From Petoi comes Nybble, the robot cat, which can be assembled by yourself. The kit can be used together with Raspberry Pi as well as Arduino. The goal is to introduce the user to robotics. The whole thing was financed via crowdfunding money, which gave the team of tinkerers more than 300.000 € for the implementation delivered.
Nybble robot cat by Petoi @petoi.com
Pet of the future?
Nybble is not just a cat – she, like cats and robots in principle, exerts a fascination with humans. Thus arose on the basis of the idea a Robotics kit, which is especially interesting for beginners. Under the company name Petoi the developer had raised money for the robotic cat at the end of 2018 via the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. At that time there was already a working model.
The creation called Nybble consists of a lot of Wooden parts, a Arduino board and Sensors. When I get home, of course, the whole thing comes in pieces. The purchaser is allowed to take a hand in assembling the robotic cat himself. The result is an electronic beast that weighs in at a tidy 350 grams. The dimensions are 25 × 14 × 10.7 cm (LxHxW).
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Voice control and expansion possible
The locomotion of the cat is ensured with the help of the NyBoard V0 specially developed by Petoi. This is based on the Arduiono Uno and the ATmega328P chip. The system relies on open source called "OpenCat". All parts are laser cut. This ensures that there are no problems with movement. However, in order to control the movements, the cat’s code has to be worked on. With it, however, it is possible to "teach" the robot cat complex patterns.
Nybble kit – packaging @indiegogo.com
Behind the idea of Nybble is Rongzhong Li. To breathe more intelligence into his creation, the system can be expanded with a Raspberry Pi board. Thus, the robot cat can be helped with wayfinding as well as perception. A rudimentary voice control is so also conceivable. By the way, the board itself can also be obtained without a kit. Anyone who calls about a laser computer his own, can build around this, his own Robo-Tiger.
Nybble robot from Petoi @petoi.com
Conclusion on the Nybble robot cat
With the idea to build a robo-cat, Petoi hits the nerve of many interested people. The board itself, without kit, currently costs about 46 € and can be ordered directly from the manufacturer. For the complete kit of Nybble, the buyer must put 208 € on the table. Worldwide delivery has started again in February 2020.