Scientists have developed a robot that acts like a toddler to better understand child development.

The Child-Robot with Biomimetic Body, or CB2, was developed by a team of researchers at Osaka University and is designed to move just like a real child between 1 and 3 years old.

CB2, 1.3 meters tall and weighing 33 kg, changes facial expressions, speaks and can rock back and forth.

The robot, fitted with 56 actuators, has smooth movements. It has 197 sensors for touch, small cameras working as eyes and an audio sensor.

Minoru Asada, a professor at Osaka University who leads the project for the Science and Technology Agency, said the robot was developed to learn more about child development.

"Our goal is to study human recognition development, such as how the child learns a language, recognizes objects and learns to communicate," he said.

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