Biped bots for under $300

RoboCup success story Vstone has released a low-cost fun robot kit called Robovie-i that can do sumo, ball kicks and programmable moves. The venture company, a key member of RoboCup champion Team Osaka, has incorporated a novel design into Robovie-i: it can walk because its head, essentially an aluminum faceplate, swings from side to side.

Robovie-i was developed with the government-backed Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International. With only three motors, it may look like a walking alarm clock, but it's designed to be more fun than sophisticated. Robovie-i is priced at about $260 and sells for a third the cost of Vstone kits that come with twenty motors.