Exhibits, Oldest First
Shakey
What it was. A wheeled robot with a camera, a range finder and bump sensors, controlled by a room-sized computer over a radio link.
Why it mattered. The first mobile robot that could reason about its own actions: it planned routes, pushed blocks and recovered when plans failed. Algorithms first developed for it, including A* search, are still in use today.
Retired. Research ended in 1972. Shakey is preserved at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
Sony AIBO (ERS series)
What it was. A robot dog sold to consumers, with cameras, touch sensors and a personality that developed over time.
Why it mattered. One of the first entertainment robots to sell in large numbers, and a long-running platform for the RoboCup four-legged league.
Retired. Sony ended the line in 2006 and closed repair support in 2014. The name returned in 2018 with the redesigned aibo ERS-1000.
Honda ASIMO
What it was. A 130 cm bipedal humanoid that could walk, run, climb stairs and recognise faces and voices.
Why it mattered. For two decades the public face of humanoid robotics, and proof that dynamic two-legged walking could work outside a laboratory.
Retired. Honda stopped development in 2018; ASIMO's regular demonstrations at Tokyo's Miraikan ended on 31 March 2022.
LEGO Mindstorms EV3
What it was. A programmable LEGO brick with motors and sensors, used in classrooms and FIRST LEGO League for nearly a decade.
Why it mattered. Introduced a generation of students to robotics and programming.
Retired. The education version left sale on 30 June 2021; the consumer Mindstorms line ended in late 2022.
Successor: LEGO Education Computer Science & AI.
SoftBank Pepper
What it was. A 120 cm wheeled humanoid with a chest tablet, designed to greet and talk with customers in shops and banks.
Why it mattered. One of the most widely deployed social robots, with tens of thousands built.
Retired. Production was halted around 2020–21. Aldebaran entered liquidation in 2025 and its NAO and Pepper assets were bought by Maxvision.
NAO is still listed under Educational Robots.
Anki Cozmo
What it was. A palm-sized toy robot with an animated face that played games with its light-up cubes and had a coding mode for children.
Why it mattered. Brought film-style character animation to a consumer robot and became one of the best-selling toy robots of its time.
Retired. Anki closed in April 2019. Digital Dream Labs bought the assets and announced a Cozmo 2.0, but it never reached general sale.
Sphero SPRK+
What it was. A clear rolling ball robot coded through the Sphero Edu app.
Why it mattered. A classroom favourite for teaching coding through movement.
Retired. Replaced by the BOLT and BOLT+, with an upgrade programme for schools.
Successor: Sphero BOLT+.
Mayfield Robotics Kuri
What it was. A small home robot with expressive eyes and a camera that recorded short video clips of family life.
Why it mattered. An early attempt at a friendly, affordable home robot that went on pre-order with a US$700 price.
Retired. Mayfield halted Kuri in July 2018 and refunded pre-orders, after Bosch found no business fit for it.
Jibo
What it was. A tabletop social robot with a swivelling body and screen face, launched after a large crowdfunding campaign.
Why it mattered. Showed both the appeal of social robots and how quickly they fail when the company behind the cloud service runs out of money.
Retired. The company wound down and its servers went offline in 2019.
LEGO Boost
What it was. A creative toolbox set that turned LEGO models into app-coded robots for younger builders.
Why it mattered. A gentle entry point into coding for children not yet ready for Mindstorms.
Retired. Retired at the end of 2022.
Toyota T-HR3
What it was. A humanoid controlled by an operator in a master control system, who sees through the robot's cameras and feels forces through the controls.
Why it mattered. A well-known demonstration of high-fidelity teleoperation, an approach several humanoid companies now use to collect training data.
Retired. A research prototype that was never sold; there have been no significant public updates in recent years.
Anki Vector (original)
What it was. A home version of Cozmo with its own processor, voice assistant and camera, designed to live on a desk or counter.
Why it mattered. One of the first small home robots that worked largely on its own rather than as a phone accessory.
