Hot wired: Roboraptor toy robot

Roboraptor

There was a time when Mark Tilden was happy just to build his toy robots and dream about the day when every child would have one under the Christmas tree.

He's moved on since then. Now Tilden is touting a new pet. Unlike the friendly, burping, chirping Robosapien, the Roboraptor looks like causing more trouble than you thought possible.

Nose to toes, the Roboraptor is 81cm long and sports a fierce grin. Where the Robosapien would wave and nod, the Roboraptor looks like it wants to tear your arm off. It's sure to be a hit with the kids.

Robotics has come a long way since last year. The Roboraptor has three behaviour settings - playful, cautious and hunter. Set it to playful and he'll nuzzle and coo when you put your face near his. Try it on in hunter mode and you could lose an eye.

You can leave Roboraptor to guard a particular area, or in remote control mode so he's at your beck and call, or just let him do his own thing in free-roam mode. If you ignore him long enough he'll get bored and switch himself over to free roaming anyway and go off looking for some baby birds to torment or a Robosapien to torture.

You can even lead the Roboraptor around by tracing a path using the remote control's laser beam. Or you can ignore the remote altogether and just poke him and watch him dance - oh, how he can dance. He can also waddle, hunt and run so make sure you're a safe distance away before taunting him.

Anyone interested in the inner workings of Robosapien or Roboraptor can go to the company's website and download the schematic diagrams needed to play around.

There are also programming tips that let you train your beast to perform new tricks. How you get the Roboraptor to lie down and let you undo his screws is up to you. Tilden, who worked for Nasa building "real" robots before realising that nobody wanted those kinds of things in their home, hopes that by building friendly toy robots using proper l robotic techniques, people will become comfortable with them and welcome them into their families. After seeing the Roboraptor it's clear that Tilden is bent on world domination and is not to be trusted.

Roboraptor, which has won a Toy of the Year award in Australia - is coming soon to a retailer near you for about $200.