Your Own R2-D2

by Anne Metz (RSS feed)
Jul 4th 2006 at 4:03PM

First there was the Japanese robot dog. Then there was the robot cat. Now there is a voice-activated robot R2-D2, the lovable little droid from Star Wars.

R2-D2 is a motorized replica of the original spirited bot, which can respond to more than 40 voice-activated commands. Using an infra-red sensor, 'D2 can roll around your house, search for intruders, play tag, answer simple 'yes' or 'no' questions, and dance to the famous cantina music from Star Wars. He may not be able to help save the universe, but he can still blink his lights, swivel his dome top and blast those memorable happy robot sounds. Standing 15 inches tall, R2-D2 weighs in at 6 pounds.

Now that popular culture's most beloved android friend has been memorialized in the form of a workable replica, I have to wonder which robot will come next? Personally, I'm hoping for Rosie -- the Jetson's helpful maid robot, the perfectly-programmed-hausfrau who leglessly rolled about, dusting and tidying wherever she went. Ah, dare to dream, I guess. Price: $119.95.

Tags: andoids, Jetsons, R2-D2, robots, Star Wars, StarWars