Iran's Newest Robot Is an Adorable Dancing Humanoid

Over the last several years, a team of roboticists at the University of Tehran has been working on increasingly large and complex life-size humanoids. For their latest project, however, the Iranian researchers decided to build something smaller--and cuter. Surena Mini is a knee-high robot with a sleek 3D-printed body, articulated limbs, and a round head with two camera-eyes. "The main purpose of this robot is to provide researchers and students with a reliable robotic platform for educational and research applications," Aghil Yousefi-Koma, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Tehran, told IEEE Spectrum. He added that his group also has plans to offer the robot "for helping autistic and deaf children."