PhoneBot gives old smartphones a new job on two legs
Overview
Source roundup from published reports. Claims below are attributed to their publishers, not independently verified. New Atlas — Robotics: Biped bot uses your old, dusty phone for brains. UCLA researchers have developed PhoneBot, a small humanoid robot that uses a smartphone as its brain, eyes, and torso. The robot leverages a phone's camera, motion sensors, and processing power to enable walking, followi…
Generated from attributed reports · Updated 2 hours ago
Event evidence and corrections
1 attributed source owners. Ownership does not establish independent confirmation. Quantities are reported separately and are never added together.
Reported quantity · phone models tested: 4 other · Basis not reported
“ce down. Conversation isn't fully self-contained yet. Speech recognition and the language model run on a nearby laptop, which the phone reaches over Wi-Fi. Walking and vision run on the phone itself. The researchers tested PhoneBot on four Android phones: a 2017 Honor 9 and three prepaid models bought for about $50 to $80. All ran the core functions, including motion sensing, walking control, on-device vision, and in”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · cost of PhoneBot: 400 other · Basis not reported
“e laptop currently handling conversation. The hardware and software are open source and aimed at education, research, and tinkering. The paper presents PhoneBot as a platform others can build and experiment with, rather than a finished household companion. Or at least not just yet. The team estimates PhoneBot’s cost at roughly US$400, excluding the smartphone. Other small research humanoids listed in the paper range”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · weight of PhoneBot: 1.8 other · Basis not reported
“ns the neural network that drives the joints, and the touchscreen shows status and controls. The body stands 48.3 cm (19 in) tall and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb), phone and battery included. It has 13 low-cost servo motors, six per leg, plus one that swivels the torso. That swivel lets the camera turn to follow a person without the whole robot pivoting. A smartphone supplies the camera, motion sensors and computing power fo”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · height of PhoneBot: 48.3 other · Basis not reported
“ns the neural network that drives the joints, and the touchscreen shows status and controls. The body stands 48.3 cm (19 in) tall and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb), phone and battery included. It has 13 low-cost servo motors, six per leg, plus one that swivels the torso. That swivel lets the camera turn to follow a person without the whole robot pivoting. A smartphone supplies the camera, motion sensors and computing power fo”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · number of servo motors: 13 other · Basis not reported
“ns the neural network that drives the joints, and the touchscreen shows status and controls. The body stands 48.3 cm (19 in) tall and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb), phone and battery included. It has 13 low-cost servo motors, six per leg, plus one that swivels the torso. That swivel lets the camera turn to follow a person without the whole robot pivoting. A smartphone supplies the camera, motion sensors and computing power fo”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · number of torso swivel motors: 1 other · Basis not reported
“ns the neural network that drives the joints, and the touchscreen shows status and controls. The body stands 48.3 cm (19 in) tall and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb), phone and battery included. It has 13 low-cost servo motors, six per leg, plus one that swivels the torso. That swivel lets the camera turn to follow a person without the whole robot pivoting. A smartphone supplies the camera, motion sensors and computing power fo”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Reported quantity · number of cameras: 1 other · Basis not reported
“ns the neural network that drives the joints, and the touchscreen shows status and controls. The body stands 48.3 cm (19 in) tall and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb), phone and battery included. It has 13 low-cost servo motors, six per leg, plus one that swivels the torso. That swivel lets the camera turn to follow a person without the whole robot pivoting. A smartphone supplies the camera, motion sensors and computing power fo”
Exact source · revision 2new-atlas
Report timeline
Follow attributed reports and material updates.
- New Atlas — RoboticsBiped bot uses your old, dusty phone for brains
UCLA researchers have developed PhoneBot, a small humanoid robot that uses a smartphone as its brain, eyes, and torso. The robot leverages a phone's camera, motion sensors, and processing power to enable walking, following people, and standing up. It runs on open-source hardware and software, making bipedal robotics more affordable for research and education.
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