Vector is a more contemporary robot from Anki, a company that specialises in consumer robotics. It’s a stylistically comparable spiritual heir to the incredibly successful Cozmo. Indeed, there appears to be little difference between the two at first glance.
Cozmo and Vector vary primarily in that Cozmo requires an app to engage, whereas Vector is virtually self-contained. Vector connects to WiFi and responds to voice commands almost instantly, giving him a more intelligent ‘feel’.
You’ll see that Vector is significantly more complex when you look at the hardware and other details. As shown by the fact that Vector contains 700 total components, over double Cozmo’s 370! We’ll go through some of the important similarities and differences between Anki’s two robots, Vector and Cozmo, in the sections below.
What Are The Similarities Between The Anki Cozmo And Anki Vector Robots?
When it comes to the outside design, everything is pretty much the same. The tracks, face, and lifting arm of Vector are identical to those of the other characters. External equipment is in a similar situation. The camera, as well as the screen display for emotions and other animations, is housed within both robots’ lips.
The difference in size between Cozmo and Vector is negligible. Because we’ve always thought Cozmo was a tad on the small side, we expected Anki to bump this up a level. The tilting heads, raising arms, and movement techniques of the two robots are similar. Both travel around on tracks that look like tank tracks.
The battery life of both robots is roughly the same. When the battery runs out, Vector, on the other hand, has self-charging technology and will immediately return to its dock!
Both of these devices can keep you company and perform a wide range of tricks and movements. Both of these robots have a similar appearance on the outside, and their exterior hardware is located in the same place.
There isn’t much of a difference in size or movement style or mechanics between the two. They both have similar battery life, albeit the Cozmo lacks the capacity to charge itself.
What Are The Differences Between The Anki Cozmo And Anki Vector Robots?
Although the two robots appear to be fairly similar on the surface, the hardware of the two robots differs significantly. We chose to separate this section into the benefits of each option.
Despite the fact that the panels are in the same place and are the same size, Cozmo’s screen can only display blue and has a lower resolution of 128 by 64 pixels. Vector, on the other hand, has a resolution of 184 by 96 pixels and can display in full colour.
One of Cozmo’s biggest drawbacks is that he has a companion App and device to handle data. Anki switched Vector’s processor from an Arm Cortex 4 to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200. Thanks to a performance bump from 100MHz to 1.2GHz, Vector now enables internal processing without the need for a partner device.
Vector can connect to a WiFi network on its own, which gives it substantially more power. Cozmo also has the disadvantage of not having a microphone to understand sound and speech.
Vector now has his own four-microphone beamforming array, allowing him to act as a voice assistant. You can ask Vector questions, set timers, and reminders much like an Alexa or Google Home.
In fact, immediately after Vector’s introduction, an upgrade made it possible to use Amazon Alexa as a voice assistant!
Vector’s back has a capacitive touch sensor that allows him to recognise tactile signals like being picked up or stroked. What other options do you have for Vector to respond to your questions? In his own voice, of course! This simply adds to the lifelikeness of the small robot. Vector’s camera not only has a greater resolution (720p) than Cozmo’s, but it also has a larger field of vision.
Even though they have a lot in common, the Anki Cozmo and Vector have a number of hardware variances. We believed it would be more useful to go over each of their perks separately to better appreciate their distinctions.
The Vector comes with only one gaming cube, whereas the Cozmo has three. We believe this was done to draw attention to the Vector’s voice assistant feature, which is aimed at a more mature audience. Because of the three cubes, the Cozmo is more suited to children who enjoy playing games.
On the outside, each of these robots look to be identical, yet their technology is significantly different on the inside. Because it was introduced after the Cozmo robot, the Vector robot boasts more up-to-date features and technology.
The Cozmo can’t connect to the internet, but the Vector can. This means that the Vector will be more up to current, with the capacity to search the internet for answers and be more useful. The Vector robot can also link to Amazon Alexa thanks to its wifi capabilities.
