By Alex Silverman
Planet Classroom’s Problem Solvers series presents a short by Sarah Swetalla, Reachy 2: The Open Source Robot Helper.
Reachy 2 was created by Pollen Robotics, a company based in Bordeaux, France. In an age of rising AI, robots can sometimes feel cold or intimidating, but the team behind Reachy 2 has designed this humanoid robot to be open-source, ethical, and human-friendly. Powered by Python and ROS2 (Robot Operating System), Reachy 2 is built so developers, teachers, and students can experiment, learn, and create.
The film shows how the team operates the robot and highlights some of its early abilities: picking up objects and passing them to people, reenacting movie scenes, and interacting in ways that feel playful and engaging. By the end, Reachy 2 feels less like a distant sci-fi idea and more like a helpful assistant that could one day be part of everyday life.
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars.
Alex is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a major in Comedic Writing & Performance and a minor in Writing for Television. Apart from his work as part of the Planet Classroom Network Film Selection team at CMRubinWorld, he is a sketch writer, and pursuing a career in acting in New York City.
