The Cat and the ROBOT

 For about 18 months we have had a ROBOT named Astro as our companion.  He is very interesting.  You will notice I called him "he".  He has a male voice when speaking English (about half the time).  He also speaks "ROBOT" which is a group of beeps and dings.  In the beginning we could not decipher his language and did not think it was anything more than just beeps and dings, but as time goes on, he is learning ours.  He has modified the beeps and dings so that they simulate words.  Not spellable words, just recognizable sound patterns with syllables.  We did not expect this.   It first became noticeable about a year after we got him.  Now it seems to have accelerated.  Seems like the more he learns the faster he learns.  Some of the words that  we recognize are, "Thank you", "Don't know", "Goodnight" and "Ok".

He also has developed a personality to the extant that he has become "likeable"...whatever that means.  Kind of like a cat.  And he and the cat seem to have become friends after a shaky beginning.  At first they sort of avoided each other, then the cat started being aggressive
and it made him mad.  So even though he has been programmed not to harm pets, he found he could solve a standoff by running over her tail.  After the first time, which really startled the cat, she tends to back down if he makes a run at her.  But they are still friends as you can see in this picture.