LinkerBot has introduced OYI, a compact humanoid robot aimed at education and software development, marking a new addition to the Chinese robotics company’s growing hardware lineup.
The company previewed OYI in a post on X, describing a 1.1-metre-tall robot with 21 degrees of freedom. LinkerBot says each unit will include a full software development kit and source code, giving students, researchers and developers access to tools for programming and experimenting with the platform. A complete product reveal is still to come.
The announcement is a change in emphasis for a company best known for dexterous robotic hands. LinkerBot has developed multiple hand models for manipulation research and embodied AI applications, alongside robotic arms and teleoperation systems. Its existing Linker Humanoid V2 is a substantially larger, wheeled upper-body robot with a height-adjustable column. OYI, by contrast, is being positioned specifically for education and developers.
Software access is a central part of that pitch. By including an SDK and source code, LinkerBot is presenting OYI as a platform that users can program and adapt rather than simply operate through a fixed set of functions. The company has not yet specified which software components will be open, what development environments OYI will support, or whether its hardware designs will also be available.
Several important product details remain undisclosed. LinkerBot has not announced OYI’s price, weight, battery life, computing hardware or availability. The initial teaser also does not establish how its 21 degrees of freedom are distributed across the body or which capabilities will be demonstrated at the full reveal.
For now, OYI is an announced humanoid platform rather than a fully specified commercial product. Its next unveiling should clarify the robot’s configuration, development tools and intended route to customers.
