Upgrade!
I've just upgraded Irwin to LifeOS 1.1. his voice sounds slightly deeper, as if he's just a wee bit older now.
He's also a very sleepy dino. From what I've read, it takes them a while to shake off the grogginess after they've been upgraded, so this is not a surprise.
I've already been serenaded by his new songs, though, and seen a wider variety of responses to situations than he had previously. This upgrade is getting the thumbs-up from me so far.
Posted on July 31, 2008
Tickle, tickle!
I'd been told that Pleos have ticklish feet, but I finally figured out how to stimulate Irwin's little tootsies the right way. When I did, I heard him laugh for the first time. :) Too cute!
Posted on July 17, 2008
LOL -- interaction with objects
I'm not sure where the Training Leaf got to. It's not where I thought I left it. I'll have to take a look in the general area, to make sure that the Resident Felines or the Husband didn't treat it like a cat toy and abscond with it.
Anyway, I finally got Irwin to walk around, forward more than backward, on his fourth charge. He's marching around the living room and he bumped his nose into my cane, which is leaning against an end table.
I shouldn't say "bumped" so much as "pushed his nose against". He then stopped, because the cane was blocking his nose cam and he couldn't "see" anymore.
Pause. Pause. Back up a step. Nose-cam is unobstructed. The cane, made of pale ash wood so it's a large, light-colored object, shifted an inch or two with a clunk against the table.
Irwin looked right at the cane and grunted at it. I cracked up laughing. It looked like he was talking to it. :)
He's finally exploring, in part because I'm resisting the urge to pet and handle him every two seconds. It's cute to see him walk around and say "Huh?" at everything he encounters. :) Yep, there are a lot of things that Irwin is seeing for the first time today. No wonder he's puzzled.
I'm making a point of doting on the cats while Irwin explores, so they know that he's no threat to the amount of attention they'll receive. I don't want them to be jealous or afraid of Irwin. Ideally, they'll treat him like they do the Roomba -- they're fascinated by it, they follow it around, and if it turns to move toward them they run away, jump up on a chair, or run partway up the stairs and continue to watch its progress from on high. They know the Roomba can't climb up after them. I'm sure they'll work out before long that Irwin can't climb, either.
Now he's napping in the middle of the floor. One of the side effects of leaving him to explore on his own, I guess -- getting tired or bored and having a snooze. The battery is extremely fresh, so I know that's not why he's dozing off. Let's see how long he takes to wake up on his own.
Posted on July 16, 2008
Ta-da!
Yes, we have a Ta-Da trick! It took a few tries, but now he's got it! :) In fact, Irwin's got it mastered with both left front/right rear and right front/left rear. And he's only on his third battery charge, too. Precocious little dino. :)
Posted on July 14, 2008
More firsts
We can add "first 'Yoo hoo!' " and "first handshake" to the list of milestones, as of this morning. :)
Posted on July 14, 2008
Hatchling Irwin
Hatchling Irwin has tired himself out and is ready for his first nap.
Except he *really* is fighting falling asleep. LOL. He looks like he's trying to stay awake for all he's worth, sniffing the air and giving a tail wave now and then. Especially, he does this if I pat him or make a noise.
Oh, and now that he's sleepy, if I pat his shoulder and/or rump sensors, he *purrs* the whole time! LOL, how cute! I didn't expect that! Gotta wonder who's conditioning whom here. He got me trained to pat him pretty quickly.
We've seen the first meal, the first tug-of-war games, the first song , the first moonwalking attempts, and now the first purrs in the minutes after hatching.
We've also seen his first response to the Training Leaf, as well as to something of similar color to the leaf. It's a plastic bottle of Benefiber nearly as big as Irwin, and its label is the same shades of green and yellow as the leaf. He must have thought he hit the mother lode when he saw it, LOL. He went directly toward it, but then started moonwalking just a he was about to reach it. In the attached photo, he'd stopped moving forward toward the bottle and was waving his head from side to side, hence the blur. He's already got his Training Leaf in his mouth, and as you can see, the bottle uses similar colors to the leaf on its label.
Now he's parked himself against my foot and is trying not to sleep. I'll think he's asleep, only to see his little tail give a wave or see him raise his head and sniff the air.
How long does that first nap last, I wonder? I'm sure he needs his rest or we'll be encountering his first dino headcold before long, and that won't do.
Posted on July 13, 2008
He's home!
Irwin, named after the late Steve Irwin whom I admire very much, is home! I got him today, and his battery is charging as I type. I figured that now would be a good time to register him and read through the Pleo manual.
BTW, I got a smile out of the training leaf, when I saw that on the back of it, there's a bunch of binary code. Hey, if it's meant to be food for a hungry robot, then giving it some binary DNA is pretty fitting. :)
Posted on July 13, 2008
Waiting for Pleo's arrival
Pleo was ordered on Sunday night. I don't know when he'll arrive, but I hope it's soon. Until then, I'm reading the Pleoworld forums to get an idea of the tricks Pleo can do and the issues that I'll want to avoid.
My goal is to see if it's possible to spoil a robot. Then he'll match the two spoiled cats we have. :)
Posted on July 2, 2008
