$48¥7,128 list price for a single Core Cube (cube, top plate, simple play mat and card), about $48 converted, October 2026 check of Japanese retailers. The dedicated charger is ¥5,478 (about $37). The full toio console set (2 cubes, console, ring controllers) launched in Japan on March 20, 2019 at ¥16,980. The single cube went on sale April 23, 2020. Sold in Japan (and China since 2021) only.
AvailablePython from a laptopPalm-sizedAbsolute positioning matPython / JS SDKJapan only
Weeks+Shipping: 1–3 weeks (import, unconfirmed). Not sold in the US. Japanese retailers such as Amazon.co.jp, Yodobashi and Switch Science carry it, and export shops like Japan Trend Shop and eBay sellers ship sets to the US at a markup. Switch Science ↗
Remote control: toio.py runs on macOS (tested on macOS 14) over the Mac's built-in Bluetooth LE, so a short Python script can drive several cubes at once. toio.js (Node.js) and Unity work too.
Overview
Sony's tiny two-wheeled cube robot reads a dot pattern printed on its play mats, so it always knows its exact position and heading, something few toy robots can do. That makes it a favorite for multi-robot swarms, tabletop games and research projects, and Sony publishes the full Bluetooth spec plus official Python and JavaScript libraries. The cube is also the base of the toio console with game cartridges, and it accepts LEGO-style tops. The catch is that it is sold only in Japan and China, and the positioning works only on toio mats or printed ID sheets.
The best tiny robot for coding swarms from a laptop, if importing from Japan is acceptable.
Specifications
| Category | Wheeled rovers · Classroom coding cars |
|---|---|
| Released | 2019 |
| Country | Japan |
| Availability | Available |
| Programmability | Full SDK |
| Built-in autonomy | Navigates · Goes to places on its own, such as mapped rooms, waypoints or its charging dock |
| LLM support | Possible via SDK · No built-in LLM, but the official toio.py and toio.js libraries make it simple to connect one from a laptop. |
| MuJoCo simulation | None found · Nothing found. |
| NVIDIA Isaac simulation | None found · Nothing found. |
| Gazebo simulation | None found · Nothing found. The official toio SDK for Unity (by Morikatron) includes its own Unity-based cube simulator instead. |
| Best for | Ages 6+ (estimated) |
| Vision sensors | No vision sensors |
| Actuators | DC / gear motors |
| Audio | Speaker |
| Compute type | Proprietary / undisclosed |
| Remote control | Python from a laptop |
| Size | About 32 × 32 × 20 mm, about 30 g |
| Drive | Two wheels, differential drive, carries up to 200 g |
| Compute | Proprietary, not published |
| Vision | None (a downward ID sensor reads the printed position pattern on toio mats) |
| Lidar | None |
| Sensors | Position ID reader (absolute x/y and angle on toio mats and cards), motion sensor (tilt, collision, double-tap, shake), posture angle, magnetic sensor, button, battery level |
| Runtime | About 2 hours, about 1.5 hours to charge (260 mAh LiPo) |
| Speed | Up to 350 mm/s straight, 1,500°/s rotation |
| SDK | Open BLE spec (toio Core Cube Specifications), official toio.js (JavaScript/TypeScript) and toio.py (Python, MIT), toio SDK for Unity, visual programming apps, plus community libraries (M5Stack, obniz) |
Ratings & reviews
Ratings and reviews load on the live site.
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