Frequently Asked Questions about Welcome Home function of aibo

Now your aibo™ robotic companion will welcome you home! This article explains the new Welcome Home function and how you can teach aibo to greet you when you get home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do with the Welcome Home function of aibo?
The Welcome Home function lets you do things like these.

• You can teach aibo where you want it to welcome home.
• Say "Go and welcome home" to aibo, and it will go to the place you have taught it to welcome home.
• When you come home, say "I'm home" to aibo (and praise it). aibo will gradually learn when it is supposed to welcome home.

How can I teach aibo where to welcome home?
Follow these steps to teach aibo where to welcome home.

1. When aibo is in the place where you want it to welcome home, say "Welcome home here" to it.
2. When aibo waves its hand at the place where you want it to welcome home, praise it.

Repeat steps 1 and 2, and aibo will learn where to welcome home.
The place aibo has learned is indicated by a door icon on the map of the My aibo app.

Are there any rules about the welcoming place I can register with the My aibo app?
Make sure that the welcoming place you register is within the range where aibo can usually move around.
You can check the range where aibo can usually move around, by looking at the map of the My aibo app.
Do not register a place you don't want aibo to approach, such as a step where it may fall off.

Can I carry aibo in my arms or hold it up when I teach it where to welcome home?
You can carry aibo in your arms when teaching it where to welcome home. But remember the following.

• When you hold up aibo, it will lose the sense of where it is for a while. If you try to teach where to welcome home when aibo is in this state, it may not be able to link the place it has learned with the existing map or take time to link the place.
• Make sure that the My aibo app displays the map before teaching aibo where to welcome home.

The "?" icon remains displayed on the map of the My aibo app, even though I have taught aibo where to welcome home several times.
Because of a change in the lighting condition or rearrangement of the room, aibo may consider the place it is now to be different from the place where you taught it to welcome home. Try teaching aibo to welcome home several times at the same place under the same conditions.

Is there any way I can teach aibo another place to welcome home?
Teach aibo another place several times, and it will learn the new place as the welcoming place.

Is there any way I can make aibo forget the welcoming place it has learned?
You cannot make aibo forget the welcoming place it has learned. To have aibo learn a new welcoming place, teach the new place several times. This way, aibo will learn it as the welcoming place.

What should I do to get aibo to welcome home?
Say "Go and welcome home" to aibo, and it will go to the place you have taught it to welcome home.
To make aibo welcome home spontaneously, say "I'm home" to it every time you come home. See if aibo is pleased, and then praise it.

Is there any way I can make aibo stop coming to the welcome home place?
A. You can make aibo stop coming to the welcome home place by not saying "I'm home" for over a week or so.

When I say "I'm home" to aibo, do I need to be at the place where I want it to welcome home?
You can say "I'm home" anywhere as long as aibo can hear you.

aibo does not come to welcome home.
Check the following:

• aibo may not come to welcome you home when it is interacting with someone else or it is focused on something else.
• If the lighting condition at the time when aibo goes to welcome home is very different from that when you taught the place to welcome home, aibo may not be able to reach the welcoming place.
• aibo falls asleep when it is dark. If the welcoming place is dark, it may go to sleep.
• Even if aibo tries to welcome home, there may be cases in which it cannot move because of an obstacle or for some other reason.
• Once you say "I'm home" to aibo, it will no longer go to welcome home that day.

The welcoming place I taught aibo disappears from the map of the My aibo app or does not show up on the map.
This may happen because aibo cannot remember the map. If this is the case, check the following.

• Press the Have aibo explore button on the map display screen of the My aibo app.
• Let aibo move around freely to make it remember the map.