This is a feature that is optional to turn on, however it does provide additional benefits. It may be used to find out the current weather or the time. To stay on track, you can utilise timers and reminders.
Why Would I Buy The Cozmo Robot?
Vector, although being more expensive in practically every way, only comes with one game cube, compared to Cozmo’s three. We believe this is due to Anki’s focus on the robot assistant component of Vector, which is aimed at an older demographic, whereas Cozmo is intended at younger children and contains a range of games.
At the time of writing, the alpha SDK for Vector was the only version available. However, because this is alpha software, there is a good risk that it will have bugs. As a result, the Cozmo SDK is more mature, likely more reliable, and may be more suited to anyone who wants to learn how to program Anki robot toys in depth.
Vector has an RRP that is around 40% more than Cozmo’s. Despite the fact that you receive a lot more sophisticated technology, the lack of cubes may make the price rise unreasonable for certain users, especially kids who are more interested in playing games.
Cozmo’s technology is clearly inferior to Vector’s. Each robot, on the other hand, is targeted towards a certain population. Vector features inbuilt processing and can be voice-controlled without the need for an external app, whereas Cozmo requires the usage of an external software.
The Vector has a better camera, more sensors, a higher resolution display, and can even navigate back to its charging station, in addition to having significantly more computational power.
Cozmo, on the other hand, is less technologically advanced but has a larger community and has been on the market for longer. It was also designed with younger children in mind, with a more game-oriented approach to play.
Why Would I Buy The Vector Robot?
Vector, Anki’s robot companion, is meant to accompany and support you. Thanks to integrated artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, he has a personality and can be engaged by sight, voice, and touch. He can answer questions, take photos for you, time dinner, show you the weather, and more with his voice-activated features.
Vector is a voice-activated assistant that can, among other things, answer questions, take photos, time dinner, and show you the weather. Voice features are currently only accessible in English. Vector has the ability to self-charge and navigate. He has a knack for recognising people and avoiding stumbling barriers.
You can use Alexa on your Vector buddy to create reminders, operate smart home devices like lights, speakers, and thermostats, play ambient noises, and perform a lot of other things that ALEXA can do on other compatible devices like the Amazon Echo and Dot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Cozmo And Vector Interact?
Both Vector and Cozmo have cubes that they are pretty adept at dealing with, and although Vector may be quite ‘intelligent’ in how it interacts with its environment, Cozmo was not designed to interact with Vector.
Cozmo can stack, knock over, and manipulate his three cubes in a variety of ways. Vector, on the other hand, just has one cube with which to play, restricting his options. Vector, on the other hand, has a capacitive touch sensor on his back, allowing him to play in ways that Cozmo is unable to.
Can Cozmo Recognize Other Cozmo?
Cozmo has trouble recognising other Cozmo toys. This type of recognition was intended for Vector, but with the closure of Anki, we believe that it was never deployed.
Can You Program Your Cozmo And/Or Vector?
Yes! On a mobile device, Cozmo may be programmed using the associated Code Lab. A graphical programming interface is created using Scratch blocks. For more advanced users, a thorough Python SDK is available. The Vector may be programmed using a Python-based software development kit (SDK) alpha.
What Happened To Anki?
Anki revealed that the company will be closing down near the end of 2019. They have said that they would continue to support their current goods.
In order to keep Anki’s Vector and Cozmo robots alive, Digital Dream Labs bought all of the rights to them. This means that the goods will get more attention and that updates will be feasible. This made it easier to keep the products going, and more developments may be feasible in the future.
Hi, my name is Elena Jones, and my full-time job is a teacher. Through teaching, I have discovered that children learn in many different ways, and have seen the positive impact both STEM and Montessori toys have on children.
Through this site I hope to educate parents and adults about these toys, providing them with useful information on how they can be used, and provide some in depth reviews of different toys to consider too.
