Startup crowdfunding robot that looks like Wall-E

XGO-Rider is a tiny wheel-legged robot that can “see and hear” thanks to its Raspberry Pi CM4 core module and ChatGPT integration.

The robot was developed by the Chinese robotics startup Luwu Intelligence Technology, which markets it as a desktop “companion.”

With its boxy shape and two arm-like appendages in addition to wheels, XGO-Rider resembles the loveable Wall-E from the eponymous Pixar classic.

Instead of two protruding eyes, however, XGO-Rider has a screen that can wink, feign surprise, and do other expressions based on exclusively-made emojis.

According to Luwu, the robot is open-sourced and powered by Raspberry Pi CM4, which allows users to program it using Blocky and Python. It also comes packed with a Robot Operating System (ROS) for developers.

Aimed at robotics and programming enthusiasts, the robot also comes in micro:bit version, which is “particularly suited” to teach children coding, its developers said.

XGO-Rider is built to enable agile, stable, and omni-directional movement, they said. It can also adjust its position based on IMU feedback, which allows it to adapt to various terrain obstacles.

XGO-Rider is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera, dual MEMS digital microphones, and a chambered speaker, which allows users to have “a wide range” of image and voice interactions with the robot, powered by ChatGPT.

The chatbot integration is also behind its image-to-text, text-to-image, and real-time image transmission features.

The robot’s other capabilities based on artificial intelligence include gesture recognition, face detection, human skeleton recognition, and human body tracking.

Luwu is currently seeking to crowd fund the robot on Kickstarter, where it already passed the HK$ 80,000 ($10,600) goal. At the time of publishing, it had raised HK$ 483,470 ($62,000) and had 177 backers.