Dogs are great company and make for great social media photos, but they can be a pain to take care of. Behind every cute smile and puppy dog stare are tons of poop to clean, not to mention all the food you’d have to buy to make sure they don’t die. There’s now an alternate option: the Petoi Bittle, a tiny robotic dog that sits on your desk.
Funnily enough, the Petoi Bittle is based on the much more vicious Boston Dynamics robot Spot that officers use. Thankfully, Bittle is much smaller, looking like an action figure you can find on your nearest toy store. We doubt that it will the robo-dog will be as dangerous as its older, militarised brother.
What can Bittle do?
According to Yanko Design, Bittle is just as capable as Spot when it comes to learning tricks. Despite its size, Bittle will be able to learn commands and a bevy of tricks, giving potential pet owners plenty of bang for their buck. The little guy can also understand a bunch of languages, assuming you're a fan of programming.
Should fans of Bittle be willing to program it, the little robotic dog can also walk, jog, jump, and climb up obstacles. Robotics fans can also install a camera module on Bittle if they want to go and stalk people. We’re sure there are more wholesome reasons to put a camera on a small robotic dog but people are sick.
It's so cute!
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A robot kit that everyone loves
If you want to have a robot dog, you’ll have to build one. While you can pay an extra $10 to have Bittle pre-built, robotics enthusiasts can also build the little dog from scratch if they choose to do so. Apparently, it will be a more accessible build than most, with the website promising that it makes “coding fun.”
Aside from having a robot companion, Petoi, the company responsible for the robot dog, are hoping this gets more people into robotics. Various corporations are already trying to normalize robotics everywhere and starting with something adorable like this could help get younger people into this form of science.
Overall, Bittle should be a fun distraction for both kids and adults. At $300, it’s a bit expensive but when you consider everything the robotic pup can do, there’s not much to complain about.