From Vincross, the folks who brought you the HEXA robot, is a new Kickstarter for MIND KIT, a modular robotics development platform that you can use to build that robot that you've always wanted but doesn't exist yet. "A robot that keeps hugging you and won't leave you alone" is either the best thing ever, or a horror movie. Worth the risk, I'd say. It's nice that the system is so modular, and also that it looks like there's a strong emphasis on manipulation, which you don't always get from robotics kits that tend to be primarily mobile bases and not much else out of the box. There's also some built-in functionality, like map-making that works with the mobile base and lidar module. Specs-wise, the brain module contains a quad-core 1.2 GHz processor with 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage.

Vincross, the company behind the six-legged robot Hexa, said on Tuesday that it's picked up $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Lenovo Capital, the startup fund managed by Lenovo Group. Returning investor GGV Capital and newcomer Seekdource Capital also participated. The company declined to disclose its latest valuation but said the proceeds will go towards research and development as well as new product lines. Neuroscience and artificial intelligence researcher Tianqi Sun started Vincross in Beijing back in 2016 when he raised $220,000 for Hexa on Kickstarter. At the time the insectile, programmable robot had separated itself from the horde of humanoids on the market by billing itself as the first robot that can climb stairs, making it suitable for firefighting and other rescue tasks.

A startup has developed a robot that might make it so you'll never accidentally kill a plant again. Called Hexa, the intelligent planter is just big enough to hold a medium-sized succulent and is equipped with spider-like legs that can walk into the sunlight when its plant passenger needs some vitamin D. Beijing-based robotics company Vincross created Hexa with the idea that humans might become more acquainted with robots in their home. Hexa can walk toward the light when the plant is in need of some sun and rotate or spin to get the right amount of sunlight. The six-legged robot is equipped with several motors, infrared and 720p cameras, as well as a Linux operating system. Hexa uses its legs to walk toward the light when the plant is in need of some sun and rotate or spin to get the right amount of sunlight.