Tomy Omnibot 2000
Rating: 5/10, Slightly more helpful than a toddler. Most of the robots Tomy churned out in the ‘80s looked like toys and acted like toys, but its Omnibot 2000 felt like it was straight out of science fiction. Standing several feet tall, it featured two articulated arms with grippers on each one, plus a decorative head with a big pair of glowing eyes (the robot had no vision capabilities). It also wasn’t programmable in the traditional sense, but it still offered autonomous capabilities. Users could manually control the robot and then record those movements onto cassette tapes that could be played back later, replicating the moves. With enough patience, the robot could even be ‘taught’ to pour drinks or pick things up, but it was from being a robot servant.
