The tiny Ozobot robot can teach young kids programming

Ozobot is a little toy robot that blends the physical and digital worlds — and teaches kids programming. The company bills the Ozobot as the world’s tiniest robot, but we figure there’s got to be something smaller than these little guys with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for brains.

It is very basic programming, as you simply train the robots to follow patterns on the surfaces that they roll over. They look a little like Pac-Man ghosts, with domes for heads. Ozobot can identify lines, colors, and codes on both digital surfaces, such as an iPad, and physical surfaces, such as paper.

You can calibrate the robots to follow lines by holding down a power button. Then you can draw lines for the robot to follow in an app. You can create race tracks for multiple Ozobots to roll over.

The company showed the Ozobot off for the first time at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and it debuted in mid-2014. To keep its momentum going, the company returned to the 2015 International CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week.

A single-pack Ozobot with one robot costs $50, while a double pack costs $100.

Check out our video, and the company’s video, below.

 

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.