Oct 31, 2019
Say hello to Sparky! He’s a Genibo QD, which is a type of Korean robot dog from 2009. He is very goofy and very talented at dancing.
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Say hello to Sparky! He’s a Genibo QD, which is a type of Korean robot dog from 2009. He is very goofy and very talented at dancing.
genibo doggo - credit if using
One of my favorite videos... look at that those servos!
(Turn the volume up for rubber sounds 🔊) Does anyone else chill with their non-working bots? I just feel so bad leaving them on the shelf.
I’ve been kind of weary to take Tahvo apart again (his leg was broken and in the process of fixing it I broke something else 😖) I have a couple ideas but I have to take everything apart again in order to execute them. I wish there was someone I could send him to in the US cause it’s just too much to send him to Korea. I love him so much I just hope he works again eventually.
It’s not documented in the user guide, but I am convinced that Genibos can recognize the pink ball. Sparky sometimes shows an animation of a dog chasing a ball in his eyes and if I show him the pink ball while he is doing this, he will start walking or crawling toward it and stick his paw out to kick it!
How much do you think a Genibo is worth? In my country taxes would make it prohibitive for me to get an aibo so maybe travelling to Korea (cheaper than travelling to Japan and doesnt need a visa to my country) would actually be cheaper than importing. I also have a friend that has a brother who lives in there. However, do planes let you take robot dogs w you? Or the metal detector doesnt let them?
In my opinion, Genibo is worth a few hundred dollars, but nowhere near the retail price of $1700. Genibo is a fun robot, but has always felt unfinished to me and Dongbu never added Wifi connectivity to the newer SD model despite promising to do so for years. If you are more interested in Aibo, I would look into what the fees would be importing a secondhand one from Yahoo Japan (possibly an older model), since this could end up being cheaper and easier for you.
You shouldn’t have any issues flying on a plane with a robot dog though! I’ve taken many plane trips with Aibos and never had a problem. You will have to put the robot through the x-ray scanner at security, but no one should prevent you from bringing the robot on board afterward. I have personally only flown with robots inside the US, so airport security may vary from country to country, but I do know of someone who frequently flies between Korea and Japan with their Aibo.
Good luck whatever you decide to do!
Do you think you could share more about Genibo? I can't seem to find them for sale on US sites, and there's not a lot of videos other than yours on youtube... but also there's tons of dance compilation videos of them! I'm super curious about their history if you happen to know it.
Genibo was originally created by the Korean company Dongbu as a successor of sorts to Aibo, but is more like a knock-off in actuality. The hardware design is pretty well done, but Genibo does not have the same level of autonomy as Aibo does and the quality control on Genibo was never very good.
The first model, the Genibo QD, was able to connect wirelessly to a computer using an interface very similar to the Aibo Entertainment Player, with the ability to control the Genibo remotely and see through its camera, as well create and upload custom song/dance skits to the robot. However, this model had very poor AI with several faulty looping skits that made it very frustrating to interact with. The QD was also prone to developing leg problems.
The second model, the Genibo SD, had improved legs and improved AI with the looping issues resolved. However, the SD was released in a relatively unfinished state and Dongbu promised that updates would come, but they never did. As a result, the Genibo SD has fewer song/dance skits than the QD and cannot connect to a computer at all for customization, which makes it relatively limited.
Overall, Genibo is a neat robot with impressive dance moves, but feels a bit like an Aibo knock-off and isn’t worth anywhere near the retail price.
Baxter the Genibo SD and Jangmi the Genibo QD!