About Us

About Us

Petoi

Petoi is a US-based robotics company founded in 2017 by Dr. Rongzhong Li (Wake Forest University, PhD Physics & MS Computer Science) that designs and manufactures open-source, programmable quadruped robot kits for STEM educators, makers, hobbyists, and university researchers.

Petoi's two flagship products - Bittle X (robot dog) and Nybble Q (robot cat) - are powered by the OpenCat framework, the most-starred open-source quadruped robot platform on GitHub. Petoi has shipped 30,000+ robots to customers in 60+ countries, and its robots are used in K-12 schools, university research labs, including Carnegie Mellon University and Iowa State University, robotics/STEM camps, and maker communities worldwide.
  • Nybble, Petoi's 1st-generation robot cat, launched on Indiegogo in 2018 and was delivered in 2019 - the company's first product.
  • Bittle, the 1st-generation robot dog, followed with a Kickstarter campaign in October 2020 that raised $567,000 - more than 11× its funding goal - backed by 2,052 supporters. 

Petoi has received coverage from Fox News, Financial Times, IEEE Spectrum, TechCrunch, BBC Science Focus, Mashable, Make Magazine, Arduino, Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, Hackster.io, Wired, and San Jose Mercury News.

What We Makes

Bittle X V2 - Robot Dog ($319 kit / $339 pre-assembled)

Bittle X V2 is an open-source programmable robot dog powered by ESP32 (BiBoard V1) with built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and voice control. 
9 servo joints (9 degrees of freedom - 1 on head + 2 on each leg), 35+ movements including backflip and self-balance. 
Programmable in Python, Arduino C++, or Scratch-like block coding. 
Compatible with Raspberry Pi, ROS/ROS2 and Nvidia Jetson Nano for computer vision and AI.
Assembly: approximately 1 hour.
Free 4-session STEM curriculum included.
Best for: STEM educators, makers, developers, and tech-curious teens and adults.

Nybble Q - Robot Cat ($435 Lite Servos / $515 Alloy Servos)

Nybble Q is Petoi's current generation - an open-source programmable robot cat with 11 servos (11 degrees of freedom - 2 on head & neck + 1 on tail + 2 on each leg) for richer, more expressive movement patterns. 
Same OpenCat framework and full programming compatibility as Bittle X. 
Best for: advanced makers, researchers studying feline locomotion, and builders who want the most expressive quadruped platform. 

Bittle X V2+Arm - Robot Dog with Robotic Arm

Bittle X V2 comes with a robotic arm attachment for pick-and-place demonstrations, object manipulation, and advanced robotics projects.  It's equipped with 11 servos (11 degrees of freedom - 1 on the head + 3 on the arm gripper + 2 on each leg)
Best for: researchers, advanced makers, and educators exploring manipulation alongside locomotion. 
COMPARE OUR ROBOTS
All three robots run on the ESP32 OpenCat framework and support Python, Arduino C++, Coding Blocks (Scratch-like), Raspberry Pi and ROS2.

Who Uses Petoi

Robots for Everyone

1

STEM Educators and Coding Camps

Petoi Bittle X is used in K-12 robotics programs, after-school coding clubs, summer engineering camps, such as the STEM outreach programs from Miami University, Syracuse University and Bluefield State University.
A free 4-session robotics curriculum is included with every robot - covering mechanics, block-based coding, the Petoi robotics skill composer, and a capstone project. Suitable for ages 10+, Grades 5–12.
Petoi offers bulk pricing and PO support for schools and institutions. Check our recommendation for educators. Contact us for classroom pricing.

2

Makers and Developers 

Petoi Bittle X V2 and Nybble Q run on OpenCat - the most-starred open-source quadruped framework on GitHub. The Python and C++ API gives programmatic control over every servo joint, gait, and sensor.
Mount a Raspberry Pi or Nvidia Jetson Nano for computer vision (OpenCV, YOLO), voice control, or reinforcement learning experiments.
Selective 3D-printable STL files for custom body parts are available at Github.com. Community builds and projects at Petoi subreddit.

3

University Researchers

Petoi robots are deployed in university robotics labs for locomotion research, legged robot control, human-robot interaction (HRI), Physical AI experiments, and reinforcement learning. Compatible with ROS/ROS2 and NVIDIA Isaac (simulation-to-real).
Used at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Colorado Boulder, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and institutions in 60+ countries. Contact us for research pricing and institutional support.

4

Undergraduate Robotics, CS & Engineering Students

Petoi Bittle X is used in undergraduate robotics, computer science, and mechanical engineering courses as a hands-on platform that bridges textbook theory and physical AI hardware. Python API, Arduino C++, ROS/ROS2, and Raspberry Pi compatibility means it maps directly to the tools students already learn in class.

