Omnibot

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An Omnibot 2000 from 1985 in the cover of a book from 2005

Omnibot MkII

Instead of ejecting the program tape, the entire cassette deck ejected itself

The Omnibot 2000 was the most advanced of the Omnibot line

The Omnibot was a toy robot manufactured by Tomy in the mid 1980s. The name then came to apply to the successful line of robots manufacted by the company. The initial Omnibot was announced with expectations of restoring popular interest in robots, at a time where it was becoming obvious that robots with advanced AI such as R2-D2 were still a long way away. A more advanced version of the Omnibot was called the Omnibot 2000 and did not have a plastic bubble over its head. With the success of the Omnibots, the Omnibot range quickly expanded.

The original Omnibot became the cover photo for the 1980s book, "The World of Robots" and recently the Omnibot 2000 graced the cover of "Toy Robots from Japan" by Alan Bunkum ^[1].

Both the Omnibot and the more advanced Omnibot 2000 had a cassette tape player built into the chest area of the robot, which slid out like a drawer to reveal the cassette and could record and playback sequences of commands, as well as regular audio recordings. The built in digital clock with timers and alarms allowed the playback of movement recordings at specified times, such as moving into the bedroom in the morning. Both robots were able to broadcast speech from the remote control handset through a speaker on the robot, and both were shipped with a cardboard "home" base which was suggested to be taped to the floor and used as a reference point for programming.

Both Omnibot and the Omnibot 2000 could carry objects. The Omnibot carried a specially made tray which slotted into its claws, and the Omnibot 2000 had a tray which slotted into its motorised 'accessory panel', allowing the tray to revolve cups and glasses into the reach of the arm.

The Omnibot 2000 was 25 inches tall, powered by a 6-Volt Lead Acid Battery and two "AA" batteries. Its right arm was controllable. The user could control its shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers, the left arm being a poseable "dummy".

Unfortunately, losing the remote control unit for an Omnibot meant that the robot could no longer be used.

Two lesser known robots in the Omnibot range were the Omnibot OOM and the Omniwagon. The Omnibot OOM was shaped like a standard Omnibot except with the addition of a spherical head, its functions including a basic form of voice-control. The Omniwagon was merely a remote controlled the drive unit and wheels from an omnibot with a flat surface on top to carry objects.

[edit] Related Robots

[edit] Hearoid/Robie Sr.

The Omnibot OOM was later release by TTC as the Hearoid. Radio Shack also released a version known as the Robie Sr.. All were made by TOMY in Japan.

The aforementioned Omnibot OOM was released in America by TTC under licence from TOMY. However, it was renamed the Hearoid. However, the design was also licenced to Radio Shack, who produced a version named the Robie Sr.. These are not distributed by Tomy, but made by Tomy in Japan.

[edit] Omni Jr./Robie Jr.

The Omni Jr was a barebones diminute version of the original Omnibot. It simply was a 10.5 inches high remote controlled robot with an attachable tray and was released simultaneously by Radio Shack as Robie Jr. Omni Jr was equipped with basic object avoidance and a series of recorded annoucements were made should the robot bump into anything.

[edit] Verbot

The classic Omnibot had a cheaper, smaller cousin known as the Verbot. It was much like the Omnibot in appearance but was more limited in features. The Verbot also came with a remote control. Verbot was able to pick up objects, a feature many toy robots of the era lacked. Disadvantages common to the Verbot were that it was quite noisy, reprogramming was necessary every time the robot was powered up again, and its white plastic body would turn yellow if left in the sun. The Verbot was actually quite complex, utilising a single motor for all its movements and an intricate set of gears for picking up objects. Programming Verbot was accomplished by pushing one of the buttons on its front panel and holding it down while the corresponding action was voiced into the microphone and then releasing the button. As with most Omnibots, losing the remote meant the robot could not be used to full capacity, but some hobbyists have modified cheap 1980s walkie-talkies for inputting voice commands.

[edit] In popular media

• The 1986 movie Short Circuit has a scene during the end credits where lead robot Johnny Five enjoys a conversation with an Omnibot 2000.

Johnny Five meets an Omnibot 2000 in Short Circuit(1986)

[edit] Omnibots today

In recent times, many hobbyists have turned to hacking, tweaking and improving their Omnibots. Commonly added features are IR Sensors, video cameras, speech recognition chips, stronger motors, microcontrollers, sonars and other advanced enhancements that would not have been possible in the 80s.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Compact Cassette

[edit] External links

• An Omnibot Collector's Site
• An Omnibot Project Site
• Information on the Omnibot 2000
• A small gallery of Omnibot 2000 photographs
• Heavily modified Omnibot 2000 at the University of Florida
• PDF on modifying the Omnibot 2000, giving it sensors, a speech recognition chip and vision
• Article on the many 80's Tomy robots
• The Tomy Omnibot family. German-language only