$180 – $209Pololu store, October 2026 check, all in stock. 3pi+ 2040 and 3pi+ 32U4 OLED share the same prices, $194.95 assembled (Standard or Turtle Edition), $208.95 assembled Hyper Edition, $179.95 kits (Hyper kit $193.95). The original LCD 3pi+ 32U4 ($204.95) is out of stock and not recommended for new designs. 3pi+ 32U4 announced November 2020, OLED version 2021, 3pi+ 2040 March 2023.
AvailableCoded on the robot onlyPalm-sizedLine followingMicroPythonArduinoUp to 4 m/s
≤ 1 weekShipping: Ships from Las Vegas, free US shipping. Pololu ships from its own warehouse in Las Vegas, with free US shipping on these robots, and every 3pi+ 2040 and 3pi+ 32U4 OLED version showed stock in an October 2026 check. Four AAA batteries are not included. Pololu ↗
Remote control: The 3pi+ 2040 shows up as a USB drive, so MicroPython files can be edited from any Mac or PC text editor. The 32U4 version is programmed from the Arduino IDE over USB. Neither has a wireless link.
Overview
A palm-sized round robot made for fast line following and maze solving, and a long-running favorite in university robotics courses and line-following contests. The 3pi+ 2040 ships with MicroPython on a Raspberry Pi RP2040, so new users can start editing Python straight from a USB drive. Three motor editions trade speed for control, from the slow, swarm-friendly Turtle to a Hyper Edition near 4 m/s that Pololu warns is hard to control. It updates the original 3pi from 2008, a $100 Arduino-programmable line follower, adding encoders and an IMU. It has no camera or wireless link.
Specifications
| Category | Wheeled rovers · Classroom coding cars |
|---|---|
| Released | 2020 |
| Country | USA |
| Availability | Available |
| Programmability | Open source (hardware + software) |
| Built-in autonomy | None / scripted · Moves only when controlled, or plays preset motions |
| LLM support | Possible via SDK · Programmed in MicroPython, C/C++ or Arduino, with no LLM features. |
| MuJoCo simulation | None found · Nothing found. |
| NVIDIA Isaac simulation | None found · Nothing found. |
| Gazebo simulation | None found · Nothing found. |
| Best for | Ages 14+ (estimated) |
| Vision sensors | No vision sensors |
| Actuators | DC / gear motors |
| Audio | Speaker |
| Compute type | Arduino / ESP32 / microcontroller |
| Remote control | Coded on the robot only |
| Size | 9.7 cm diameter, 97 × 96 × 36 mm, about 100 g without batteries |
| Drive | Two-wheel differential drive with micro metal gearmotors and encoders, motors held at a regulated 8 V |
| Compute | 3pi+ 2040 uses a Raspberry Pi RP2040 (dual Cortex-M0+ at 125 MHz, 16 MB flash). 3pi+ 32U4 uses an ATmega32U4 (Arduino-compatible) |
| Vision | None |
| Lidar | None |
| Sensors | Five downward reflectance line sensors, left and right bump sensors, 9-axis IMU (accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer), quadrature encoders, 128×64 OLED, buzzer (2040 version adds six RGB LEDs) |
| Runtime | Not published (four AAA batteries) |
| Speed | About 0.4 m/s (Turtle Edition), 1.5 m/s (Standard), about 4 m/s (Hyper) |
| SDK | 3pi+ 2040 ships with MicroPython and example programs, also C/C++ (Pico SDK) and Arduino. 3pi+ 32U4 uses Arduino libraries. All open source on GitHub |
Ratings & reviews
Ratings and reviews load on the live site.
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