🇨🇳 Elephant Robotics

About Elephant Robotics

Elephant Robotics was founded in Shenzhen, China in 2016 with a focus on making collaborative robotic arms accessible for research, education, and light industrial automation. The company's myCobot series became particularly successful in academic and research settings by combining very compact dimensions, low weight, and a comprehensive software ecosystem including support for ROS, Python, and blockly-style visual programming, all at a price point well below traditional cobot manufacturers.

The company's product philosophy emphasises integration simplicity: myCobot arms are designed to work out of the box with minimal setup, and the extensive documentation and community support reflect the company's origins serving researchers who need to get robots working quickly rather than spending weeks on integration. Elephant Robotics has also developed a range of end-effectors and accessories specifically designed for its arm series, reducing the integration work required for common applications.

Beyond the myCobot series, Elephant Robotics has developed more capable arms for heavier payloads and more demanding applications, while retaining the developer-friendly approach that built its reputation. The company maintains active communities on GitHub and Discord, which are particularly valuable for users of secondhand equipment who may not have manufacturer support.

Key Products

• myCobot 280: ultra-compact 6-axis collaborative arm; 250 g payload; primary platform for education and research
• myCobot Pro 600: larger 6-axis cobot for more demanding research and light industrial applications; 2 kg payload
• mechArm: desktop 6-axis arm in a different kinematic configuration
• myAGV: mobile robot base compatible with myCobot arms for mobile manipulation research

UK Market Presence

Elephant Robotics sells directly to UK customers through its international website and through Robotshop and specialist education technology distributors. myCobot 280 units start at around £350 to £700 depending on variant, making them among the most accessible 6-axis cobots available. Larger arms in the Pro series are priced from approximately £1,500 to £4,000.

Buying Used Elephant Robotics Equipment

Used myCobot arms are reasonably common on eBay UK and Gumtree, often from universities and schools refreshing equipment, typically at 40-65% of new pricing. When buying used, check all six joint servo motors for smooth motion and absence of backlash, verify the onboard Raspberry Pi or M5Stack compute module boots correctly, and test USB and serial connectivity. The strong open-source community means software support for older versions remains available independently of the manufacturer.