Hexbug
robotic insect
Hexbug (stylized as HEXBUG) is a brand of infrared and automaton toys developed and distributed by Spin Master. HEXBUG uses many elements found in BEAM robotics. First piloted in the US through RadioShack, HEXBUG is now sold in most major retail stores. The original HEXBUGs are based on six-legged arthropods but now come in several different varieties. The name "HEXBUG" refers to the six-sided packaging in which it is sold, rather than its number of legs.
History
HEXBUG was founded in 2007 in Greenville, Texas, by Innovation First International, Inc., a company that was founded in 1996 to develop small-scale robotic products, mostly for The FIRST Robotics Competition. HEXBUG was designed to expand the company's presence in the retail toy market, as well as add to the experience created by VEX Robotics, a subsidiary brand of Innovation First International, Inc. that specializes in robotics built in a fashion similar to Erector Sets, and Rack Solutions, which is an engineering firm that specializes in information technology products. However, in 2023, HEXBUG was acquired by Spin Master, and renamed to Hex Bot.Hex Bots, Spin Master, 2025-04-03
Some products of HEXBUG have been sold abroad, such as in Japan by toymaker Bandai. The packaging in these international versions differs slightly, as the HEXBUG logo is blue instead of its signature orange and grey appearance, but the products still retain their signature hexagonal packaging.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hexbug” is robotic insect. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hexbug, robotic and insect, not as a finished interpretation.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5748962. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007, 1996, 2023 and 2025.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hexbug” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.