With an onboard CPU, a 30fp VGA camera, four motors and over fifty gears, Cozmo is able to recognise up to ten faces (including pets!) and react accordingly, remembering the interactions it had with each individual. Type your name into the app, have Cozmo map your face, and you’ll have your jaw drop when it rolls over to your and bleep your name out in a charmingly synthesised little voice. Toy time As well as the standard white flavour, there’s also a special collector’s edition Cozmo that features a more Dark Side-esque brushed grey finish.

Robots | Smyths Toys UK Robots | Smyths Toys UK

Not that Cozmo relies on an app to interact with. While it’s required for setting up the robot and pulling off certain functions (like an “Explorer” mode that turns Cozmo into a robo RC vehicle), Cozmo is most fun when interacting with of its own accord.The bot can be used as a standard RC car via the companion app for Android and iOS (‘Explorer’ mode), but Cozmo will also throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to games, wearing its emotions on its 128 x 64 pixel display…sorry, face.

Cozmo Robot 2.0 - The Little Robot with a Big Personality Cozmo Robot 2.0 - The Little Robot with a Big Personality

With 866 animations, expressive onscreen eyes and 42 minutes of audio and music, Cozmo is programmed to react expressively to so many different situations that even its creators are finding new easter eggs. Watching Cozmo stress out when being turned on one side, or use his forklift arms to flip over when placed upside down is a joy to take part in. Python programming Anki has now released a Cozmo SDK that’s allowing developers and tinkerers to find new uses for and ways of playing with the robot. A community of thousands on the Cozmo US forums has seen the bot programmed to do everything from display sports scores to weather updates through the Python programming language. The toy is now being seeded with US universities as a gateway device for teaching coding. Combined with facial recognition software, the latter feature means it’s capable of recognising, remembering, and reacting to up to 10 different faces, as well as interacting intelligently with its surroundings.Cozmo is comprised of no less than 360 components, including four motors, 50 gears, an integrated CPU, and a 30fps VGA camera. And if that’s not enough, then the Cozmo SDK means you can tinker to your heart’s content with the toy using the Python programming language – or just use it as a gateway to learn to code.