Choro Robo Q

Robot-loving geeks fritter away their days drooling over re-runs of Robot Wars and tinkering with servos, right? Wrong, because Robo-Q robots are so entertaining you won’t even think about switching on the telly. And fiddling with servos is out of the question because these cute little ‘bots are no bigger than your thumb!

Hailing from Japan (where else?) and said to be the smallest walking robots in the world, Robo-Qs are just 3.4cm tall. But don’t let their mind-boggling lack of heft put you off because they are capable of receiving and interpreting commands from a nifty R/C controller that doubles up as a charging unit. They even fit inside said controller for easy storage. Bleeping Nora!

Ideal for desktop shenanigans, Robo-Qs feature two fully autonomous modes that allow them to avoid obstacles and even chase the included football. Buy a few and your department/classroom can conduct its very own World Cup tournament or set up makeshift mazes to race around. Work? What work?

If you’re more of a control freak, you can take full command of your widdly wonder via the remote. Turn left, right and watch in awe as Robo-Q walks at three different speeds. It’s like peering into the future, only you won’t have to wear a white Lycra jumpsuit that accentuates your wobbly bits.

A 20 minute charge gives Robo-Q a run time of about five minutes – more than enough to avoid the stapler, waddle around a few piles of outstanding work and roll the football into some work experience sap’s open mouth. Even the charging process is cool, as contact is achieved via a magnetic coupler on the remote. No plugs or cables required.

Yes, you can buy bigger R/C robots with more AI crammed into their circuits, but you can’t stuff them in your pocket when the boss walks in, or make them waddle around in the palm of your hand. Now that’s progress!