Dash Robotics, Inc. is a toy robotics startup company located in

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

. Their main focus is on prototyping and manufacturing smart toys (sometimes called " connected toys"). The company is often referred to simply as "Dash," and was founded in 2013. Often mistakenly affiliated with

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

, they are not a part of the university although many of the company's members met there.

Products

They are most widely known for creating Kamigami Robots, a biomimetic, foldable robot that was funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

in 2015. Kamigami received attention for their unique biomimetic motion, which mimics that of a

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...

. The platform allows kids build their own robotic bugs. The original concepts behind the robot's motion are attributed to Dr. Robert Full, a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

at UC Berkeley, and can be seen outlined in his Ted Talk.

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

licensed the Kamigami brand in spring of 2017, and oversaw the national release in fall of 2017 as part of their new emphasis on STEM and "digital age" toys. Previous products include Dash Beta and Dash VR. Dash Beta was a cardboard, app-controlled robot that required glue to be assembled, and acted as a predecessor to Kamigami. Dash Beta is no longer in production.

Awards

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself aka-DIY enthusiasts started by ''Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. History ...

Editor's Choice

References

{{reflist Robotics companies of the United States Companies based in Hayward, California Robotics organizations

Products

Awards

See also

References