{"id":"9a784e4d-61bd-4b47-876b-e156f022e3c6","slug":"cpsc-modular-robotics-battery-pack-burn-2020","kind":"recall","headline":"CPSC: Modular Robotics recalls rechargeable battery packs over short-circuit burn hazard (2020)","summary":"On April 30, 2020, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Modular Robotics (Dexter Industries) recalled 9.6V NiMH rechargeable battery packs because the battery packs can short circuit and overheat, posing a burn hazard. CPSC reported about 2,400 units recalled, with 4 reports of smoking or overheating; no injuries were reported. Remedy: free replacement battery pack. (CPSC Recall 20115.)","occurredAt":"2020-04-30T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"reviewed","modelId":"d4699e8c-ca4c-4432-a4d4-5310c7841248","deploymentId":"855a0b9f-2ac2-4c71-8ed4-63479848dd9d","companyId":"cca3e07c-7efc-45d7-9e53-c78e6537cd99","dataCenterId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"moderate","rootCauseCategory":"design_defect","rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":2400,"affectedUnitsBasis":"estimate","remediationStatus":"remediated","regulatoryAction":"recall_ordered","regulatoryBody":"CPSC","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":0,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":1,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":null,"legalOutcomeClass":"unknown","createdAt":"2026-06-25T02:49:27.212Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-25T10:11:52.732Z","model":{"id":"d4699e8c-ca4c-4432-a4d4-5310c7841248","companyId":"cca3e07c-7efc-45d7-9e53-c78e6537cd99","modelName":"Cubelets","slug":"modrobotics-cubelets","description":"Modular Robotics' Cubelets are magnetic modular robotic blocks that snap together (no wires, no programming) to build many different robots; the constructions can drive and respond to light, sound, and temperature. 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Sold via Amazon, RobotLAB, and directly. First production run was 100 beta-test kits in July 2011.","keyFacts":[],"reviewNote":null,"exposureHours":null,"deploymentMilesEstimate":null,"exposureBasis":null,"customerSegment":"retail","scaleTier":"commercial_10_99","contractValueUsd":null,"contractValueBasis":null,"customerCompanyId":null,"customerExternalName":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-21T04:21:21.325Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-21T14:22:47.885Z"},"company":{"id":"cca3e07c-7efc-45d7-9e53-c78e6537cd99","name":"Modular Robotics","slug":"modrobotics","description":"Modular Robotics is a Boulder, Colorado-based educational robotics company and [Carnegie mellon university](/companies/carnegie-mellon-university) spinoff, founded in 2008 by Eric Schweikardt and Mark D Gross. The company is best known for Cubelets — magnetic modular robot blocks that snap together without wires or programming to teach children STEM concepts including computational thinking, systems, and emergence. Modular Robotics also produces the GoPiGo, BrickPi, and GiggleBot robot kits following its 2019 acquisition of Dexter Industries.","status":"active","founded":2008,"hq":"Boulder, CO","hqLat":40.0149856,"hqLng":-105.270545,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-05T14:39:33.715Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"modrobotics.com","fundingTotal":null,"type":"hardware","roles":["robot_maker","robot_operator"],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":50,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.modrobotics.com/","title":"Modular Robotics"},{"url":"https://modrobotics.com/about-us/","label":"About Us - Modular Robotics","title":"About Us - Modular Robotics","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Modular Robotics (official)"},{"url":"https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2020/Modular-Robotics-Recalls-Rechargeable-Battery-Packs-Due-to-Burn-Hazard","label":"Modular Robotics Recalls Rechargeable Battery Packs Due to Burn Hazard","title":"Modular Robotics Recalls Rechargeable Battery Packs Due to Burn Hazard","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"CPSC.gov"},{"url":"https://edsurge.com/news/2019-09-30-yet-another-educational-robot-acquisition","label":"Yet Another Educational Robot Acquisition","title":"Yet Another Educational Robot Acquisition","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"EdSurge"},{"url":"https://modrobotics.com/","title":"Modular Robotics","sourceName":"Modular Robotics"},{"url":"https://modrobotics.com/contact-modular-robotics/","title":"Contact Modular Robotics","sourceName":"Modular Robotics"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Co-founder","value":"Mark D Gross"},{"label":"Spinoff","value":"Carnegie Mellon University"},{"label":"Funding","value":"NSF SBIR grants + Foundry Group venture capital + Techstars"},{"label":"Acquisition","value":"Acquired Dexter Industries on July 1, 2019"},{"label":"Products","value":"Cubelets, GoPiGo, BrickPi, GiggleBot"},{"label":"Awards","value":"2020 Teachers' Choice Award, 2019 Parents' Choice Recommended, 2019 Common Sense Education Top Pick"},{"label":"Financial stage","value":"Mature (bootstrapped + grant-funded, revenue-generating)"},{"label":"Modular Robotics company scope","value":"Modular Robotics presents Cubelets as modular robot blocks for learning robotics and computational thinking through hands-on construction ([Modular Robotics](https://modrobotics.com/))","sourceUrl":"https://modrobotics.com/"},{"label":"Boulder operating address","value":"Modular Robotics lists its contact address in Boulder, Colorado, on the company contact page ([Modular Robotics contact](https://modrobotics.com/contact-modular-robotics/))","sourceUrl":"https://modrobotics.com/contact-modular-robotics/"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":"Reviewed 2026-07-14: source-gated bulk flip (non-empty sources[]). Ben-approved.","atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-08T04:05:20.942Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-29T20:02:47.906Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"3eb28161-d69c-4caa-a0e7-9adf86a634a3","incidentId":"9a784e4d-61bd-4b47-876b-e156f022e3c6","url":"https://www.dexterindustries.com/modular-robotics-announces-recall-of-dexter-industries-rechargeable-battery-pack/","label":null,"publishedAt":"2020-04-30T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"Recall of Dexter Industries Rechargeable Battery Pack","sourceName":"Dexter Industries / Modular Robotics","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-09-29T18:34:26.556Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-29T18:34:26.556Z"},{"id":"84049945-463a-4db3-b81c-a7d3b0d0d99f","incidentId":"9a784e4d-61bd-4b47-876b-e156f022e3c6","url":"https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2020/Modular-Robotics-Recalls-Rechargeable-Battery-Packs","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"CPSC Recall — Modular Robotics Battery Packs","sourceName":"CPSC","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T01:56:23.125Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T01:56:23.125Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/cpsc-modular-robotics-battery-pack-burn-2020","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/cpsc-modular-robotics-battery-pack-burn-2020","headline":"CPSC: Modular Robotics recalls rechargeable battery packs over short-circuit burn hazard (2020)","description":"On April 30, 2020, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Modular Robotics (Dexter Industries) recalled 9.6V NiMH rechargeable battery packs because the battery packs can short circuit and overheat, posing a burn hazard. 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