Pleo

Pleo is a toy robot that mimics the appearance and behavior of a Camarasaurus dinosaur babies. It was designed by the company Ugobe. Caleb Chung, one of the designers of the Furbies, is co-founder of the company. After 3.5 years of development, the delivery in the U.S. was launched on 5 December 2007. In Germany Pleo is sold via the joker AG. Following the bankruptcy of Ugobe to Jetta has secured the company that produces Pleo, the rights to him and this will in the future continue to produce and develop further.

Behavior

Pleo is able to go on all fours, head and tail to move to close his eyelids, his mouth and close down and make sounds. It simulates the seizure of food, tracks motion and reacts to sounds.

At the beginning of mimes Pleo the condition of a newborn, then behaves like a child, and finally as a teenager. In childhood, he first runs still shaky, and then begin to interact with the environment. He shows emotions like a hanging head or a wagging tail. Pleo also stores his " life experience " and thus forms a unique character.

Technology

Pleo consists of about 2,000 items. Based on 38 sensors, stereo microphone and a digital camera it interacts with the outside world. Among themselves, several Pleos communicate with an infrared interface. He recognizes in the mouth ambitious feed via infrared light barrier. To move the body parts are installed 14 servo motors. He also has sensors on the feet in order to recognize whether you lift it up. Pleo is not able to independently up again after a fall.

Software

Pleo is based on the software platform and OS Life was delivered at the beginning with a not yet fully developed software. This has now been improved and can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. To do this, closes Pleo via the USB port to a computer or directly filled the used SD card with the data. Meanwhile, software editors are available. Together with the disclosure of the source code and a Pleo Development Kit, this can be used by end users to refine the personality.

Programming

In the future it should be possible to perform PAWN scripts on Pleo. The required SDK has already been announced for the end of 2008, the publication has, however, repeatedly postponed. A virtual machine to run PAWN scripts already runs on Pleo.

Science

Due to the numerous technical possibilities offered Pleo for a relatively low price, it is also used for various scientific projects. For example, the Group for Interdisciplinary Psychology, University of Bamberg and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence currently have a project at work that builds on Pleo.