Prize acquisition arcade game with robot
An arcade game includes a robot that can be controlled by a player to capture one or more items. The robot may include a stationary base, a lower member rotatably connected to the base to rotate about a first generally vertical axis, a torso member rotatably mounted to the lower member that rotates about a second axis that is generally horizontal; an arm member rotatably mounted to the torso member to rotate about a third axis that is generally parallel to the second axis. A hand portion may include hand-like pincers for grasping and releasing items and may include a sensor to sense contact with an item. A head portion may include a video screen that displays facial features. The head portion may include an image capturing device, such as a video camera.
1 . An arcade game comprising:
a cabinet containing items to be captured;
a robot comprising:
a stationary base;
a foot portion mounted to rotate about a vertical axis on the base;
a lower body portion mounted to the foot portion to rotate about a first horizontal axis between the lower body portion and the foot portion;
an upper body portion having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion of the upper body portion mounted to the lower body portion to rotate about a second horizontal axis between the lower body portion and the upper body portion;
a video display adapted to display facial features attached to the upper body portion; and
a capturing mechanism mounted at the distal portion of the upper body portion, the capturing mechanism adapted to capture and release at least one of the items to be captured; and
a control mechanism that permits a user to at least partially control a position of the capturing mechanism above the items to be captured by controlling an angle of rotation of the foot portion about the vertical axis relative to the stationary base and by controlling a distance of the capturing mechanism away from the vertical axis.
2 . The arcade game of claim 1 , wherein the distance of the capturing mechanism away from the vertical axis is controlled by rotation of the lower body portion about the first horizontal axis and rotation of the upper body portion about the second horizontal axis.
3 . The arcade game of claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism is mounted to an exterior of the cabinet.
4 . The arcade game of claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism is a portable user device programmed with an app that communicates with the robot via a wireless protocol.
5 . The arcade game of claim 1 , wherein the capturing mechanism comprises pincers that are selectively moved towards each other to capture an item and selectively moved away from each other to release the captured item.
6 . The arcade game of claim 5 , wherein each pincer comprises a removable pad.
7 . The arcade game of claim 1 , further comprising a swivel axis between the distal and proximal portions of the upper body portion that permits the distal portion to swivel relative to the proximal portion.
8 . The arcade game of claim 7 , wherein the video display is attached to the distal portion of the upper body portion.
9 . The arcade game of claim 8 , further comprising an optical sensor for sensing the presence of a potential player.
10 . The arcade game of claim 9 , wherein the robot is adapted to move the video display to face the potential player after sensing the presence of the potential player.
11 . The arcade game of claim 8 , wherein the video display includes a speaker and is programmed to play a message that simulates the robot talking to the potential player.