AN Edinburgh-based robotics company has secured a six-figure order for its award-winning educational humanoid walking robot.

Robotical, in what marks its single biggest deal since it expanded into North America in 2021, is supplying its robot Marty – described as a “walking, dancing, football-playing robot that’s full of character and helps introduce children to the world of coding and robotics in a fun and imaginative way” – to schools in California.

Some 350 units have been rolled out to classrooms throughout the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) estate, which is the largest school district in Orange County.

From screen-free coding right through to advanced programming on Python, Marty is a flexible learning tool that “grows with students”. Robotical says it is the most affordable humanoid robot used in education and is an “exceptional ‘out-of-the-box’ STEM learning solution”.

Hal Speed, Robotical’s head of North America, commented: “Marty is an extremely versatile resource that enables children from as young as four to learn to code in a fun and engaging way.”

He added: “To make it as easy as possible for educators to deliver lessons that meet success criteria, we have an online learning portal that houses extensive curriculum-mapped teaching resources. We are delighted that CUSD has chosen to invest in Marty as their primary STEM learning tool and, having seen Marty in action, it seems both teachers and children are all really fired up to learn.”

The global education technology market size was valued at $123.40 billion in 2022 and is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research, Inc.

Robotical said: “Offering unparalleled breadth of learning progression from unplugged and block-based programming right through to Python, Marty is a flexible learning tool that grows with students.

“The physical product is supported with teaching materials that align to national and regional curricula and are complemented by learning activities that enable Marty to be integrated with other areas of the curriculum.”