---
title: "Robomate (ROBOMATES) review — the £99 tabletop gaming robot, examined"
description: "Robomate is a £99 two-wheeled self-balancing tabletop gaming robot from UK startup ROBOMATES, sold as a DIY kit or assembled at the same price. ESP32 brain, PCBs as structure, swappable 3D-printable bodies, any Bluetooth controller, and an open ecosystem with docs and a spare-parts store. Sold in batches that sell out."
last_updated: 2026-08-29
canonical: https://wobblebots.com/robots/robomate/
---

# Robomate

Robomate is a £99 two-wheeled self-balancing tabletop gaming robot from UK startup ROBOMATES, sold as a DIY kit or assembled at the same price. ESP32 brain, PCBs as structure, swappable 3D-printable bodies, any Bluetooth controller, and an open ecosystem with docs and a spare-parts store. Sold in batches that sell out.

## Key facts

- **Category**: kit
- **Maker**: ROBOMATES
- **Price**: £99 (as of 2026-08-28)
- **Subscription**: none
- **Cloud dependency**: none
- **API**: documented
- **SDK languages**: web-based HQ tuning
- **Availability**: preorder

## What it is

Robomate is a £99 two-wheeled tabletop gaming robot from ROBOMATES, a small UK operation with an unusually principled bill of materials: the circuit boards are the chassis. Kit or assembled costs the same £99, which tells you what the makers think the assembly is worth — they're right, it's the good part. An ESP32 runs it, any Bluetooth controller drives it, and the bodies are 3D-printable from published files.

## Observed behavior

A single Robomate self-balances, scoots, and falls over with dignity. The species only fully expresses itself in groups: robot football, tag, and push battles are the documented behaviors, unlocked through the maker's web-based HQ. Maker-community coverage (Hackster ran the engineering story) treats it as a small triumph of design-for-repair — the spare-parts store sells every board, motor, and fastener separately, which in this category is nearly unheard of.

## Living with it

The registry notes two practical realities. First, batches: Robomates are made in runs that sell out, and the published ship dates on the store have at times lagged reality — verify the current batch before promising one to a birthday. Second, import: UK shipping means EU buyers pay VAT and duty on arrival; budget it. Beyond that, the owner proposition is the healthiest kind in this registry — a repairable, open, multiplayer machine whose failure mode is a spare part, not a server shutdown. The coding-club program (free robots for STEM clubs) says something about the makers worth knowing. Peace between siblings lasts until the second unit is charged; the registry considers this a feature.

## Sources

- https://rbmates.com/products/robomate-kit (accessed 2026-08-28)
- https://docs.rbmates.com/ (accessed 2026-08-28)
- https://www.hackster.io/news/robomates-are-tabletop-battlebots-with-a-fascinating-engineering-story-97c82232d128 (accessed 2026-08-28)

Canonical page: https://wobblebots.com/robots/robomate/ · Catalog feed: https://wobblebots.com/api/robots.json (CC BY 4.0)