Comments on: WowWee Rovio Spy Robot Review with Video

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:04:19 +0000

I purchased the WowWee Rovio last week from Radio Shack for $179 new. This was a great price considering I could not find it on e-bay used for this. There was only one left at one radio shack in the entire Dallas/Ft. Worth area. None were available online – according to radio shack.

I have been looking for something like this for the past 5 years. I contemplated “making” something like this myself. A remote controlled car with a web cam! How fun!

If you read the description of the Rovio then you know what it’s all about. Here are the things that I did not like about Rovio.

Rovio has the perspective of a small dog. I never noticed how dirty my carpet or moldings around the floor was until I used Rovio. If you extend the “head” all of the way up, you are looking at the ceiling. There are only three positions.

You can map the standard web port 80 to any port that you like BUT you can not map the streaming video port 554 to any other port. If your firewall blocks port 554 then you are in trouble unless you can redirect it through your router.

You can change the resolution from 640×480 to smaller sizes but the web browser window always stays the same size. So the only thing the smaller resolution did for me was degrade the video. I was using the latest firmware.

There is a good 1 second delay on the video when you move Rovio and this was using my LAN. I can’t image how difficult it would be to navigate Rovio via the web which would potentially have a longer delay.

Rovio was fun for about 15 minutes and then I simply returned him. I will just buy a wireless PTZ web cam next time. Maybe if they make a new version, it will be great!

By: Robert Birming

Robert Birming — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:47:57 +0000

Thanks for the tips, but it seems you’ve got a 509 at the moment.

By: Evolution

Evolution — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:37:22 +0000

Hey guys-
tutorials for setting up Rovio’s TrueTrack navigation system are now available at http://www.northstartutorials.com

Enjoy!

By: Robert Birming

Robert Birming — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:30:12 +0000

Sounds awesome, Bristolview! Great ideas, thanks for sharing!

By: Bristolview

Bristolview — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:59:47 +0000

Robert, thank you. I travel at least half of my time. I’ve been thinking about how to better interact with my daughter while I’m away (my wife dislikes video conferencing). Video conferencing is nice, but it’s only at the family computer, moving around the house would be nice. I’ve built a basic mobile Webcam by combining a radio controlled tank, an Armotron mechanical arm with hand and an IP based Webcam. Add some simple TTL to give me control of the remote control from across the world and you have a moving Webcam with 360° camera control, with ability to see up or down and anywhere in between. Rovio is a much nicer version, but seems quite limited. Not at all a put down, it’s affordable and not bad. I’m excited for version 2.0.

Other requests:
– Zoom ability on camera
– Rotational control (up and down) of the camera.
– Telescoping neck to lift camera higher above floor level
– With the LCD I requested in my previous post… ability to push pictures to Rovio. (”Amy, look at this picture I took this afternoon, it’s the Eiffel Tower.”)

By: Robert Birming

Robert Birming — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:40:33 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts on the “WowWee Rovio Spy Robot Review with Video”, Bristolview – some cool ideas you have there.

By: Bristolview

Bristolview — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:26:53 +0000

Very nice, reasonable price. I like everything here, but it needs a few things to move to a really nice solution (besides a good front version). what it needs…
– Video of the person on the other side so those seeing the robot can see who they are talking with.
– Multi-Room navigation capabilities. The current navigation beakon only works in the room with the dock.
– Call remote person. while I’m away on business, it would be nice if my daughter could tap the robot (some button) to initiate a call to me.
– More positioning control of the head camera, good now, better is welcome.
– Quieter motors, too distracting to be used in a remote meeting.

Just some thoughts, your mileage and needs may vary.
Cheers all.

By: Teknoloji

Teknoloji — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:45:49 +0000

haberin Türkçesi burda WowWee Rovio http://www.nettim.net/bilisim/wowwee-rovio-hayatinizi-kablosuz-yonetin.html