series of pressure sensors, infrared sensors in the head to "see' objects and avoid edges, a potentiometer in its belly, force-feedback sensors in its toes to let it know where it is in the world, one 16-bit CPU and 4 8-bit chips, 14 servo motors, 35 sensors, two built-in microphones for hearing and a camera for detecting motion.
Ugobe developed a Life Form Operating System (LIFE OS), a vocabulary of accurate responses to sensory input. The LIFE OS is layered with Organic Variants Code. Using the OVC, subtle variations are mapped onto the neuronetics of each Life Form born.
Te built-in NiMH battery is rated at 1 hours of continuous use; charging takes about 4 hours.
Programming
Thanks to a Pleo Developer's Kit the robot is somewhat user-modifiable. The Kit provides a C++ API for adding new sounds and behavior patterns via an SD flash memory card. Additionally, a PC and Mac utility allows some interaction with the device's sensors (a camera and a nose-mounted IR transceiver).
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