Imagine a tiny wearable robot, which can travel over your clothes on a railway-like track.

Along the way, it can monitor your vital signs, coach you in your workout, or even teach you dance moves.

That’s the “Calico”, developed at the University of Maryland’s Small Artifacts Lab.

Anup Sathya,, currently a Doctoral student at the University of Chicago, is one of the developers of Calico.

During his time at the University of Maryland’s SMART Lab, Anup and his team created the tiny robot and took it through several iterations. The current model weighs less than an ounce, is smaller than two inches in diameter, and operates on a track inspired by railways!

And that’s just the beginning.

Among the applications of Calico, Anup says, is an intriguing performance/improvisation application which SMART Lab previewed as an experiment. More updates are forthcoming!

Anup shared the story of Calico, explained how it works and offered a closer look at the creative process behind this miniature robot.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Anup first became interested in electronics, computer science and robotics:

• The story of Calico;

• A unique “arts” application of the tiny robot;

• Some of the ways the design evolved over time;

• How students first reacted when seeing the tiny robot on-campus at University of Maryland;

• The reasons behind the name “Calico”;

• Resources Anup recommends;

• A closer look at the tasks Calico can perform;

• How the robot “coaches” a wearer;

• How users can transfer the robot, from one person to another;

• Some of the aesthetic considerations involved in creating Calico;

• The reason behind a statement Anup makes, about his research, on his personal website.