Husky Reviews the Pumpkii Pet Robot!

Hey everyone! As some of you know, I have a new family member, meet Momo, she’s a 1-year-old rescue husky that was abandoned twice, before Shenzhen local and fellow YouTuber Daniel Dumbrill stepped in, and brought her to come live with me. The link to that video with her back story is in the description box. Now, of course, Shenzhen is really hot and does not have much of a winter, so it’s not the most suitable place for a snow dog it would be pretty irresponsible to get a husky deliberately if you lived here. But with a bit of effort, lots of air conditioning, lots of love and lots of walks, I think I can make a good home for her. Because Momo had been abandoned twice, when she came to me she would get very anxious if I was out of her sight for more than a minute or two.

01:04 - The first few days she was next to me the whole time, now it’s been two weeks, and we’re gradually working our way up. Now she can be on her own for about an hour with no problem. The other thing is Momo was very, very shy. You know a little too well behaved? Like she’s scared of doing something wrong and getting abandoned again. Everyone wants a good dog, but Momo was just too scared to even act like a dog and get up to any normal dog mischief. But she’s a lot more comfortable now and willing to be a little naughty- although she’s never destructive. She does have a lot of energy though and there are a lot of dangerous and expensive things in my studio so you’ll often see her tethered in my videos, but don’t worry that’s just for her protection and just in this room. There’s a big area upstairs and outside for her to run around and play off-leash. But in a workshop- not a great idea to have a husky running around. Anyway, now that Momo is settled and feeling secure here, I’m going to let her try to do a video with me today and review a smart pet product.

02:23 - But I told the company if the product upsets or scares her- there will be no review and no video. I won’t be pushing Momo to do anything she’s unhappy with. But Huskies like mental stimulation so I think she’ll do ok, and if not- that’s ok too. She can have a snack and take a nap by the AC instead. Today Momo and I are going to take a look at Pumpkii, it’s a robot for your pets. There are a few of these on the market and no real leader in terms of best design. They’re intended for people who can’t be home with their pets as much as they’d like, but still want to make sure their pets are happy and entertained. Most of these devices, including the Pumpkii, also allow you to remotely play with with your pet from your office or wherever you are. Now there’s no unboxing today because this is a working prototype. The design is fairly straightforward, it has ultrasonic sensors, a camera, and this opens so you can put treats inside.

03:32 - It has four Mecanum wheels which enable movement in any direction, I’ll show you how that works, as soon as I sync the app. Okay, the app is called Rocki and it is connected to the Bluetooth. Hi there! Online, see it. You can turn on the video to see your pet. So yeah, I can see Momo and I can control this, there are two controls. Give you some treats, Momo here are some treats. See? There are some treats, get the treats. But what about the voice record? Hello, Momo! The voice record works so you can remotely talk to your pet if you are somewhere else. So I am going to go upstairs and try to do that. Okay, Momo, I am going… Here’s your leash. How are you, Momo? Yes, I am the robot. Come over here, Momo. Yes! Yes! Good girl! Good girl! Come over here, Momo! Hello! Good girl! Good girl! Good girl! Good girl! Good girl! Good girl! Momo I love you! What are you doing? I love you, Momo! Give me a kiss! Hello, Momo! Ok, a few things. First some design notes.

09:56 - Momo is about 20kg but as I said she’s not a destructive or aggressive dog. If she, or a dog her size really wanted to, I’m pretty sure they could destroy the Pumpkii, so it’s not appropriate for a dog that likes to destroy it’s toys, or yours, or is likely to see the Pumpkii as prey instead of a playmate. Other issues, Momo never ever poops in the house, if your pet has accidents- and that accident gets in those Mecanum wheels- you are never, ever getting all the poop out of there. Another issue is the robot has a camera and microphone and can wander around your house. No, I don’t think the company wants to spy on you, but even on high- end equipment this can be hard to secure properly once it leaves your home network.

10:48 - There is a considerable risk to your privacy here. Next, the campaign- a lot of people get angry when finished commercial products are crowdfunded, that happens because when ideas and prototypes are crowdfunded sometimes people don’t get what they backed. The folks behind the Pumpkii seem like good people, but this is a prototype not a finished product. If you back this, and something unforeseen happens- do not blame me. I am not vouching for their manufacturing capability in the way that I have for other companies where I am familiar with their factory and founders.

11:30 - It’s a great little prototype- but it is a prototype they are crowdfunding. Final verdict- it works and we had a lot of fun with it, it’s also fairly easy to go from something like this to a finished product in Shenzhen- although again I am not vouching for that. But, if you like smart toys for your pet this is a really fun one. Okay that’s it for today. Did Momo do a good job? Yes she did! If you’d like to see more videos with Momo let me know in the comments section. That’s it for today, and remember if I can do it, anyone can do it! .