The XGO is a lap-size robot dog, marketed as “a metal pet on your desk,” but it’s primarily sold as a learning tool for programmers with an interest in machine vision and robotic automation.

Robot pet fans should know, however, that this metallic mutt has more in common with Boston Dynamics’ ominously-styled Spot than with Sony’s consciously cute Aibo, with a remarkably well-made and solidly engineered metal body. In movement, its servos whirr and its plastic feet click satisfyingly across the floor.

Luwu Dynamics is clear that the XGO-Mini2 is more of a tool than a companion. Also, at $849, it is much more affordable and considerably more open to tinkering than Sony’s $2,900 robot pet and more than $73,000 cheaper than Boston Dynamics’ robotic quadruped.

The XGO range, as it’s sold, is fundamentally a robot body peripheral for a Raspberry Pi compute module. The robot’s screen-equipped “head” module, the XGO-CM4, houses a Raspberry Pi CM4 with 2 gigabytes of RAM and an ESP32-based daughterboard that provides servo control for the body, an audio DAC and speaker, SD card slot, four buttons, and a camera.

There are also Micro HDMI and USB-C ports to connect to a display and input devices, plus two four-pin connectors for compatible components. The XGO-Mini2 supports the OAK-D-Lite computer vision module and LD06 LiDAR sensor.

I’ve been testing a preproduction version of XGO-Mini2, which means that my experience will differ from that of customers who receive the fully polished release version. Notably, the metal arm that allows XGO to pick up and put down objects was 3D-printed in metal for my review sample, the case with integrated screen for the compute unit was flimsier than the final design is expected to be, and elements of the software were still in active development during my testing, with accompanying documentation still in the process of being written.

The XGO-Lite 2 I got my hands on is the lighter-weight of the robot’s two versions. Its aluminum alloy body is a little less thick, and its servos are a little less powerful. The Lite version consequently has a longer battery life, providing an estimated two hours of use rather than the XGO-Mini2’s quoted one hour.

The battery drains even while the robot isn’t doing much, as it’s powering the compute module. It’ll run while plugged in, but you’ll want to avoid asking it to move while it’s trailing a power cable. If your XGO’s just hanging out on your desk unplugged while you’re programming it, it’s easy to get distracted as its battery life runs away, but an hour or so of functional time feels generous when you actually put the robot down to have it run your commands. Although the Raspberry Pi hardware can handle standby and wake states, nothing of this sort is implemented by default.

The body can also be used with other single-board computers and microcontrollers, such as the Micro:bit and Pico:ed, thanks to modules produced by longtime XGO collaborator Elecfreaks. Pleasingly, owners of a first-generation XGO-Mini will be able to order an XGO-Mini2 upgrade kit for their existing hardware, including the arm, driver board, and computing hardware.

The most disconcerting thing about XGO is the choice to present it in its AI behavior demos as a cute robot puppy. Several of its interactive modes feature an unpleasantly cutesy puppy face. Have it run its “Show” demo, which demonstrates all its (impressive!) preprogrammed moves, and you’ll be treated to a range of these performed to a song that informs us that “my puppy is a little baby dog.” It’s not good, even if you like saccharine dog imagery.

This is deeply dissonant with the cyberpunk look and feel of the robot dog’s metal body. Maker Luwu Dynamics wears its influences on its sleeve, and XGO looks more than a little like a scaled-down clone of Boston Dynamics’ Spot—famous as, among other things, a dancing militarized police dog. Fortunately, if you’re up for a bit of modding, almost everything about XGO’s behavior can be changed.