Rovio Wowwee can not dock Defective Even More Defective ones see link.

[HaloiFan]

Its because it cant see the becon either because of the sun or the becon light is to faded to see by rovio

[NB5BHVL]

Did you ever get your problem solved?

[pappercactuar2]

mabe it cant drive up to it rite or the charging dock broke

[SASunDog]

What works for me is a pair of 1mm Neodymium magnets stuck to the contacts. Just about any sort of small rare earth magnet will do the trick.

That won't solve the ongoing problem of why it stops charging periodically; that's another issue. But at least you will get a positive mechanical connection with the magnets.

[chickengrasshead]

The problem is it's wheather too bright and Rovia can't see or you did not turn the red light on

[bbeecher1]

Thanks for your post, but that is not the problem. Since I posted this video there has been a large amount of people with the same issue. Google it and you will see. One guy took the base apart and found the problem it has to do with a spring with a ball that is under the positive contact. When Rovio docks its weight pushes a metal with a ball and spring to charge. But it does not always work and on some units like mine almost never. Really no fix for the problem so far. Tried lots of rooms

[aidenthedude]

how much does a rovio thing cost??

[snakes4life2527]

liar you put tape on the contacts

[Philloveroffred]

try a different outlet

[animes25]

thats what I hate, you have a large piece of tech, BUT they put a stupid cmos vga sensor, is stupid, they should have AT LEAST a HD CCD camera, cmos is for cheap crap

[watmonki]

@animes25 HD CCD on this cheap piece of equipment?! thats absurd. Rovio is just over $200. Thats way to cheap. They cant market Rovio at an expensive price to the average consumer. If you want advanced tech theres quite a few companies that sell much more powerful webBots than Rovio. Many have a robotic arm as well that can be manipulated along with great cams & a powerful drivetrain, 2 way audio, IR, etc etc. These companies also provide custom applications if you so desire.

[MafiaBoy206]

i think its not working because the sun light is shining too bright. The infrared light from both can affect navigation.

[bbeecher1]

Thanks for your comment. I have tried in any rooms. It finds the dock okay but because it does not get a good connection with the leads on the bottom of the robot it tries again and again. It has no problems finding the dock and attempting to dock, but just keeps doing it until it gives up after about 7 times. Than is sits until the battery dies. If it does not make contact with the leads on the bottom of the robot that are used to charge it will not stay on the dock. Again thanks.

[marciawoo]

I wonder if this is why I see a lot of internet complaints about battery life?

Also can't anyone make a wi-fi camera that does not transmit washed-out video with bad color?

[Emotionengne]

poor walle :(

[lewberry6]

i have got a rovio for christmas and it is brilliant every things works on local network havnt tried it over the internet away from home yet though

but apart ffrom that i would reomened it

[vectron97]

is it safe to have rovio on in the charging dock when on vacation

[vettypayal223]

it was ok for my one month vacation, everything worked fine afterwards... :)

[vectron97]

ok thx

[vectron97]

does it has an on/off switch or do you do it on your pc/mac

[bbeecher1]

Yes it does, but it resets the robot. You can't control the the power from the computer. That would be nice if you could turn it off, but it would shut down the network card and you could not turn it on.

[fishdude333]

did u try a different room

[ALTN8NRG]

It's a shame that there are so many problems. It looked like it would be a cool item to have in the home or office.

[DomFinn]

Ah gutting. I wish this worked better.

[tom01011]

oh dammit im sorry i didnt watch the whole film, i see what your problem is, gosh.

[tom01011]

try not putting the charger thing right by a window where the light is, the infa red beams get confused with the light rays comming from the window, my remote hlicopter has problems flying because thats infared and the remote finds it hard to shine past the light from the window

[svengalie]

I've just documented my thoughts via video. I wish it worked :(

[jazzeffc]

LOL at the kid noises =) UH OH

[bbeecher1]

Thanks for your post and I'm going to stick with my Spykee too. I sent Rovio back after getting two bad ones. It's a rip that they don't offer better support or the problem is too big and returning or fixing all the bad units is just too exp!

[svengalie]

I must say I too am utterly dissapointed with this robot. I also waited over a year for it.

The nav just doesn't work, it doesn't do anything. And connecting remotely the lag is unworkable! The spykee is instant over the internet...Rovio lags by 8 seconds +

I shall be uploading several videos giving it a scathing review over the next few days.

[PodcasterTV]

Somehow, I thought that the large number of posts must only represent a small fraction of Rovio owners having major problems. I was wrong. Dock problems, Nav problems, the battery would not charge from the dock . Wowwee told me to exchange it for another unit. I think I'll wait until they get it right. Support has an attitude problem. Wait before purchasing this product. I bought Spykee. It's a whole lot less expensive, and I can have some fun with it until Rovio gets it act together.

[bbeecher1]

I bought Spykee too and have no problems!

[nickthecrasher]

if the self docking isn`t working. try moving the dock in a darker area so rovio can see the beams shot off from the docking station

[bbeecher1]

Yes the IR is not the problem, but I did try moving it thanks for your post. Now that more people have them you can see that there are a lot of defective units from other posts.

[nickthecrasher]

thank you for your reply and I have been thinking of buying a rovio, but have have seen so many defects such as yours. once again thanks for the reply and let me know if you slove the problem. thanks for your time.

[Zach4War]

what where you controlling the robot with?

[nickthecrasher]

u control it from ur web inabled computer

[bbeecher1]

Just through IE and ad Hoc mode

[DKingTaco2188]

hmm this lookz prety cool which is betta thisor a ps3 i bought a remote control plane didn't work out looking for an awesome remote ocontrol veihicle that doesn't breakt o easily is this it?

