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MiP Robotic Platform - White/Black
The MiP Robotic Platform is the first self-balancing robot that you get to control and play games with. The MiP can drive, dance, plays games, battle with other MiPs, respond to simple hand motions and can be remotely controlled by a compatible iOS or Android device. Thanks to a suite of motion and sound sensors and WowWee's own GESTURESENSE™ technology, MiP will respond to the simple swipe of a hand: just swipe in any direction, and MiP will follow. You can even program up to 50 hand swipes in a row, clap twice, and MiP will play it back!
Each MiP has 7 pre-programmed "modes" that can be selected by spinning one of it's wheels each with its own corresponding color that lights up on MiP's chest. These modes include: MiP Default (Blue), Stack (Pink), Cage (White), Tricks (Red), Roam (Yellow), Dance (Turquoise), and Tracking (Orange). Additionally, the MiP is equipped with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) connectivity and can interact wirelessly with most new iOS and Android mobile devices (check in the Documents section below for a complete list of compatible devices). While using the MiP App, you can access an even wider range of behaviors, moods, games, or even have your new robotic best friend dance to songs on your device!
Note: The MiP Robotic Platform requires 4x AAA batteries (not included) and is intended for ages 8 and up.
- 1x MiP Robotic Platform (White & Black)
- 1x Tray
- 1x Display Stand
- 1x Tray Sticker Sheet
- 1x User Manual
- Device Compatibility
- MiP App
- Product Page
MiP Robotic Platform - White/Black Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Robotics
This skill concerns mechanical and robotics knowledge. You may need to know how mechanical parts interact, how motors work, or how to use motor drivers and controllers.
Skill Level: Noob - You will be required to put together a robotics kit. Necessary parts are included and steps will be easy to follow. You also might encounter basic robotics components like bearings, mounts, or other hardware and need a general idea of how it goes together.
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Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Noob - You don't need to reference a datasheet, but you will need to know basic power requirements.
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Customer Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Based on 4 ratings:
3 of 3 found this helpful:
A little disappointing
When I read "Robotic Platform", I was thinking it would be robotic hardware that would come with an API or something allowing it to be used as a platform for development.
Nothing could be further from the truth in this case. It's robotic hardware that can be controlled from a phone/tablet app. to the level of a somewhat sophisticated RC toy. There's no API and no ability to really program the robot outside of the limited capabilities of the APP. The closest it comes to "programming" is the ability to draw a pre-planned path on your phone screen (without any sort of scale or size reference) and then have the robot follow said path.
It's a cute and cool RC toy and decent value for the money, but not what I expected from something called a "Robotic Platform" on the SparkFun site.
Hi, So sorry that this wasn't clearer. You might be interested in the "Hacking the MIP" tutorial found here. It goes into more detail on how to modify your MIP. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/hacking-the-mip---proto-pack?_ga=1.147903671.1851504437.1417041706
working link You might also be interest in the SparkFun ProMini-Pack
9-year-old nephew loves it
Got it as a slightly late Xmas gift for my nephew and he simply loves it.
The robot itself works well but they've done a good job of giving the user plenty of things to do with it. You're not just moving it back and forth. The iPad/iPhone controller works well and has a number of different operations (that can be chained together creatively). The fighting modes (laser and boxing) are ok, not great but the variety of stuff to do still made this a big hit.
The robot moved well on various surfaces including light carpet. Nephew wants a second MiP so he can use them both in multi-play mode.
Excellent robot
I have this bot and have been hacking around with it a bit over the last month. I just thought I would list a few links that I found helpful:
Official WowWee MiP Protocol Documentation - BLE & UART
MiP Teardown on macetech.com
iOS SDK for MiP
Android SDK for MiP
Who has this bot? What do you think. I just built a self balancing one from a kit and have it 90% stable but it needs a lot of work.
Lets here your comments about the MiP.
Eric
I have this bot. It is quite a bit of fun to hack around with. I have successfully connected my MacBook to it over Bluetooth Low Energy using WowWee's protocol documentation and written C code to control it. It is also possible to connect a microcontroller directly to the UART on the bot as shown in the Sparkfun tutorials and control it that way too.
I think that this YouTube review video is pretty good at showing the stability and fun experienced with this bot as kids play around with two of them in the laser tag like battle mode.
This is actually quite a popular retail product, available at Target and (cheaper) at Amazon. The latter might have a better return policy than SF. There are a few videos on youtube about this, and it seems stable. My son wanted it for Christmas, but I think it'll go the way of Zoomer (which I gave my daughter last year). I don't think it's worth $100, nor is it made to be tinker-friendly. It appears quite limited, and I can't see it holding a child's interest for more than a few hours. As a plus, though, the Android app doesn't ask for excessive permissions.
I think the MiP is proven quite tinker-friendly in this sparkfun post