WowWee’s robotic toy – RS Wrex the Dawg

WowWee was founded in 1988 as an independent research, development and manufacturing company, focused on cutting-edge technologies. Although they produced many different robotic toys since 2004, we are going to focus on one of their most humoristic creations – RS Wrex the Dawg. RS Wrex the Dawg is a mid-priced toy robot which can bring bundles of fun to you or your children.

RS Wrex the Dawg is a mischievous robotic pal and a real junkyard dog. It has been designed to look like it has been built from discarded mechanical and electrical parts and behaves as a cartoon character. By changing its modes it can act as a cat or act broken (which he does on purpose from time to time).

Wrex has wheels instead its back legs and sliding pads on the bottom of its front paws. The wheels are helping it to move on rougher surfaces, thus making it more maneuverable. The eyes are used to reflect its current mood and desire. The left eye spins vertically and shows its current mood while the right eye spins horizontally and shows its current desire. The ears wiggle about depending on what he is doing and when he talks his jaw is synchronized to what he is saying. His front legs rotate at the shoulder and elbow while his back legs rotate at the hip. When you squeeze his tail it makes a squeaky noise like a child’s squeeze toy and it rotates around depending on his what he is doing. Wrex’s nose acts like a stop button when he is moving and a random behavior selection button when he is not.

He is equipped with infrared sensors which allow detection of obstacles in front of him. If you turn him on in using the power switch’s edge detection setting, he can also detect ledges thus save you from buying a new one if he falls down the stairs or from a table. He has sensors near his back legs that will make him stop moving if he detects an object back there. He will stop moving when this happens and say “Don’t get your hand stuck”.

While Wrex The Dawg is completely lacking in social graces, he redeems for it with his humorous personality. He has three moods (Happy, Angry, and Crazy) and four special operation modes (Guard, Free Roam, Demonstration and Program). Guard and Free Roam are selected using the Mood Dial at the top of the remote while Program mode is entered by pressing the P button (Program) on the left just beneath the Mood Dial. There are 18 official tricks in total. Wrex will also ask to be fed at times which you do using the setting labeled with the bone icon on the Trick Dial. When left idle he will randomly do one of his tricks, sometimes change his mood spontaneously, swear at cats, and perform a host of other funny and rude animations to make you laugh.

Wrex also has several behavior modes that can only be accessed from the Control Panel. There are six different modes in all. One of the modes is the “Cat mode” where some of Wrex’s animations and sounds are replaced with those of a cat. Each mode is not a complete sound and animation replacement for the vast array of Wrex’s tricks and behaviors, but there’s plenty of fun in each and they really add even more fun to the Wrex’s behavior and personality.

Occasionally when left idle, Wrex The Dawg will also suggest a Control Panel code for you to try. You will hear him say “Here’s a code you can try” and then he will play a four distinctive sound in series. These sounds correlate to the four numbers on his Control Panel. When you press one of the four number buttons, you discover that each has a very distinctive sound of its own. Each code represents one of the animations or modes listed in the manual or if you’re lucky, one of the hidden unlisted animations.

Even if he doesn’t impress you with the technology and abilities, he will surely be able to entertain you.