This friendly-looking guy is MiP, an autonomous robot that balances itself on its two wheels using a built-in gyro. Like earlier technologies like the Sphero, MiP is able to use its sensors to react to the presence of puny humans.
He’ll react with digital love if you treat him nicely, but he’ll become angry if you shove him about. So treat your robot with the same respect you’d show a living thing!
MiP can also be controlled using gestures, like the Apple TV or the Nintendo Wii. The robot comes with a free app that lets you drive it around, play games and more.
You can do quite a lot actually: get him to follow you around (or your dog, or another MiP); have a dance party; let him roam and explore your house, dodging obstacles; teach him tricks and then watch as he displays his moves; put him in a cage and try to prevent his egress; or even stack as many objects as you can on his tray and see how he manages to carry them all. Switching modes is as easy as rotating his wheels and seeing what colour he lights up, so you can keep things lively for a long time. You can even fight other MiPs, like those old rock ’em sock ’em robots.
MiP have made a TV commercial for the robots – here it is.
Pretty cool, right? But you might have a question: what does MiP actually stand for? It’s a pretty solid answer that hints at its internals: mobile inverted pendulum.
What do you think of MiP? Let us know in the comments below! If we get a lot of positive feedback, we might be able to arrange to stock MiP here in the UK, so get in touch.