My story of Robik

Do you remember your first computer?

25 years ago, my father brought something exciting to our apartments. It had a name — Robik. The computer instantly captured my mind.

Now I know that Robik was an unofficial USSR clone of worldwide famous ZX Spectrum. I have been surprised to learn how many similar clones were begotten. The list even includes awesomely named USSR-computer Hobbit :)

But let’s get back to Robik. To use it, I had to plug the computer into:

• TV
• Audio player

Robik had no storage media for programs and games. So it was necessary to put a compact cassette into the audio player, push Play button, and then sit and wait for 3–5 minutes while it was loading.

Sit and wait. Sit and pray. It wasn’t easy because it depended on the quality of both a compact cassette and an audioplayer. Therefore the loading process could easily get failed at times. So I had to restart it and began to wait again keeping fingers crossed.

Games and programming

Of course, since I was a kid, Robik amazed with games. I was craving for them. Don’t remember most of my games at the moment but my favorite one was Lode Runner.

I had been playing for a little white guy able to dig/create holes in a brick surface/floor. The goal was to run away from other guys chasing me using the ability, climbing ladders and move hanging on bars. So simple, so addictive!

Predictably, experience with Robik turned into nearly 90% of the gaming. The remainder of time was spent on tuning the system and what’s more the first shy attempts to understand programming.

I saw a code for the first time in my life. Basic programming language was embedded inside Robik. Something like this below:

This how my life inevitably changed. Robik instilled love in computers and tech stuff; it actually became my first love :-)

Last but not least, there is one more wonderful thing about Robik. Ironically, they were producing it in my native city — Cherkasy having the population of 300K people. Just imagine! I was living in the same city were production lines of Robik were feeding the tech market of the whole USSR!

Robik tech specs

In the end, I have a portion of information for computer geeks like me. Robik had the following hardware inside:

• ZX Spectrum’s CPU with 3.5 MHz frequency
• RAM: 48KB
• ROM: 16KB
• Screen resolution: 256x192

Its PCB looked quite simple.

To wrap it up, I’d like also to share Robik Manual. It’s authentic and funny at the same time: in Russian and with syntax mistakes. The very first page claims full compatibility with ZX Spectrum games and programs :)

Sincerely,
Vitaliy Mokosiy