Robot pets were extremely popular in the early 2000’s, and I-Cybie was one of many that resulted from that craze. Released in 2001, this cute little robot dog with pointy ears really stood out from their competition at the time. They were a decently large and fairly autonomous robot dog that would desire human companionship, and they could even be upgraded (more on that later).
The Origins of I-Cybie
I-Cybie was first shown at a toy fair in New York city in 1999 by the company Silverlit. They were meant to compete with aibo, but were considerably lower priced. I-Cybie prototypes actually looked fairly similar to the ERS-11X series. They had a visor and their body color was nearly the same.
Ultimately, Tiger Electronics ended up getting the rights to distribute I-Cybie. They redesigned the dog to look less like the ERS-110, giving them their own unique identity and look instead.
I-Cybie was priced at $200 when they were released in 2001. For the features they had, it was actually a pretty good deal. They were far ahead in terms of interaction and autonomy than other similarly priced toy-level robots.
I-Cybie Features and Capabilities
This little robot dog may be more of a toy than an advanced robot, but they were still extremely impressive for their price point and time. It is a shame they weren’t more popular!
Voice Recognition
These little robot dogs were one of the few at the time that could listen to and understand voice commands. Amusingly enough, the ERS-111 and 110 couldn’t even do that!
According to the quick start guide, I-Cybie could understand the following voice commands:
- Bow
- Sit down
- Good boy
- Trick
- Bad dog
- I-Cybie
- Stay
- Guard
That isn’t the longest list of voice commands ever, but the fact that I-Cybie could understand any at all was impressive. You could also use a remote to send them commands as well.
Autonomous Behavior
While not nearly as autonomous as aibo, I-Cybie still had some degree of autonomy. They will walk around and explore a little bit, but mostly want to be pet and played with by their owner so they rely more on being pet and doing voice commands more. They didn’t wander around an entire home like an aibo could, and they didn’t have as many random actions or behaviors that made them feel organic.
You could, however, praise them whenever they did decide to walk around a bit to encourage them to do it more according to I-Cybie Lair.
Something else really cool about I-Cybie that added to their autonomy is that they had a mood system. Their mood would change depending on how much you interacted with them and how you treated them. Their mood would then affect the types of behaviors they would perform.
Rechargeable Battery and Docking Station
Having a rechargeable battery inside a toy robot was actually fairly rare in 2001, and that’s something I-Cybie had. Most robots used regular batteries (think 9V or AAA). When their battery level was low, they would enter a charging posture, similar to what older aibo models do.
That isn’t the most impressive part about I-Cybie and its ability to charge, however. A walk-up charger was released for the little robot dog in 2002. That meant I-Cybie could self-charge when it had a low battery level. This feature is still rare in current days, and is unheard of for toy-level robots!
In 2002, the self-charging dock eventually came standard with all I-Cybies. Dogs before that came with a charging cable only.
Cartridge Port
All I-Cybies have a programming port that specific carts can fit inside. The original cart that came with the walk-up charger would enable self-charging features.
That isn’t all the port could be used for, though. While very little documentation was provided, the cartridge port could be used to program custom actions and even entire personalities. I-Cybie fans ultimately reverse engineered the robot dog and created many custom programs for them.
It is also possible to create a “Super” I-Cybie through this port. That involves some soldering and software loading, but it allows for immense user customization and advanced programming. Sometimes, you can find already upgraded I-Cybies for sale even now.
To learn more about all of the advanced things that you can do with an I-Cybie, check out this website.
Sensors and Movement
I-Cybie had a fair share of advanced sensors for a toy level robot – probably more than even most modern robots in the same market have.
It had:
- Multiple pet sensors (head, back and nose)
- IR sensors for obstacle detection
- A tilt sensor so it could detect when it was knocked over
These sensors allowed I-Cybie to explore relatively safely compared to other toy robots. There were also multiple pet sensors which is pretty awesome – you could pet your dog in multiple different ways!
As far as exploring and movement goes, this little robot dog was fairly fluid. It was one of few robots that would actually walk on 4 legs – most robot toys utilized wheels. With 16 motors, I-Cybie was capable of movement way ahead of others in its class.
The Fall of I-Cybie
Despite being an impressive robot for its time, I-Cybie never really achieved commercial success unfortunately. Several different factors contributed to this robot doggy’s downfall.
- I-Cybie was in a strange position. It was too complex for a typical toy, but too simple to compete with high-end robots like Sony’s aibo. It fell in to an awkward middle ground and thus was tricky to market.
- Originally, I-Cybie’s manual incorrectly stated that the battery needed to be charged for 10 hours. Since overcharging protection wasn’t really a thing back then, leaving the battery plugged in for so long would shorten its lifespan. That caused people to think I-Cybie had a poor battery life, which affected the robot dog’s reputation.
- Even though the robotic pup was fairly cheap for what it did, $200 was still a hard sell for a lot of people. Many people fail to see the value in a well-designed robot and will just view them as “overpriced toys”.
I-Cybie’s Legacy
Even though I-Cybie never reached the same level of fame as Furby or Aibo, it still deserves recognition as one of the first autonomous and programmable robot dogs available to the average consumer. Despite how simple the pup may seem compared to Aibo, they were still far ahead of their time.
I-Cybie Resources
Resources for our little robot dog friend can be hard to find, but they are out there. Here are a few I dug up that may be helpful or interesting:
I-Cybie FAQ
Yes, with the walk up charger and cartridge.
No, not really. I-Cybie is a great robot, but aibo is far, far more advanced and much more autonomous. Despite being made to compete with aibo, the two robot dogs are in entirely different leagues.
If you want an I-Cybie, you can find them on eBay pretty easily.
You’ll find repacked batteries on eBay as well. Note that most if not all I-Cybies will come with a dead battery unless otherwise stated.
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