[misterdna]

No support from Wowwee? That's terrible, for a $300 product. You're doing the right thing by publicizing the problem and lack of response. Let us know if they ever resolve your issue.

[bbeecher1]

Thanks I have contacted Wowwee three times and they keep saying they will call back. I'm sad that they offer such bad support since their products are pretty good. I'm sending it back and buying a Spykee. The other robot that offers the same features. So far happy with the new purchase.

[poopoope1]

Hey

Having the Spykee and selling it away, you should look close at the functionalities.There are a lot of functionalities from rovio that Spykee doesnt have:

-navigation

-patrols

-moveable camera

-web-browser access: spykke needs the robots mac adress and credentials to be recored on their website and you need to install the software on the distant pc. Which means that spykee ca not be controled through smartphones, psps, etc...

-Oh and spykee is fragile unless you make customs mods.

[bbeecher1]

But here is the scoop with the Rovio.

Mic for VOIP. Requires you to use an external mic attached to your computer not the robot.

PSP does not work!

The mic on Rovio sucks, good luck trying to hear anything. Breaks up and sounds like a tin can.

The battery life is like nothing and no sleep mode.

The moving head on Rovio moves low to med-low to ceiling.

Spykee is rumored to be coming out with working arms and head.

Spykee can attach after market mods because you build it

Thanks

[poopoope1]

The best would be for you to try the Spykee for a few days so you can compare.

For the rumors be carefull, Spykee is not so hacker friendly as the rovio and technically i dont really see how you could add moving arms and head to the spykee without a complete reprogramming, disambling of the robot, etc...

If you meant that its gone be a whole new robot and not an upgrade to the existant one, then yes could be worth waiting.

But for now, having tried both, for me Rovio is the best one.

[poopoope1]

Also to try to help you on the Rovio:

-Battery needs a few discharge-recharge cycles before giving its full potential (just like any batteries)

-For the VOIP you need a mic on the distant computer but on the rovio side you answer through the mic on the robot, unless i misunderstood you, this is normal.

-The mic cracks up all the time or when using the bot on remote? Could be a bandwidth issue on your connection maybe? I havent heard any critics on the mic quality yet.

Let us know.

[bbeecher1]

I know about batteries and that will help. I have a lot of cars and planes heli and so on. The mic is more than just my robot there are a lot of posts out there including on RoboCommunity about the problem.

If you get a clear signal sound with your mic for Rovio than I would like to know what browser you are using. mozilla no audio at all! I have a a T1 line so bandwidth I don't think is a problem. At home I have FIOS and I get the same same results. Thanks again for the post.

[bbeecher1]

Here is a post from another person having problems with the mic. He is an audio technition and goes on to talk about the compression and gets a little techy for me

speaker output is quite good but audio coming from Rovio's mic sounds a bit 'boxy'. The audio from Rovio's microphone to the PC is 8kHz 8bit with A-Law compression (64kbps) That format works well for the human voice (landline phones, VoIP etc). Not very good if your Rovio is listening to music. Acceptable for voice.

[bbeecher1]

I know I said before thanks for the suggestions. You have had more Ideas than there support staff. Again Thanks.

[poopoope1]

Oh i forgot to mention that very soon wowwee is going to sell room beacons meaning that the navigation system will work in your whole floor (i say because rovio cant go up stairs, but neither can Spykee)

[bbeecher1]

I will want to see what they do in the future with both robots, but bottom line the robot needs to charge for me to do anything and Rovio was not doing it's job.

[bbeecher1]

Thanks for your comment. I'm not flush with money right now and I waited for 12 months for this robot. Wowwee should have sent me a replacement ASAP. When I asked them how they would fix this problem like sending me a docking station and the guy says well I guess we might be able to do that. That made me feel really good about my $300 investment! I will remove it if Wowwee holds to their warranty. In the beginning I made this video to help show them what was going on. Thanks

[calirobotguy]

Their web site says you can use it to check on elderly relatives. How? If they're dead on the floor? Stupid

[bbeecher1]

That's pretty Good!

[misterdna]

What are you talking about? The robot has 3 camera positions, allowing it to look up. It also provides two-way voice communications, so you cab talk to and hear your elderly relatives (unless they are dead on the floor).

[12310843]

I guess so. But if I want to know how my grandma is I can call her. She doesn't need a robot that she could fall over or a wifi detup in her house for me to do that. Same with talking with people at your office. Teleconferencing with Skype is way easier. I just thougt these were silly ideas that people wouldn't really use a webcam on the floor for. Makes it look like the manufacterer doesn't know what its for either. Cool vids on your page btw.

[misterdna]

I guess you're right, it's probably a stretch to say this is a good way to keep tabs on grandma or keep in touch with the office. I do think it has some home monitoring potential, and could be fun for a grandfather with a PC to watch and interact with toddler grandkids in a unique way. Of course, it's probably mostly a toy or something for robotics geeks to hack.

[poopoope1]

No seriously, the spykee is a nice toy but lacks certain functionalities and a better finishing touch (webcam quality not so good for one with a low resolution).

I think you are just unlucky, you should just return it for an exchange. But stay on Rovio, you will regret going to Spykee i think.

[bbeecher1]

Nope not the problem they are touching. There are large square contacts on the robot and the pop up contacts hit the robot, but no luck. I'm positive they are hitting and not hitting the plastic sides of the square metal contacts instead. If move it on and off the charger it will sometimes make a connection. I still think it's a defect.

But thanks for the help!

[Noccy42]

It looks very much like the pop up contacts aren't making contact with the Rovio properly, thats why he keeps hopping on and off.

[Aqua540]

brian what is that useful for exactly???

[bbeecher1]

It's a Robot with a camera built in that you can drive from the internet.