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Tips for exciting technology toys: programming robots? Snap!

2019-08-31T05:31:22.088Z


Robots suck the floor and mow lawns. They can also be a great toy for children. One even remembers faces.



Who deals with toys, has mostly fun and at the same time a guilty conscience. Because what brings all the fun, if you constantly have to justify your own play instinct? If only the game had a meaning! In fact, there is such a carefree, because meaningful toy. Robot! Not only are they fun, they also playfully teach the basics of programming - which is why you can give them to your kids as well. But which are the right ones?

In toy shops there are tons of these robots. Most of them look as if they would not survive the first tougher confrontation with reality - the nursery - within ten minutes. Or they already smell so much like chemistry through the pack that they really do not want to be in the apartment. They are cheap and behave the same way.

If you pay a little more, you get beautiful devices, which are maintained over years, provided with software and also have many fans who help with problems and even make small program patches available. In our family, three favorites have emerged.

Makeblock mBot

The first encounter with a mBot would almost have failed on the question of whether blue or purple is now the better color. My two children should choose a mBot as part of a holiday programming course and prepare together. The color question was pragmatically decided by the teacher by allocation and a short time later it was totally unimportant that the device was purple-metallic.

Wheels were mounted on a small metal box, circuit boards were installed, receiver parts bolted, cancer-scissors-like metal arms mounted and then brought to life via scratch - a simple but flexible programming language, which children understand in no time at all and which is used repeatedly in schools. This is controlled and programmed on the computer, tablets or even smartphones. Next, a course was set up in the room. The robots should handle it then. Several at the same time. What led to a big mess in which but then almost every mBot found its way.

Since then, the mBot is a great kid's favorite. For older people, there are programming books, extension sets with various sensors, and many online resources. And most importantly for my son: You can also remotely control the mBot if the programming does not do what it should. Sometimes you just have to be pragmatic.

What is it: A toy robot for self-construction, versatile expandable and with great design freedom in programming, which also makes the inner workings of a robot experienced. Programming via computer, tablet or smartphone.

Suitable for: Tinkerers and prospective programmers from childhood who want to defend their play instinct as a serious activity.

Price query time:
29.08.2019, 14:16 clock
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DISPLAY

Makeblock Robot Kit mBot-S v1.1 (Bluetooth Version)

label:

Make block

Price:

EUR 87.45

Buy at Amazon

Product information is purely editorial and independent. The so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the dealer when buying. More information here.

Wonder Workshop Dash

No, Dash is not a decent houseguard, but he is all the more cute. Like a hyperactive R2D2, he greets us after turning on wild felines and bees and moves as if he is stretching himself. And he shows in the first moments more personality than some people - which is quite a performance for four assembled plastic balls on wheels. In short, anyone who has even a little heart for absurd beings will instantly fall in love with Dash.

We spent it - and spent a few hours programming it. The floor in the living room still shows traces of the tape with which the children have marked labyrinths that are as perfect as possible. They have gradually approached the rides of Dash and with great enthusiasm the ideal line. And also taught him sounds that they have recorded themselves. Which, of course, led to some rides in which a belching fire engine pirouette was turning on the road and testing the nerves of the parents.

With extensions he learns to play a mini xylophone or can get Lego arms. Nice to Dash are the different apps with which he can be controlled. They differed by age and prior knowledge. Even for children who can not read yet, there is a programming app for smartphones and tablets.

What is this: toy robot, which makes itself very well as an artificial pet. It is versatile programmable and can play previously recorded sounds.

Suitable for: children who should playfully understand how programming works and who want to learn more later.

Price query time:
29.08.2019, 14:17 clock
No guarantee

DISPLAY

Wonder Workshop Dash Robot - playfully learning to program for children - toys

Manufacturer:

Wonder Workshop, Inc.

Price:

EUR 159,00

Buy at Amazon

Product information is purely editorial and independent. The so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the dealer when buying. More information here.

Anki Cozmo

Somewhat out of competition is Cozmo, a small robot who, although not yet old, is only in remnants (but quite cheap). Anki, the manufacturer, is broke. This is not related to the quality of the little robot, but rather with the price, which was well over 200 euros for a long time and thus was quite high for an electronic toy. Especially if at first glance this can only stack blocks.

But Cozmo can do much more. He has a small camera and various sensors, can (usually) straighten up when he falls over and is the only one of our robots that has artificial intelligence. He can remember faces and speaks to us by name - even if it always comes back to very strange pronunciations. No wonder, he tries it with an American accent. For a while, the children tried to call their parents the way Cozmo does.

Per app you can program Cozmo, let him always solve new tasks. With those in turn are always unlocked new features that can then be incorporated into his programming work. After work, the little more than two fists big robot drives into his dock and sits down to rest. Just as we know it from vacuum cleaner and lawnmower robots. Cozmo is so cute that you want to start it every day, drive around and have blocks stacked.

What's this: toy robot that was long at the top of the price scale. Greatly designed, full of small features and easy-to-use apps to program.

Suitable for: Children who are more careful with toys or people who want to show their play instincts.

Price query time:
29.08.2019, 14:18 clock
No guarantee

DISPLAY

Anki 000-00067 Cozmo robot, multicolored

Manufacturer:

Anki Inc.

Price:

EUR 129.66

Buy at Amazon

Product information is purely editorial and independent. The so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the dealer when buying. More information here.

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2019-08-31

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