Name: MentorPi M1
Brand: Hiwonder

$430 – $880with Pi 5 on hiwonder.com (Starter $430–710, Standard with depth cam $570–850, Advanced $600–880); kits without a Pi from $300; Amazon Prime $470–760

AvailableVia SSH / web / bridgePrime 1–2 dayLidar + depthPi 5Small

≤ 1 weekShipping: 1–2 days (Prime). Several MentorPi M1/A1 variants are Prime on Amazon with next-day to 2-day delivery ($470–760). Amazon ↗

Remote control: ROS 2 Humble in Docker on the Pi. From a laptop, SSH/VNC in, connect to the rosbridge WebSocket server that the default bringup launches (usable from Python with roslibpy), or run a VM. No documented plain HTTP API.

Hiwonder ↗Amazon ↗JetRover (arm + Jetson) ↗

Overview

The cheapest way to get lidar + depth + Pi 5 delivered in two days, and Hiwonder's LLM demos match the "voice assistant that drives around" idea. But it's small, with low clearance and mecanum wheels that dislike carpet and thresholds, and control goes through ROS-in-Docker rather than a clean API. Great for learning ROS, weaker as a house roamer.

Specifications

Category	Wheeled rovers · Ready-made dev rovers
Released	2024
Availability	Available
Programmability	Full SDK
Best for	Ages 14+ (estimated)
Vision sensors	Depth camera, Camera, Lidar
Actuators	DC / gear motors
Audio	Speaker, Microphone
Compute type	Raspberry Pi, Arduino / ESP32 / microcontroller
Remote control	Via SSH / web / bridge
Size	21×17×15 cm, 1.2 kg
Drive	Mecanum wheels (Ackermann A1 variant available)
Compute	Raspberry Pi 5 (2–16 GB) + controller board
Vision	Stereo depth cam 0.2–4 m, up to 1080p RGB (Starter: 640×480 mono)
Lidar	COIN-D6 ToF lidar (per Hiwonder's spec sheet)
Sensors	Encoders, optional AI voice box (Advanced)
Runtime	Not published (7.4 V 2200 mAh LiPo; charges in about 1 h)
Speed	Not published
SDK	ROS 2 Humble, Python/C++, phone app, LLM/VLM voice-navigation tutorials