This is Calico, a tiny robot that can be your dance instructor, workout tracker, and more

Calico is a tiny robot that can zip around the user's body using a special track sewn into their clothing.

Calico has many tricks up its sleeve, including acting as a dance instructor. (Image credit: Small Artifacts Laboratory)

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The Calico robot, developed by researchers at the University of Maryland, weighs 18 grams and it can zip around a special track sewn on top of your clothing while helping you with many tasks like coaching you through a fitness class or acting as a stethoscope.

Despite weighing just 18 grams, the lightweight robot can carry a payload of up to 20 grams while zipping around at between 115 millimetres per second and 227 millimetres per second, according to a report in IEEE Spectrum. Also, even though it has a tiny 100 mAh (milliampere-hour) battery, Calico can last for nearly eight hours in an idle state or for 30 minutes of continuous movement. The battery life could be further extended with wireless charging.

The researchers described many different potential applications for Calico in an article published in September last year. Here are some of them.

Workout tracker and form coach

Researchers at the Small Artifacts Lab at the University of Maryland, where the robot was developed, showed how a mobile app can be used with Calico to monitor many different exercises.

Users can pre-select a workout routine before the workout and at the start, the robot will move to appropriate positions on their body to track their movements. For example, in a video shared by the lab, a user can be seen selecting a workout that includes three squats, five seconds of planks and three pushups.

The robot moved to the knee before the user began squats, went to the user’s back before they started doing a plank and then went to the elbows to track the pushups. All of the information collected by the robot was relayed back to the phone app.

Interestingly, the robot also seemed to be coaching the user’s form as they worked out. In the video, when the user began doing a plank, the robot went to the back and began moving back and forth. It did this to track whether the user had a neutral spine while doing the exercise, which is essential. According to the lab, it will notify the user with a vibration if that is not the case.

Healthcare application

The researchers also touted the ability to attach additional sensors to Calico. They attached a stethoscope head to the robot to give it the ability to record sounds from the heart, lungs and other organs as necessary.

Data physicalisation

There are many apps and softwares that helps people keep track of their daily actions. This could be anything from the amount of water they are drinking daily or the amount of water they drink.

Many of these functions could be taken over by Calico. For example, users can keep track of whenever they drink water by tapping the robot in a particular way. They can also track the robot in another way for it to move to a location which will physically indicate how much water they have drank the day. In this way, Calico can be used to physically represent data entry and perusal.

Customisation and being a dance instructor

Calico is not all work and no play. The researchers also showed how the robot can be customised with different looks. You could make it look like a cute little pet with googly eyes that could react to your touch. The robot can also act as a dance instructor that can correct your movements but that feature did seem a little less than usable.

First published on: 20-06-2023 at 16:02 IST