Realbotix has deployed its M-Series humanoid robot and Optio AI teaching assistant at Salamanca City Central School District in New York, marking one of the first placements of a humanoid robot in a U.S. public school classroom. The initiative will initially support students enrolled in Woz ED AI and Robotics courses, with expansion planned to approximately 500 high school students in fall 2026. Salamanca holds a Woz ED STEM Pathway district designation, making it a natural partner for a program that combines commercial humanoid hardware with curriculum-integrated AI tutoring.
📢 We have launched Optio, our #AI teacher’s assistant, in a pilot program at Salamanca City Central School District on the Seneca Nation Reservation in New York.
We believe this pilot is the first of its kind, focused on how our tools can assist educators and students, with… pic.twitter.com/pOBEwkqn9U
— Realbotix (@RealbotixCorp) June 24, 2026
What Optio Does
Optio functions as an AI-powered teacher’s assistant and at-home tutor, enabling students to interact with personalized digital avatars trained on district-approved curriculum. The system provides concept reinforcement, one-on-one tutoring, multilingual homework assistance, and around-the-clock academic support accessible outside classroom hours.
The platform includes education-specific safety controls, district oversight, and safeguards against inappropriate responses. It is also designed to support neurodiverse learners through personalized learning pathways – an increasingly important consideration for school districts navigating diverse classroom needs with limited specialist staff.
The M-Series Robot in the Classroom
The M-Series humanoid robot is designed for face-to-face student interaction. It combines natural language processing, expressive facial movements, and real-time conversational capability to respond to questions, participate in discussions, and deliver educational content through spoken dialogue. The design intent is to move beyond screen-based AI interfaces toward embodied interaction – a distinction that Realbotix argues creates a more engaging and memorable learning experience.
Students in the Woz ED AI and Robotics courses will also use the robot as a study subject, gaining practical exposure to conversational AI, machine learning, robotics engineering, and human-machine collaboration through direct interaction with a deployed commercial system rather than a simulation.
“We are moving beyond lab demonstrations and pilots to deliver real, embodied AI directly into classrooms – supporting teachers, engaging students, and proving that advanced robotics can thrive in live educational environments,” said Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix.
The Broader Context
The Salamanca deployment is one of several emerging education-sector applications for humanoid and social robots. In December 2025, Norwegian firm No Isolation introduced the AV1 classroom robot, enabling children with long-term illnesses to attend lessons remotely. South Korea’s national humanoid program has identified education as a target deployment sector. Galaxy Corporation’s Robot Park in Seoul uses humanoid robots in interactive educational programs alongside entertainment.
For Realbotix, which exhibited at CES 2026 with a lineup of AI-powered humanoid robots and has positioned the company around human-centric robotic design, the school district deployment provides a real-world operational reference in a setting where reliability, safety certification, and age-appropriate interaction design are all scrutinized more closely than in industrial environments.
