Menlo Pi
Menlo Pi is a modular platform designed to orchestrate the many sensors and actuators that bring robots to life. It connects to the internet (cellular), logs critical data (SD), and enables robust communication (Ethernet) — all from one cohesive board.
Why it matters
Most robotics companies cobble together off-the-shelf compute that wasn’t designed for their needs. This creates fundamental limitations no software can overcome.
Building Menlo Pi gives us three critical advantages:
- We can open source the entire design, from schematics to routing to part selection
- Fine-tuned decisions about what goes into the final product
- Building internal expertise for increasingly complex hardware challenges
Traditional SBCs either pack every peripheral onto one board or leave critical features out entirely. We believe robots need something in between: a reliable “orchestrator” that handles connectivity, logging, and management without unnecessary clutter.
Base Carrier Board
- Cellular Built-In. Stay online anywhere, from factory floors to remote fields.
- Dedicated Logging. An onboard SD card slot for safe, consistent data capture.
- Ethernet-Ready. Seamless intra-robot networking to connect sensors, motors, and controllers.
Full Carrier Board
- Global-Shutter Camera. Clear, distortion-free vision for precise robotic tasks.
- Multi-Mic Array. Better noise cancellation and speech recognition.
- Quality Speakers. A clear voice for user interactions or alerts.
Distribution of Intelligence
Menlo Pi embodies our philosophy about intelligence distribution:
- Critical, latency-sensitive operations run locally
- Resource-intensive but non-time-critical workloads can be offloaded
- Transitions between local and cloud processing
- Progressive capability as connectivity allows
From bottom to top
Instead of starting with high-level problems like walking algorithms, we’re building from the foundation - how code interacts with physical systems in the first place.
This bottom-up approach ensures that our entire stack, from hardware to high-level intelligence, is coherent, efficient, and built for robotics from first principles.