ERS-220 Aibo
| Release date: | November 2001 |
| New Price: | $1500 |
| Used Price: | $400 – $1000 (fluctuates heavily) |
| Toys Used: | Ball |
| Degrees of Freedom: | 16 |
| Variants: | 3 |
The ERS-220 was produced in 2001 and shares much of the same hardware and software as its older sibling, the 210.
Shoji Kawamori, a well known mecha designer and artist, had worked on the design for the 220. Early drafts had a dinosaur-like design which was meant to curl into an egg for charging.
Eventually, a design more in line with previous AIBOs was achieved, adopting a “planetary exploration” theme. This design did away with many organic elements, leaning heavily into a sleek futuristic design.
Official sales numbers are unknown for the 220. They were generally less popular upon release than their 210 counterparts, making them more expensive and harder to come by in the current day.
ERS-220 Software and Behavior
The ERS-220 shares much of the same AIBOWARE as the 210. Some earlier softwares will have compatibility issues due to not accounting for the 220’s new hardware.
Known compatible software:
- AIBO Life 1 (will boot, slight glitches)
- AIBO Life 2
- AIBO Explorer
- AIBO Navigator 2
- AIBO Messenger
- Hello AIBO Type B
- SpeedBoarder
- Another Evolution Side 2 (officially licensed aftermarket software)
- AIBO Recognition (requires unofficial patch, glitchy)
- DogsLife (unofficial software)
ERS-220 Design
With its futuristic design, many organic elements have been removed from the 220.
Instead of pettable touch sensors, the 220 relies on 19 LEDS, 5 buttons, and a movable antenna for interacting with its owner. The 220’s head mounted antenna can be pushed towards their back to praise and pulled forward to scold, analogous to praising and scolding a standard 210.
The chin button and main back button are also analogous to their 210 functions. The 220 has an additional set of three buttons on the very end of its tail block. These three buttons vary in functionality depending on software.
On Life 2 and Explorer for instance, the left displays battery level, the middle deploys the retractable headlight, and the right will have AIBO tell you their mood.
Variants
All ERS-220s share the same silver and grey paint scheme, however they were available in different configurations. The variants are all functionally identical.
- ERS-220 Transformation Kit
The rarest variant of the 220. This kit allowed a user to take an existing 210 or core block, upgrade the OPEN-R firmware, and install the 220 limb blocks.
- ERS-220
Standard ERS-220. Equipped with a normal core.
- ERS-220A
Supercore variant of the same model. Only difference is the Supercore option. Functionally identical, boots slightly faster, a few actions are slightly faster.
Known Issues and Repairability
The 220 is a fairly reliable AIBO model, having fewer issues than the 210 it was based upon. Late model 210s and all 220s were produced with a revised clutch to prevent DHS. This clutch was used in each head motor axis, so TAS and PAS also are prevented. Despite this, their head potentiometers seem especially prone to dust and therefore jittering.
Headboard problems are rare, but have appeared. This results in AIBO being unable to see with their camera. This does not impede navigation, due to their reliance on the head mounted infrared array.
Many 210 and 220 parts are interchangeable. The head and tail block are entirely different besides a few components (mics, camera, etc, flex cables, motors, etc). The legs are internally the same as their 210 siblings, and can even be swapped wholesale with ones from a 210 and vice versa.
ERS-220 Guides and Resources:
Page written by andy
Sources:
Wikipedia
shojikawamori.jp
Photos:
andy