Kiwi

A 30 cm cartoonish robot with a green shell and feather like outfit that gives it the appearance of an owl with a smiling yellow face. — Kiwi has helped children with autism to talk, smile, interact, and play. Photo: University of Southern California

Kiwi is a tabletop robot tutor and friend. It has a bird-like appearance, LCD face, and is used in classroom activities and for working with children with autism spectrum disorder.

Creator

University of Southern California

Year

2016

Country

United States 🇺🇸

Categories

Features

A short film on robots helping kids with autism. Video: USC Viterbi School of Engineering

Rate this Robot

Would you want this robot?

63% said yes (1,263 ratings)

Current Ranking: #186 most wanted

Appearance

Neutral

Most rated "Somewhat Friendly" (2,815 ratings)

Current Ranking: #77 creepiest

Did you know?

Kiwi has been in its own movie about how it can play with kids in an elementary school setting.

The robot sits on a table surrounded by children looking at computers that will control it. — Teacher, helper, friend. Photo: University of Southern California

A view inside the robots cute exterior shows a smiling cartoonish face on a display, and a red base with electronics. — Kiwi's robotic skeleton. Photo: University of Southern California

Specs

Overview: Interchangeable skins for varying appearance. The SPRITE (Stewart Platform Robot for Interactive Tabletop Engagement) robot is built around a 6 degrees-of-freedom Stewart platform base, with a bracket that holds a mobile device, on which the robot's face is displayed.
Status: Ongoing
Year: 2016
Website: robotics.usc.edu/interaction/robots
Height: 30 cm
Actuators: Power HD 1235MG servo with Micro Maestro 6-channel USB servo controller
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 6
Compute: Mobile phone, held by a bracket attached to the base.
Cost: $4,500