Beni the Robot Jumps, Rolls, Self-Balances, and Wants to Be Your Camera Operator

There’s a new robot on Kickstarter, and it wants to film your life for you. It’s called Beni, it rolls around on two wheels, jumps, flips, and tracks you across sand, grass, and pavement while shooting in 4K. All while looking cute and a little creepy at the same time.

Beni comes from Mondo Robotics, a startup with roughly 150 engineers and designers split between Shenzhen and Palo Alto. The company says its leadership background is in autonomous mobility, optical imaging, and rugged consumer electronics.

Mondo Robotics says Beni started with a simple idea from its two founders: build something they and their kids could enjoy together. The company frames itself as being built by parents, athletes, photographers, and filmmakers.

What Beni Does

Beni’s whole pitch is that it replaces the person who’d otherwise be stuck holding a phone. It auto-follows you with tracking from behind, the side, or in orbit. It uses a magnetic Motion Tracker to lock onto its subject, whether it’s you, your kid, your dog, or whoever’s willing to be filmed. Once it’s got the footage, it can even auto-edit the clips into a highlight reel.

There’s also a manual mode via motion controller, an Explore Mode for live point-of-view control, and some lightweight game features. I guess that’s for when the filming job is done and it’s time to just mess around.

It’s worth noting that Beni isn’t waterproof. So, while it can film you pull off all kinds of shenanigans, doing it in heavy rain is out of the question. So is full submersion, of course. On the privacy side, Mondo says it doesn’t need an internet connection to follow, track, or film. This means your footage stays local unless you opt into cloud features, which run on AWS with end-to-end encryption.

Key Specs

• Battery life: 1.5 hours per battery (up to 4.5+ hours with two easy swaps)
• Weight: 3.86 lbs (1.75 kg)
• Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.1 x 7.1 in. / 21.5 x 18 x 18 cm (L x W x H)
• Camera: 4K@30fps, 3K@60fps, 1080p@100fps
• Storage: 32GB internal + microSD slot
• Privacy: Beni follows and films entirely on-device

Beni also tops out at 17.9 mph, can jump obstacles up to 10 inches, and self-rights after a fall. It comes with quick-swap indoor and outdoor wheels, so it can handle a hardwood floor and a hiking trail without a wardrobe change.

Pricing and Availability

Beni is live on Kickstarter now, with Super Early Bird pricing starting at $549 for the Standard Combo. The campaign is scheduled to run until early August 2026, with broader production and a wider retail launch expected in September. The retail price is set to land around $799.

After all I’ve seen and read, Beni reminds me of a crossover between WALL-E, a toy robo-dog, and a food delivery robot. I can’t fully explain why, but it also freaks me out a little. But the specs look promising, and the crowd seems to think so, too. Nearly 1,000 people have already pledged $ 618,116 of $ 50,000 goal, with two months still to go. So, if you’re intrigued by this little robo-assistant, you can make your pledge on Kickstarter too and get in line.

Disclaimer: We only share crowdfunded projects we believe are legitimate. However, most of those projects are not in a delivery state. Make sure you look into the project and make an informed purchasing decision. While some projects may offer amazing rewards, others unfortunately may not deliver on their promises.

[via PetaPixel]

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