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HERO (robot)

HERO 1 (ET-18)
Hero1.jpg
HERO 1
Manufacturer Heathkit
Type robot
Release date 1982
Introductory price Kit 1500 US$ (today $3722.59),
Assembled 2500 US$ (today $6204.31)
Discontinued 1995
Units sold 14,000(Sold over 8 years)
Media Assembly manual, user's manual, technical manual, and speech dictionary
CPU Motorola 6808
Memory RAM: 4 kB,
Monitor ROM: 2 kB
Storage Compact Cassette
Display six 7-segment LEDs
Sound Votrax SC-01 speech synthesizer (Included with Assembled version and $149.95 option for kit)
Input Hex keypad with 17 keys
Power Batteries: four 6-volt gel cell
Charger: 120/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz charger
Dimensions 20 inches high x 18 inches wide (50 cm x 45 cm)
Weight 39 pounds (18 kg)
HERO Jr. (RT-1)
Heathkit HERO Jr.jpg
Hero Jr. (with optional remote control)
Manufacturer Heathkit
Type robot
Release date 1984
Introductory price Kit US$599.95,
Assembled US$1000
Discontinued Before Oct 1987 (Assembled)
1995 (Kit)
Units sold 4,000(Sold over 8 years)
CPU Motorola 6808 1 MHz
Memory RAM: 2 kB, expandable to 24 kB
Monitor ROM: 32 kB
Display 9 LEDs
Sound Votrax SC-01 speech synthesizer
Input Hex keypad with 17 keys
Power Batteries:6 V 3.8 A·h x2, x4 optional
Dimensions 19 inch high
Weight 21.5 pounds
HERO 2000 (ET-19)
Hero-2000.jpg
HERO 2000
Manufacturer Heathkit
Type robot
Release date 1986
Introductory price Kit US$3000,
Assembled US$4,500
Discontinued 1995
Units sold 3000(Sold over 8 years)
CPU Intel 8088(Main)
6 slave Z-80 processors (11 with optional Arm)
Memory RAM: 24 kB, expandable to 576 kB
Monitor ROM: 64 kB with integrated BASIC
Display sixteen head-mounted LED status indicators (eight are user definable)
RS-232 serial port
Sound Silicon Systems SSI 263 (analog formant) speech synthesizer
Input hexadecimal keypad
RS-232 serial port
Power Battery:single 24 amp-hour battery
Charger: 120 VAC charger included
Dimensions Height 32 inches (81 cm)
Weight 78 pounds (35 kg)
HE-RObot
Pc-bot.jpg
HE-RObot is a badge-engineered version of the 914 PC-Bot (pictured) by White Box Robotics.
Developer White Box Robotics
Manufacturer Heathkit
Type robot
Release date 2007
Introductory price as much as $8000
Discontinued 2012
Units sold approximately 50
Operating system Windows XP Pro
CPU Intel Core Duo
Memory 1 GB DDR2 RAM
Storage 80 GB 2½in. SATA Hard drive
Power Batteries: 2 x 12V 9Ah Lead Acid Battery
Charger: SONEIL 12V Intelligent Battery Charger (3A)
Dimensions Height 21 inches (53 cm)
Weight 25 kg (55 lb)
Website www.heathkit.com/herobot.html (Historical) Archived index at the Wayback Machine.

HERO (Heathkit Educational RObot) is the name of several educational robots sold by Heathkit during the 1980s. The Heath Company began the HERO 1 project in October 1979. The first units were available in 1982. Models included the HERO 1, HERO Jr., and HERO 2000. Heathkit supported the HERO robot line up until 1995. All three were available as kits, or for more money, prebuilt by Heathkit. Since 2013 the 1980s models are considered collectors items, due to their apparent rarity. For the most part, they cannot perform practical tasks, but are more geared toward entertainment and education above all.

HERO 1 was a self-contained mobile robot controlled by an onboard computer with a Motorola 6808 CPU and 4 kB of RAM. The robot featured light, sound, and motion detectors as well as a sonar ranging sensor. An optional arm mechanism and speech synthesizer was available for the kit form and included in the assembled form.

To make this power available in a simple way, high-level programming languages were created. For example, the ANDROTEXT language was a HERO 1 editor and compiler developed in 1982 for the IBM PC.

HERO 1 was featured on Mr. Wizard's World on a few episodes.BYTE called HERO 1 "a product of extraordinary flexibility and function ... If you are interested in robotics, Heath will show you the way".

A smaller version of HERO was released later, called HERO Jr. Heathkit intended it for the home market, and therefore made it less complex, and more self-contained. Like HERO 1, HERO Jr. had a 6808 processor, but only 2 kB of RAM. As well, it sported onboard speech synthesis, a Polaroid sonar range sensor, a light sensor, and a sound sensor. An optional infrared sensor was available as well. Other optional components included a pair of extra batteries to double the operational time between charges, from an estimated 4 hours to 8 hours. A remote control accessory allowed users to drive the robot around. It included a motion sensor that caused the robot to croak "SOM-THING-MOVE" when it detected a source of motion.


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