Petoi Robot Cat – Nybble

A few issues back, I reviewed Petoi’s robot dog, Bittle and was mightily impressed. Well, here’s the version for all you cat lovers out there and I am impressed once again! Now, first things first, although of a similar size the main construction material used here is wood and not plastic. This gives the whole kit a more ‘natural’ feel to it, and makes it feel more like a project than a toy. Especially as none of the wiring is really hidden in the torso, it’s there for everyone to see and, personally, I like that. There are also no screws involved – the whole thing snaps together with the precision cut pieces snugly nestling against each other just like a decent 3d puzzle. Just be sure to follow the instructions to the letter when building – the order of construction is very important! It will take about 3-4 hours to construct from scratch and then we get to the coding!

As with so many programmable robots there is a dedicated mobile app that allows you to control your Nybble filled with basic commands and an easy to use interface. There is also a desktop version where you can really start to drill in to the coding side of things. Not only do you get firmware updates and the ability to program new behaviours for your Nybble, the desktop app is compatible with OpenCat, an Open Source Project where people share all the things they have achieved with their robotics and bounce ideas around. I imagine they probably have a decent sized library of cat videos to rival Youtube by now…

All that aside, Nybble is cute! I’d love to see what a real cat would make of it as many of the motions are surprisingly accurate. Time to go find out! RRP $299

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