RoboSapien v2 TroubleShooting Guide - RobotsAndComputers.com

troubleshooting guide 

www.robosapienv2online.com 

ITEM NO. 8091 

AGES: 8+

Introduction 

Congratulations on choosing RobosapienV2, the next 

generation of Robosapien technology and personality. 

Now with even more advanced dynamic motion, interactive 

sensors, new program functions, speech capabilities, and 

a unique personality. 

The Multi-functional, thinking, feeling robot with 

attitude has arrived! 

Robosapien V2’s package contains: 1 x Robosapien V2 

1 x Controller 

1 x Green Bowling Ball 

3 x Red Bowling Pins 

01

General 

Robosapien Overview 

Q: Why do his controls seem to be reversed? 

A: RobosapienV2 is controlled from the remote like you 

would direct an actor on a stage. When you are 

facing him, your left is his right, which makes him easier to 

work and program from the front. 

Q: Can I use Ni-Cad batteries in my Robosapien V2? 

A: No, they are not recommended. 

Q: Is there an easy way I can look up all his Remote 

Control functions? 

A: Here’s a handy and concise Robosapien V2 Remote Quick 

Reference Table (found on page 03). Print, cut and tape 

to the top of your Robosapien V2 remote control until you 

can do all his functions automatically. 

LEGEND: 

ROBOSAPIEN V2 CHEAT SHEET 

BLUE indicates DIRECT ACTIONS 

RED indicates OPERATION COMMANDS 

PINK indicates PROGRAM COMMANDS 

BLACK indicates SPECIAL FUNCTIONS 

GREEN indicates SPEECH AND DEMO FUNCTIONS 

02

Remote Quick Reference Table 

03 

ROBOSAPIENV2 CHEAT SHEET 

 

a c 

b 

x z 

y 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a b c y 

x z

General cont’d 

Q: How can I keep RobosapienV2 awake for long periods? 

A: If he is kept in front of an object so his eyes blink slowly 

(a white wall about 4 1/2 feet/ 1 1/2 meters away works well), he 

will stare at it for over 2 days before his brain batteries 

finally die. 

During this time he will pay attention to anybody who walks by, but 

won’t entertain you or go to sleep. 

Q: He keeps watching me and reacting to sounds! How can I 

control his actions? 

A: Press the “b” button to deactivate his vision systems, and the 

“a” button to deactivate his sound response. He’ll now 

respond only to touch and remote control buttons. 

Q: Where can I store his remote control when he’s sleeping? 

A: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04

Controller overview 

Walking 

Q: What’s the difference between the various walking gaits? 

A: In addition to 6 turning moves (walk-turns and turn-in-place) 

your RobosapienV2 has 5 different walking gaits. These can 

be selected by pressing the GAIT CHANGE button “y” when he’s 

walking forward from a single “left-joystick” press. 

GAIT 1: (press left joystick once) Walks forward, sways at the 

hip. 

GAIT 2: (press left joystick twice) Double pace. First few steps in 

place to gain momentum. 

GAIT 3: (one “y” press) Same pace, twists hands at the wrist, 

alternately. 

GAIT 4: (two “y” presses) Swings arms alternately, hands turned 

sideways. 

GAIT 5: (three “y” presses) Sways twisting and bending at the hip, 

hands palm down. 

Q: How do I keep my robot from stumbling on carpet? 

A: From a STOP, press his LEFT joystick FORWARD twice. This 

will get him into a high-stepping gait which will help him over 

shag, forward or backward. If he does fall over on his back 

though, just press SHIFT3-STOP to get him back up again. 

Q: How do I keep my robot from falling when he turns in place on 

carpet? 

A: When his batteries are fresh, he will sometimes topple when 

left to turn continuously on carpet. Turn him only as far as 

needed, then stop or change to forward walk command. 

05

Battery Details and Operations Overview 

Walking Cont’d 

Q: My robot isn’t walking well. What can I do? 

A: Though tested before shipping, your RobosapienV2 may suffer 

stresses during use that may affect his ability to walk properly. 

To insure best walking operation, please check the following... 

