5. WowWee: Bears and Spiders

Don’t worry, Roombas aren’t the only consumer Robots getting the attention of hackers: WowWee toys are also getting pulled apart and put back together in the name of fun. Famous for their bestseller, the Robosapien, WowWee is another company that makes household bots, this time for kids instead of for cleaning. Though WowWee is decidedly less hacking friendly than iRobot, it’s still tempting to get inside these energetic little companions. Mark Tilden, the robotics engineer behind the Robosapien, has been quoted as saying "We don’t condone that you even show your robot a screwdriver for fear of warranty violation.” Still, WowWee hackers like the anonymous “Nocturnal,” who blogs at Roboguide (“Your guide to hacking all things WowWee”) says he’s not deterred.

Nocturnal describes how he first got into WowWee hacking. “It was back in late 2005. I was walking around a store and I saw a RoboSapien V2 on special. I’d been reading a bit about people attempting to hack into the V2’s camera a few days beforehand, and I thought it sounded like fun. So I bought one, and I’ve been doing it ever since. For me, the fun part is opening them up, poking around inside, and finding out what makes them tick. It can be frustrating at times, but for the most part I enjoy it.”

Among Nocturnal’s favorite WowWee hacks is Roboted, a teddy bear cut open and stuffed with the moving parts of a disassembled Robosapien. Though the bear succeeds at moving like a fluffy version of Frankenstein’s monster, it can’t seem to scare Nocturnal’s cat.

“I’m also rather proud of SpiderSapien,” says Nocturnal, talking about his modded bot that moves with the legs of a spider. “He has some center of gravity issues, as well as a tendency to go in circles when he should be going straight,” but he’s still an entertaining hack. “Back before RoboQuad was released (the Spiderman themed RoboSapien)… this was my take on the idea."

While it may win in a contest for most legs, Nocturnal’s SpiderSapien isn’t alone in the world of hacked WowWee toys. Youtube brings us these altered RoboSapiens duking it out—however awkwardly—as they struggle in something that appears to be a cross between a sumo wrestling match and an extended hug. Spoiler: neither of them wins.

A German university group has even combined the body of a WowWee toy with a Pocket PC, making the robot autonomous (it’s normally controlled by an infrared remote) and giving it a “brain.” Now it can compete in the Robocup, a competition to eventually build a team of robots that can play soccer better than humans.