5

Gift Buyers and Tech-Curious Families

Petoi Bittle X V2 robot dog and Nybble Q robot cat are two of the most unique and educational tech gifts for kids, teens, and  adults who love coding, engineering, and robotics. Starts with app control and Scratch-like block coding - no prior experience needed. It scales to Python, C++ and advanced AI projects as skills grow. A complete STEM education kit starts at $319 and ships worldwide.

The Technology - OpenCat Framework

OpenCat is the open-source Arduino and Raspberry Pi-based quadruped robot framework developed by Petoi founder Dr. Rongzhong Li. It is one of the most popular open-source quadruped robot platforms for hobbyists and developers on GitHub. OpenCat handles gait coordination, servo control, and IMU integration, so users and developers can focus on building on top of the platform - not re-implementing locomotion from scratch.
OpenCat was first published on GitHub in 2018. Since then, it has been adopted by hundreds of projects and researchers worldwide. It powers all three Petoi robots (Bittle X, Nybble Q, Bittle X Arm) and is used as a base platform by independent researchers, developers and hobbyists building their own quadruped systems.
Supported programming languages and platforms: 
  • Python (OpenCat Python API) 
  • Arduino C++ (Arduino IDE) 
  • Scratch-like block coding (Petoi Coding Blocks) 
  • ROS2 Raspberry Pi 
  • NVIDIA Jetson Nano 
  • NVIDIA Isaac (sim-to-real transfer) 

Check out All the OpenCat Robots Around the World

Dream of building your own robot pets?

Our Story

Petoi began as a personal project. In 2016, Rongzhong Li - then a physics lecturer at Wake Forest University - started building a robot cat in his spare time. He wanted to create something that could move like a real animal: fluid, agile, self-balancing. He published the designs on GitHub as OpenCat. The response from the maker and robotics community was immediate. 
In 2017, Rongzhong founded Petoi LLC and committed fully to turning the open-source project into a product that anyone could build and program. In 2018, Nybble - the wooden robot cat - launched on Indiegogo and raised $136,536 from 580 backers. In 2019, orders were fulfilled and Nybble found its way into the hands of makers, educators, and researchers worldwide. In October 2020, Petoi launched Bittle - the robot dog - on Kickstarter and raised $567,000 from 2,052 backers, more than 11 times its original goal. Today Petoi has shipped more than 30,000 robots to customers in over 60 countries.

Our Mission

Make advanced quadruped robotics affordable, open-source, and accessible - to students, makers, educators, and researchers who want to build on it, not just watch it.
30000+ robots shipped to over 60+ countries, 4600+ Github stars

In the Media

Petoi's robots have been featured by leading science, technology, and education publications worldwide, including:
  • Fox News
  • Financial Times
  • IEEE Spectrum
  • TechCrunch
  • BBC Science Focus
  • Wired
  • Mashable
  • Hackster.io
  • Make Magazine
  • Raspberry Pi Official Magazine
  • San Jose Mercury News
EXPLORE MORE

Trusted by Leading Schools and Universities

K12 SCHOOLS

  • Auburn High School, MA, US
  • Glenbrook South High School, IL, US
  • Hyde Park Middle School, NV, US 
  • Head-Royce School, CA, US 
  • Durham Academy Middle School, NC, US 
  • Sager Middle School, WA, US

UNIVERSITIES

  • Harvard University
  • MIT
  • Carnegie Mellon University 
  • University of Virginia
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Iowa State University 
  • Syracuse University 
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • Liberty University

Community Colleges 

  • LaGuardia Community College (CUNY)
  • Northcentral Technical College
  • Chabot College

After School Programs/Camps 

  • thinqueBytes
  • CP Mentorship
  • Envision Robotics 

Corporations

  • GitLab
  • Amazon Web Services
Schools, Universities, Companies Using Petoi Robots

Meet the Team

Rongzhong Li

Rongzhong Li

CEO/Founder

Dr. Rongzhong Li is the founder and CEO of Petoi and the creator of the OpenCat open-source quadruped robot framework. He holds a PhD in Physics and an MS in Computer Science from Wake Forest University, and a BS in Physics from Nanjing University. Before founding Petoi, he was an educator at Wake Forest University. He started the OpenCat project in 2016 as a personal robotics experiment and grew it into a global open-source community before founding Petoi LLC in 2017. He is a maker, photographer, poet, and interdisciplinary explorer. 

Kai Mai

COO

Kai Mai is Petoi's Chief Operating Officer with over 20 years of product management, product development, and engineering experience across the US and China. He was previously VP of Engineering at ALO7, the largest digital English Language Teaching platform in China with 10M+ registered users and 2,000+ training school partners. Kai holds a BS in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) from UC Berkeley and an MS in Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.