1 - We recommend using your robot only on smooth surfaces 

without cracks, grooves, or obstacles (i.e., wood, vinyl or 

laminate flooring). Uneven or rough surfaces such as ceramic 

tile or carpet will cause him trouble. Though he can walk on 

carpet, (even shag in “high step” walking mode), he may have 

trouble navigating on it. 

2 - Make sure that the batteries in his feet are all the same type. 

Different batteries have different weights which can cause 

imbalance, and he’ll walk in circles or fall. 

3 - Use only Alkaline batteries, which are the correct weight and 

output the correct amount of power for proper Robosapien V2 

operation. Carbon batteries are too light in weight and low in 

power. 

4 - Make sure that your robot’s feet and footpads are free of 

dirt or sticky substances. Also make sure his waist mechanism is 

not being restricted or tied down in any way. 

5 - Avoid dropping or knocking your robot over. This will stress 

his mechanism and can possibly change his performance. 

6 - Do not force your robot’s legs in any direction or bend any 

motor past its limit. 

06

Walking Cont’d 

Basic Operation 

If your robot is still not walking correctly, here are some simple 

solutions. 

SOLUTION FOR NOT WALKING STRAIGHT: 

If a footpad becomes deeply scratched or worn, it will bind on 

floors or carpet and interfere with proper walking. 

SOLUTION: If the robot tends to walk to the LEFT, put regular 

shiny scotch tape over the BACK INSIDE HEEL FOOTPAD of the 

RIGHT FOOT. 

SOLUTION: If the robot tends to walk to the RIGHT, put scotch tape 

over the BACK INSIDE HEEL FOOTPAD of the LEFT FOOT. 

(You can also reduce the friction of the footpad by covering it with 

a thin, smooth layer of superglue – but you must be extremely 

careful to avoid getting glue anywhere else on the robot.) 

SOLUTION FOR FALLING ON CARPET: 

If your robot falls down on carpet when walking (especially when 

his batteries are fresh), there are several simple tricks to correct 

his balance. 

1 - Put slippery packing tape (the type found in double-sided tape) 

across the FRONT INSIDE FOOTPADS. Making these footpads 

more slippery will reduce falling and speed turning (covering 

this footpad with a thin, smooth layer of superglue also works). 

2 - Using a cross-head screwdriver, unscrew your robot’s footpads 

and change the inside ones for the outside ones. This will make 

him more stable on carpet surfaces. 

Be sure the HIGH footpads are now on the OUTSIDE, while the 

SHORT footpads are now on the INSIDE. (refer to illustration on 

page 8.) 

07

walking Cont’d 

Walking 

Inside Large Footpads 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside Small 

Footpads 

Before Switching the Footpads 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Switching the Footpads 

08

Vision 

Q: My robot keeps staring at strange objects around the room. 

What is he looking at? 

A: He “sees” using Infra Red (I/R) light, a light too “red” for 

humans to see. However, many appliances, computer screens, 

TVs, and dimmed lighting emit I/R light which your robot can be 

attracted to, so he’ll just naturally turn to have a look. 

If your robot seems to be “distracted” by objects in the 

surrounding environment and isn’t performing the commands you 

request, try moving him to another area, or pressing the “b” 

button on his controller to disable his vision abilities. 

Q: My robot only sees me intermittently. What’s wrong? 

A: If your robot hears something loud, his vision turns off 

until he figures out where the sound is coming from (about three 

seconds unless he hears another sound). His eyes will turn off 

and then blink at one second intervals during this mode to let 

you know he’s in listen mode. 

If you’re testing your RobosapienV2’s vision in a noisy place, be 

sure to press the “a” button to disable his hearing. He’ll now 

pay much better attention to you. 

Q: Sometimes he doesn’t recognize things placed in front of him. 

What’s wrong? 

A: One of the robot’s secrets is that he “sees” with his ears, not 

with his eyes. Therefore, when you show him something, it has to 

be big enough to be “seen” by the eye “cone” of both ears; 

otherwise he’ll just say “what is that?” and regard it as a 

regular object. (Refer to Illustration on page 10.) 

09

Vision Cont’d 

Cover these 

sensors to make 

him flinch. 

When you show your RobosapienV2 something, be sure the object 

(or your hand holding the object) is big enough to cover the width 

of his face so he “flinches”. He also needs a second or two 

(depending on how bright the room is) to recognize the object. 

