KIROBO mini: a palm-sized robot whose services were wound down in stages after sales ended

A 10 cm baby robot built on space-robot technology

KIROBO mini is a palm-sized conversation robot that Toyota announced on 3 October 2016. It was developed using technology from Kirobo, the robot astronaut that stayed on the International Space Station from 2013 to 2015. Seated, it stands 10 cm tall and weighs 183 g. It connects to a smartphone app over Bluetooth to talk, and its camera reads facial expressions so it can adjust what it says and how it moves. It was designed to grow by remembering a user’s preferences and the places they went together. Fuminori Kataoka, who led its planning, described the relationship as a parent playing catch with a child. Toyota said the robot is unfinished when it reaches its owner, and chose VAIO for its know-how in production, replacement and repair.

On sale nationwide in November 2017, off sale by December 2018

At the 2016 announcement Toyota planned a pre-sale at some Tokyo and Aichi dealers that winter and a nationwide launch in 2017. The planned price was ¥39,800 excluding tax. On 13 February 2017 Toyota announced that the pre-sale would slip to around April; the sources we opened give no reason. The pre-sale began in May 2017, and on 22 November Toyota dealers across Japan began taking orders. That release added links to the Prius PHV and to TOYOTA HOME smart houses, and the suggested retail price was ¥42,984 including tax. A report dated 1 October 2018 said Toyota would end dealer sales at the end of December and close online sales on 14 December at 15:00. The app service and the KIROBO mini clinic were to continue.

A used robot and a ¥350 monthly app

Conversation required a dedicated app at ¥350 a month including tax. In May 2019, after sales had ended, one blogger wrote that her husband had bought a used KIROBO mini on Mercari. He had first seen one at a café and said it was cute, and the couple named it and introduced it to their pet aibo. She found the conversations’ mismatches endearing. In July 2022 Toyota said it was developing a free app that lets people talk with the robot using only a smartphone, with no internet connection. According to Toyota’s service-end notice, paid conversation ended on 31 December 2022. Repairs and firmware ended on 31 December 2023, and app distribution on 31 January 2024. Apps already downloaded still run, but Toyota does not test them and does not guarantee operation on iOS 17 or later.

The body remained, but conversation depended on services

KIROBO mini was planned as a portable conversation partner linked to the car and the home. After sales ended, services did not go dark at once but were reduced in stages for more than five years. Because conversation relied on a paid app, repairs and firmware, each ending took something away from owners. Unlike Jibo, whose servers went off when its company closed, here the maker set the order of withdrawal itself. It is also notable that an app working without a server was announced partway through. We could not confirm how widely that app is used today.

If owners are to keep talking with a robot after sales end, what has to be built into the robot itself?

What we haven’t confirmed

• How many units were sold, and how many users used the car and home integration
• Why Toyota ended sales and services (the sources we opened do not say)
• Toyota’s original announcement of the end of sales (we confirmed it only through a Robo Start report)
• How many KIROBO minis still work after 2024