Robots Weblog | Playtastic KI robotic with ChatGPT assistant

After unpacking the robots I felt like adding a tablet on wheels to my robot collection. The little robot, who I later found out calls herself “Anna,” definitely had an Android tablet for a face. A tablet robot.

However, after turning it on, the usual setup process that is common with Android devices did not await me. Instead, I was greeted with music and a short animated video. Then, after a short wait (which only occurred when I started it for the first time), I landed on a childlike, playful app overview. My first idea was to first connect to the WiFi in the settings menu. I had already read in the manual that the robot is only compatible with a 2.4 GHz WiFi. The WLAN on my FritzBox works in dual mode and provides both a 5 GHz and a 2.4 GHz signal. The robot found this WLAN, asked for the password, confirmed the correct entry and connected – but only for a few seconds before it displayed “not connected” again. Apparently he only likes pure 2.4 GHz WiFi. Once I selected my 2.4GHz-only WiFi, I had no further connection issues.

The Android operating system version and installed apps appeared to be up to date; at least no updates were found. In addition to the pre-installed learning, music and gaming apps, I immediately noticed the YouTube (Kids) and Spotify apps. I sensed some fun for adults here too!

Unfortunately, launching the YouTube app for the first time (after the WiFi provided an internet connection) required an update to Google services, which in turn required logging in with a Google account. It’s better not to do what I did and not create a new Google account directly from the robot’s display. Instead, use a computer or your smartphone and then just give the robot the access data. This is much faster than using the robot’s somewhat sluggish “tablet”.

After registering, the YouTube app started. I discovered that it was the YouTube Kids app, which I hadn’t heard of before. The app offers child-friendly videos for different ages, but not the full YouTube experience that you would find on television, for example. Different child/user profiles can be created, and a “parent account” can be used to control exactly which videos and channels are available or whether the child can search for other channels independently.

At least all Spotify content remains available for adult users. The preinstalled Spotify app works identically to the version on my smartphone. The robot’s sound is loud and bass-heavy; Sometimes you can hear the plastic housing vibrate a bit. For children and older karaoke fans, there is a karaoke video collection in the “Kinder Fernsehen” app. An included microphone can be plugged into the back of the robot. After switching on the microphone, your own singing will be played back by the robot with a proper reverb effect. There is also a connection for a second microphone for duet partners; However, only one microphone is included – a tablet karaoke music video robot.

The children’s television app contains well-known video series (such as Shaun the Sheep), music and learning content as well as games. Outside of this app, there are the usual applications such as alarm clocks, stopwatches or picture galleries as well as various other learning apps: arithmetic, painting, writing, making music or learning languages - there is an app for almost everything. And if not, the “Kinderladen” offers a slimmed down version of the App Store with games, learning apps and other child-friendly content. A tablet karaoke music video learning robot! However, other Android apps cannot be found here. I also wasn’t able to install third-party apps – neither via SD card nor via browser download – because the integrated browser only opens previously approved websites. I haven’t figured out how to add these. In the PIN-protected “parental mode” I was able to hide installed apps (hide them from children, so to speak), but I couldn’t “sideload” new apps. There is an advanced mode that appears in the settings after tapping the robot’s version number several times – unfortunately protected by a password that I don’t know. What is behind it? Maybe the ability to install your own apps?

The “Music and Dance” app opens a music player that can be used to play MP3s – even from an inserted SD card. The difference to the normal “music” app: The robot dances to the music being played and drives around the area “dancing” more or less wildly. At this point, I would have liked to be able to program my own movement sequences – or even a learning app that would teach me how to program the robot and make use of the possibilities of the integrated motors of my “robot tablet”. Maybe even program a line follower in combination with the integrated camera? Maybe a suitable app will be developed for this at some point.

The integrated camera can be used to take photos and videos in low resolution. Unfortunately, I didn’t find an app that uses the camera for motion games – as is known with the Miko 3 robot. Maybe we can still hope for app expansions here too?

And then there is the ChatGPT assistant mode: a robot face appears on the display with which you can have a conversation even without a microphone plugged in. The answers come from a ChatGPT instance after a slight delay. This seems to be specialized for conversations with children and automatically suggests topics such as dinosaurs, space or animals. Each answer directly provides ideas for new questions or suggested topics and thus actively guides the conversation. The ChatGPT instance has no access to current online content and is adequately moderated: In many cases, topics that are not suitable for children are ignored or passed over. However, asking questions that are too precise or clever prompting can sometimes provide at least questionable content – although actively suggested topics always remain child-friendly (especially dinosaurs). Records from the animal world or environmental phenomena are also suggested as topics of discussion.
A tablet karaoke music video learning AI assistant robot.

The robot is a versatile toy with well-functioning pre-installed apps. There is little content for adults; But these are definitely not the target group here. As an eye-catching Spotify player with some additional features, the robot is also interesting for adults – but don’t expect top performance from the integrated tablet! It’s clearly designed only for the included apps; These are child-friendly and safe… as long as you don’t ask the ChatGPT assistant any overly curious questions. Overall, it is an educational toy for children – also to gain their first experience in dealing with AI. Otherwise you only get a cheap tablet for the price; However, there is a whole robot here!