Q. My robot has trouble identifying his green ball. 

A. When showing him different colors to identify, make sure you 

“flinch” him between each color. You can do this by waving the 

object in front of his face. If he doesn’t flinch immediately, 

press the stop button and try again. If he still has trouble 

recognizing the object’s color, try showing him a larger object 

of the same color. For example, if you want him to identify his 

red bowling pin, try showing him 2 pins next to each other which 

will increase the surface area for him to “see”. 

10

Vision Cont’d 

Q: My Robot thinks I am blue. What do I do? 

A: If your robot thinks you are “blue” for some reason, then the 

problem is the white balance setting in his color camera eye. His 

default mode is “indoor yellow light” like the warm light you 

commonly get from indoor light bulbs. 

As with a camera, you may have to adjust what he sees for “indoor”, 

“outdoor”, or “sun-on-beach”. 

If you’re outside under SUNLIGHT, 

press SHIFT1-SHIFT2-SHIFT3-”x” 

If you’re inside under FLUORECENT LIGHTS, 

press SHIFT1-SHIFT2-SHIFT3-”z” 

In different light settings, his perception of colors may change. For 

example, under indoor white fluorescent lights (when in “indoor 

yellow light” mode), human hands appear blue, yellow tennis balls 

appear green, and oranges appear red. 

Please check your RobosapienV2 instruction manual, page 25, for 

further color camera information. 

11

Sound 

Personality Bodycons 

Q: How can I reduce the volume on my robot? 

A: A bit of tape over the speaker grill at the back of his neck will 

greatly reduce his volume (though he will sound like he’s talking 

through a telephone). Or stick a 1.5” x 2” “Post-It” over the 

speaker grill, which will reduce the volume without muffling the 

speech too much. 

Hands and Pick Ups 

Q: What is the difference between each pick up and drop 

function? 

A: Your robot is capable of over 20 different pickups with his full 

sized hands. These pickups can be combined together for a 

variety of programmed actions. 

For example the following program allows the robot to ask for 

something and then return it to the person who gave it to him. 

All buttons in each step must be pressed simultaneously. 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT2 + “a” 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT2 + STOP 

SHIFT2 + “x” 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT3 + “a” 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT3 + “x” 


- Enter sound program mode 

- Clear memory 

- Gimme with left hand 

- Laugh 

- left hand place 

- Exit program mode 

Press STOP 

Program continues on next page... 

12

Hands and Pick Ups Cont’d 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT2 + “b” 

- Enter Vision Program Mode 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT2 + STOP - Clear memory 

SHIFT1 + “x” 

- Gimme with left hand 


- Danger 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT3 + “c” 

- right hand place 


- Exit program mode 

Press STOP 

SHIFT1 + SHIFT2 + “y” 

- Enter Guard Mode. 

RobosapienV2 will now ask for something when he hears or sees 

things, and then pass it back to the owner. For some reason, this is 

very popular with children. 

Q: What are the best objects for my robot to pick up? 

A: Empty soda and beer cans. By placing an empty soda or beer can 

one can-width in front of his toe, he can pick it up high (SHIFT1- 

”c”), or low (SHIFT1-”b”), or have you give it to him (SHIFT1-”x”). 

Other things he’s good at picking up are empty milk cartons and 

water bottles, crumpled paper and paper towels, medicine bottles 

and 4 inch toy figurines. 

13

hands and Pick Ups Cont’d 

Q: Can he pick up full cans? 

A: Only clean, empty cans are recommended otherwise it gets a 

bit messy when he waves them around. 

However he can pick up objects weighing up to 1/4 pound (120 

grams), about the weight of a small remote control or a partially 

filled, small bottle of water. Please be sure the can/bottle is 

securely closed to avoid spilling any liquids on your robot or his 

surroundings. 

Q: What about tall water bottles? 

A: He can pick them up only when laid down on their side, one 

bottle-width in front of his toe. 

Q: Why does he pick up so far in front of himself? 

A: So that he doesn’t kick the object out of his reach before 

trying to pick it up. 

FOR INFORMATION ON THIS AND OTHER WOWWEE PRODUCTS, 

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE, http://www.wowwee.com 

14

RoboSapien v2 TroubleShooting Guide - RobotsAndComputers.com

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