In an aspect, a toy assembly is provided and includes a housing and an inner object inside the housing. The inner object includes a breakout mechanism that includes a hammer and an actuation lever. The hammer is movable between a retracted position in which the hammer is spaced from the housing and an advanced position in which the hammer is positioned to break the housing. The actuation lever is pivotable from a hammer retraction position towards a hammer driving position so as to drive the hammer towards the advanced position.

In an aspect, a toy assembly is provided and includes a housing and an inner object inside the housing. The inner object includes a breakout mechanism that includes a hammer and an actuation lever. The hammer is movable between a retracted position in which the hammer is spaced from the housing and an advanced position in which the hammer is positioned to break the housing. The actuation lever is pivotable from a hammer retraction position towards a hammer driving position so as to drive the hammer towards the advanced position.

A robot 150 is placed on a touch panel. When touch sensor action sections 156a to 156c provided on a bottom face 150b of the robot act on a touch pad, an information processing device shows a face image in a rectangular area 16 of a display screen 14 of the touch panel. The rectangular area 16 corresponds to the bottom face of the robot. The face image is grabbed from the bottom face 150b of the robot 150 and appears in a face section 152. Further, the brightness of pixels in areas 18a and 18b of the display screen 14 is changed. The areas 18a and 18b correspond to optical sensors 160a and 160b provided on the bottom face 150b of the robot. The robot 150 detects the change in question, converting the change into a motion of an internal actuator, sound output, light emission, and so on in accordance with predetermined rules.

A robot 150 is placed on a touch panel. When touch sensor action sections 156a to 156c provided on a bottom face 150b of the robot act on a touch pad, an information processing device shows a face image in a rectangular area 16 of a display screen 14 of the touch panel. The rectangular area 16 corresponds to the bottom face of the robot. The face image is grabbed from the bottom face 150b of the robot 150 and appears in a face section 152. Further, the brightness of pixels in areas 18a and 18b of the display screen 14 is changed. The areas 18a and 18b correspond to optical sensors 160a and 160b provided on the bottom face 150b of the robot. The robot 150 detects the change in question, converting the change into a motion of an internal actuator, sound output, light emission, and so on in accordance with predetermined rules.

In an aspect, a toy assembly is provided, and includes a housing, an inner object (which may, in some embodiments, represent a character) inside the housing, a tether, and a motor. The tether is driven by the motor to pull at least one removable housing portion from the housing.

In an aspect, a toy assembly is provided, and includes a housing, an inner object (which may, in some embodiments, represent a character) inside the housing, a tether, and a motor. The tether is driven by the motor to pull at least one removable housing portion from the housing.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A robot includes an operation control unit that selects a motion of the robot, a drive mechanism that executes a motion selected by the operation control unit, and a remaining battery charge monitoring unit that monitors a remaining charge of a rechargeable battery. Behavioral characteristics of the robot change in accordance with the remaining battery charge. For example, a motion with a small processing load is selected at a probability that is higher the smaller the remaining battery charge. Referring to consumption plan data that define a power consumption pace of the rechargeable battery, the behavioral characteristics of the robot may be caused to change in accordance with a difference between the remaining battery charge scheduled in the consumption plan data and the actual remaining battery charge.

A robot includes an operation control unit that selects a motion of the robot, a drive mechanism that executes a motion selected by the operation control unit, and a remaining battery charge monitoring unit that monitors a remaining charge of a rechargeable battery. Behavioral characteristics of the robot change in accordance with the remaining battery charge. For example, a motion with a small processing load is selected at a probability that is higher the smaller the remaining battery charge. Referring to consumption plan data that define a power consumption pace of the rechargeable battery, the behavioral characteristics of the robot may be caused to change in accordance with a difference between the remaining battery charge scheduled in the consumption plan data and the actual remaining battery charge.