Aibo

A white robot dog with blue eyes and brown ears holds a pink and white bone toy in its mouth.
Even robot dogs love a good bone, or "Aibone." Photo: Sony

Aibo is a friendly robotic dog whose personality and behavior evolves over time. It can recognize its owner's face, detect smiles and words of praise, and learn new tricks. And of course, it loves to be petted.

Creator

Sony

Year
2018
Country
Japan 🇯🇵
Categories
Features
A series of images of a white robotic dog moving it's paws around.
Interactive
See Aibo doing some pawsome moves. Photos: Sony

More interactives

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Overall Rating

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Appearance

Neutral

Did you know?

Things Aibo loves: attention, and anything pink. Things Aibo doesn't love: heights and tight spaces.

Overhead view of a robot dog.
I see you...with my nose camera! Photo: Sony
Close up of a robot dog's tail and a camera on its back side.
Aibo finds its way with a mapping and navigation tail camera. Photo: Randi Klett
Living with Aibo. Video: Sony

More videos

History

Sony unveiled the original Aibo in 1999. The first generation (models ERS-110 and ERS-111) sold about 65,000 units. Second-generation models were released in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Third generation models arrived in late 2003 (model ERS-7), and the ERS-7M3 model, released in 2005, was the latest. The company would eventually sell more than 150,000 units until it decided to discontinue the robot in 2006 amid protests from Aibo fans. In 2017, Sony announced it was launching a brand-new version of Aibo, completely redesigned with more advanced mechatronics and AI. Model ERS-1000, priced at 198,000 yen (about US $1,750), was introduced to the Japanese market in early 2018. In August 2018, Sony announced that, after selling 20,000 new Aibos to Japanese consumers, it was making the robot canine available also in the United States. A bundle, including the robot, toys, and charger, retailed for $2,900. Also part of the package is a three-year cloud subscription plan, required for users to explore all features of the Aibo app.

Camera view of a woman smiling and holding out her palm.
Aibo uses image recognition to detect people nearby. Photo: Randi Klett
Two robot dogs lying on their backs.
New dog, old tricks. Photo: Randi Klett

Specs

Overview

Model: ERS-1000. Cloud-based AI engine. Able to recognize and remember faces and voices. Adaptive and unique personality based on interactive learning. OLED display eyes that blink and close. Capable of performing mapping, SLAM, and obstacle detection. Self-charges when low on battery.

Status

Ongoing

Year

2018

Website
Width
18 cm
Height
29.3 cm
Length
30.5 cm
Weight
2.2 kg
Sensors

Front camera for image recognition. Fisheye camera (near tail) for SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping. Time-of-flight sensor, two IR range sensors, four microphones, capacitive touch sensors (back, head, and jaw), two 6-axis motion sensor (3-axis gyro and 3-axis accelerometer) in the head and torso, motion sensor, light sensor, and four paw pad contact sensors.

Actuators

Ultra-compact 1- and 2-axis actuators

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
22 (Head: 3 DoF; Mouth: 1 DoF; Neck: 1 DoF; Waist: 1 DoF; Legs and paws: 3 DoF x 4; Ear: 1 DoF x 2; Tail: 2 DoF)
Compute

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 64-bit quad-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 32GB ROM, LTE/Wi-Fi

Software

Custom OS, smartphone app

Power

Battery, 2 hours of operation

Cost
$2,900 (package for U.S. market with 3-year AI Cloud plan, plus ball, bone, paw pads, dog tag, and charging station)