Retired. Anki closed in April 2019, leaving Vector dependent on servers that went quiet. Digital Dream Labs later relaunched it as Vector 2.0.
Vector 2.0 is listed under Security & Personal Robots.
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
What it was. A classroom robotics set for ages 10 and up, built around a programmable hub and coded in Scratch-style blocks or Python.
Why it mattered. Replaced EV3 in schools and became the standard kit for FIRST LEGO League.
Retired. Last sale date was 30 June 2026. The app is supported until 2031 and SPIKE remains allowed in FIRST LEGO League until the 2027–28 season.
Successor: LEGO Education Computer Science & AI.
Stanford Doggo
What it was. An open-source, highly agile research quadruped that could jump higher than most robot dogs of its time.
Why it mattered. Showed that a capable legged robot could be built from published designs for a few thousand dollars.
Retired. Superseded by the cheaper, simpler Stanford Pupper teaching robot.
Successor: Stanford Pupper.
Unitree AlienGo
What it was. A mid-size quadruped for research and industrial trials, launched around 2019.
Why it mattered. Helped establish Unitree as the price leader in legged robots.
Retired. Effectively replaced by the larger, sealed B2 industrial quadruped.
Successor: Unitree B2.
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential
What it was. The younger-pupil sibling of SPIKE Prime, using smaller hubs and icon-based coding for primary schools.
Why it mattered. Gave primary classrooms a LEGO robotics kit pitched below SPIKE Prime.
Retired. Left sale on 30 June 2026 alongside SPIKE Prime.
Successor: LEGO Education Computer Science & AI.
Unitree Go1
What it was. A consumer and research robot dog launched at a then-unheard-of price of a few thousand dollars.
Why it mattered. Brought quadrupeds within reach of universities, hobbyists and YouTubers.
Retired. Replaced by the Go2 in 2023.
Successor: Unitree Go2.
UBTECH Walker X
What it was. A bipedal service humanoid shown pouring drinks, playing chess and using household appliances.
Why it mattered. UBTECH's showcase humanoid before its pivot to factory work.
Retired. Superseded by the industrial Walker S series.
Successor: UBTECH Walker S2.
Figure 01
What it was. Figure's first humanoid, best known for a 2024 demo in which it talked through tasks using an OpenAI language model.
Why it mattered. Put Figure on the map and led to its first commercial agreement, with BMW.
Retired. Replaced by Figure 02 in 2024 and then Figure 03.
See the Figure AI profile.
Amazon Astro for Business
What it was. A version of Amazon's Astro home robot sold to small businesses as a mobile security camera.
Why it mattered. A rare case of a big tech company selling a patrol robot to small firms.
Retired. Amazon ended the programme in 2024, less than a year after launch, and the robots were switched off. The consumer Astro remains invite-only.
Consumer Astro is listed under Security & Personal Robots.
Why Robots Disappear
Replaced by a newer model. The most common and least dramatic exit: Unitree's Go1 gave way to the Go2, and Figure 01 to Figures 02 and 03.
The company or the cloud goes away. Jibo, Anki and Kuri show the risk with connected consumer robots: when the servers switch off, the robot can lose most of what it did.
A product line is rethought. LEGO has replaced its classroom robotics kit three times in a decade, each time with a new hub and app.
Research robots finish their job. Shakey and Toyota's T-HR3 were never meant to be sold. They tested ideas that later products use.
Frequently Asked Questions
What goes into the Robot Museum?
Robots that are no longer sold, were cancelled, or have been replaced by a newer model. When we review the robot directory, retired entries move here with a short history and a link to the successor where there is one.
Can I still buy any of these robots?
Sometimes second-hand or as old stock, but expect no updates or support, and some cloud-dependent robots no longer work at all. For current alternatives, see Bots For Sale.
Something here is wrong, or a robot is missing. How do I tell you?
Email aihumanlove@gmail.com with the robot and a source. We add exhibits as products are retired.