What if your next pet taught you how to code? This robotics kit is a great way to flex your noodle while learning how some of today's most relevant skills, like programming and AI, work together. Plus, by the time you finish building this DIY kit, you'll have a robot dog that listens better than a real one. How many people can say that? You can save 30 on the PiDog here and get yours for 149.99.

You're probably familiar with Spot, Boston Dynamics' highly advanced, nightmare-inducing robot dog. And while it went on sale last year, few of us have an extra $74,500 lying around to buy one. However, Chinese firm Unitree Robotics has a similar quadruped bot that's not only a fraction of the size, but it also starts at a mere $2,700. For an advanced robot dog, that's actually pretty dang affordable. In a video, you can see the bot walking alongside its "owner" while also automatically avoiding obstacles in its path.

The most cutting edge robots today can open doors, dance to music, and perform acts of remarkable dexterity. They are also very, very expensive. Tha's why NYU Tandon School of Engineering has designed a budget-friendly robot dog that has many of the same capabilities and agility of its pricier counterparts for only a fraction of the cost. The design is completely free and open-source on GitHub and can be easily 3D printed by labs across the world and assembled using off-the-shelf components. It's even so rugged and durable that the researchers say this robotic pup can be tossed into a backpack and easily carried to conferences or field testing sites.