Review: WowWee Tri-bot
Written on Feb 6, 2009 by Brian and filed under Reviews, WowWee
The Tri-bot is another in a long list of robotic toys from WowWee. Much different from Wrex, the robotic dog we just reviewed, Tri-bot roves around on an omni-directional three-wheeled base. He operates via remote control and has several play modes for a variety of interactions. He’s also quite the comedian, telling jokes and poking fun as he cruises about. Tri-bot is designed for kids 8 and up and is available now.
Getting Started with Tri-bot
The bot itself requires 8 AA batteries, the remote needs 3 AAA. As we frequently suggest with these tech toys, a nice set of rechargeable batteries is a terrific investment. Once the batteries are in, Tri-bot is ready to go. Simply press the power button on the base near his wheels and you’re ready.
As you’ll quickly notice with Tri-bot, he always has something to say and his start up routine is no exception. On pressing his power button he immediately comes to life; full of chatter, flashing lights and rolling about. If you find him a bit too loudmouthed, pressing his head cycles through three levels of volume, the default volume level is high.
To go with his vocabulary, the bot itself has a few features to make him seem more alive. The eyebrows and ears twitch and wiggle while he’s talking. He also has a light that pops out of the top of his head. Speaking of lights, his eyes light up green and his mouth lights too when he’s talking.
Working down the body, his torso is full of several IR sensors that help him identify objects in his path. His arms are poseable, they don’t move independently, and he can be tilted at two sections of his waist as well.
The really interesting part are this three wheels. Tri-bot can move in straight lines and diagonals. He can also spin in circles. All these movements are accomplished with his wheels and base. Pushing up on the remote for instance will drive him forward, but Tri-bot only uses the two side wheels for this, dragging the third one along. This mechanism surprisingly doesn’t put enough drag on the system to keep it from moving though. Tri-bot even does well on low-pile carpet and handles hard floor to carpet transitions well; which we found to be pretty impressive.
It’s worth noting that Tri-bot offers a good deal of control. He operates much more like an advanced RC car than Wrex, who was a little more haphazard. The remote control gives kids the ability to send Tri-bot in eight straight line directions, along with clockwise and counter-clockwise spin control. The remote also includes a tilt sensor. If the trigger underneath is pulled, Tri-bot will move in four straight line directions based on the direction you tilt the remote. The tilt controls aren’t perfect but it’s another way to interact with Tri-bot.
Moving Tri-bot is very easy and kids will have no problem getting into the groove. The only tricky part is that it’s a little more difficult to control Tri-bot when you’re not behind him. Kids will have to remap their brain a little bit to account for the change in orientation. But it’s the same challenge as driving a remote controlled car directly toward you; the controls are reversed in that case.
Using Tri-bot
As noted, controlling Tri-bot is very easy, most anyone can pick up the remote and get going. To make driving him a little easier, Tri-bot will detect objects that are directly in front of and behind him. When he gets close to a wall for instance, he’ll make a witty comment and stop. The sensors aren’t perfect though, when moving diagonally for instance it’s hard for him to detect. Also, some colors like black are hard to spot. You’ll definitely crash Tri-bot, but he’ll protect himself many times. When you do crash him it’s likely he’ll topple over. Such an action is greeted with another snarky comment. He’ll also stop his wheels too and wait to be righted. It’s worth noting though that he won’t get damaged by tipping. We’ve done it at least 100 times and he’s no worse for it, Tri-bot is surprisingly durable.
Aside from driving Tri-bot around freely, he has several other modes of play.
Homing
The homing function lets Tri-bot find and follow the user. Press and hold the home button and he’ll lock onto the signal from the remote. You have to give Tri-bot a little time to lock into the direction and it’s best to do this in an open space. He has a bit of trouble finding the signal in areas that have reflective surfaces. Once you let go of the home button he’ll think he has arrived.
Kids really thought the homing mode to be fun. Having Tri-bot follow them like a puppy delighted our test bunch. Once we got them to keep the home button depressed and to operate in open areas, they really had a blast.
Guard Mode
By far the most popular with the kids was guard mode. This lets you put Tri-bot in motion detection mode using his sensors in both the front and rear. When something crosses his path, Tri-bot wakes up with some exclamation, lights and so on. Even when they knew what was coming the kids were delighted each time. For some reason the boys got special enjoyment out of aggravating their mothers with the guard mode.
Free Roam
Tri-bot can also go into free roam mode which essentially lets him cruise the landscape on his own. He’ll cruise for three minutes chattering away and doing his best to avoid obstacles. He even sings a little “Roam Free” tune that the kids quickly picked up on. This mode is a little more engaging than the demo modes to see what Tri-bot can do. Younger kids who didn’t really get the control scheme enjoyed following Tri-bot in this mode as well.
Alarm Mode
In this mode kids can specify an alarm time from one to twelve minutes. Then press Tri-bot’s head to set the timer. Once it goes off, Tri-bot cruises around until his head gets tapped. It’s kind of cute but the replayability isn’t terribly strong with this mode.
Program Mode
More advanced kids can program Tri-bot to do whatever they want, up to 60 commands. The system only stores one program though and Tri-bot won’t use his sensors while in this mode. Even so, the teen-age kids found it interesting to program Tri-bot around obstacles, then set him back up for a run on his own to see how well he did.
Games
Tri-bot comes with three games, pattern, maze and minefield, which are all sort of a variation of the same thing. In pattern Tri-bot rolls out a pattern and kids have to try to replicate it. In maze, Tri-bot will navigate a maze then ask the kids to replicate. If they don’t he’ll playfully bounce off the invisible walls. The minefield games works the same as maze, though Tri-bot bleeps when you’re close to a mine and is silent when your direction is clear. The games are a nice addition, but again better suited for teenagers.
Bottom Line
The WowWee Tri-bot is a good deal of fun and offers a lot of control for kids who like remote controlled devices. There’s also an element of programming for older kids, along with a few games that will challenge that set as well. Even kids well under the recommended age for this product had fun watching Tri-bot run around by himself. At this price point, Tri-bot makes for an excellent entry into robotics and will certainly make for hours of self-guided play for kids. Parents will probably want to make sure the volume is turned to low though, as the Tri-bot voice can get repetitive. Overall we think Tri-bot is a winner and one of our favorite toys from the last several months.
4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice
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