Recommend: Robotics Kit for 7yo

[JP]

Hello folks,

Can anyone recommend a Robotics Kit for a 7 year old?

Maybe just a snap together battery powered unit?

Regards,

JP

[Grant Lamontagne]

If memory serves, Chako oversees some robot competitions in the school he works in- he might have some input, although I'm pretty sure he deals more in high school aged kids.  I have looked at a number of kits here in the past, and it's probably the first place I would look for ideas:

http://www.canadarobotix.com/robot-kits

Something simple but cool would be a good way to start- maybe something solar powered?

Def

[JP]

Thanks for the link. How can we be sure that you aren't a Robot?

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[Grant Lamontagne]

You could always subject me to a Turing Test.  Or the Voight-Kampff Test.

Plus robots usually have a much better BMI than I do.   

Def

[Chako]

That is correct. I am involved with the robotics program at my workplace. We use Vex IQ for the intermediate grade 7/8 and Vex for grade 9 and up.

If you are looking for something that is highly adaptable, comes with programming software that will teach him or her how to program a robot in autonomous mode, and more importantly, will teach them STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) concepts...and will be able to compete in participating schools...I can highly recommend VEX IQ. The starter kits are a bit pricey however...but if you can swing it, you will get a lot of bang for your money.

Here is their web site.

https://www.vexrobotics.com/

The link that Def gave you is a good one as well. 

[JP]

Nice try Robot; effective use of self deprecating humour.

I have checked out a few of the kits.... I must remember that this is a gift for a child....not for me.




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[Vidar]

7 year old might be on the young side for Lego Mindstorm, but that is about as flexible as it gets. Some major industrial players backs it up, lego is lego of course, and it is widely used in educational settings. A bit expensive to get started though. (Unless you compare it to National Instruments Labview which it is based on; then it is quite the steal in comparision).

[JP]

That is correct. I am involved with the robotics program at my workplace. We use Vex IQ for the intermediate grade 7/8 and Vex for grade 9 and up.

If you are looking for something that is highly adaptable, comes with programming software that will teach him or her how to program a robot in autonomous mode, and more importantly, will teach them STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) concepts...and will be able to compete in participating schools...I can highly recommend VEX IQ. The starter kits are a bit pricey however...but if you can swing it, you will get a lot of bang for your money.

Here is their web site.

https://www.vexrobotics.com/

The link that Def gave you is a good one as well. 

Thanks Chako. I will continue to research.

What are the odds that Def is a Robot?
He hasn't complained of ankle trouble lately. I suspect that he was injected with nanobots to heal the ankle and that they have effectively taken control of him and he is more robot now than man......but the soul of humanity is still somewhere within him....just lost or forgotten....

[Chako]

A lot of the schools in my area competed using Lego Mindstorm. That has changed since VEX IQ came onto the scene.

[Vidar]

Maybe that will change over here too with time - who knows. That one was new to me

I do have quite a lot of National Instruments Compact Rio stuff though, and while insanely pricey also very very good. But that is more on the industrial automation side.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Nice try Robot; effective use of self deprecating humour.

I have checked out a few of the kits.... I must remember that this is a gift for a child....not for me.

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Yeah, you have me looking at robot kits again too.   

As for me being a robot, if I was, I would definitely be a bending unit....



Def

[JP]

We could get together and build a robot that opens and closes MT's.

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[Vidar]

How about a transformer like multi-tool that just transmogrify (ok, I might have made that word up?) into what you need instead of all this old school opening and closing business?

[Chako]

 

[Vidar]

    

[carboncopy101]

I suggest you teach coding and actuation alongside robotics to your kid. You need to explain how it works, how the servo moves. Something like arduino is good for kids. If you have a 3d printer available try making bob the biped, search for it in the internet.

You need to hook you kids into robotics first. Show your kid the product before you guys start building it. Build it together and be supportive.

[carboncopy101]

If you got the money, you can invest on a lego mindstorm kit. 

[JP]

If you got the money, you can invest on a lego mindstorm kit. 

I have been looking again today. A coworker has a 3D printer, so Bob the Biped is an option.

The mBots by makebot seem popular

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[Grant Lamontagne]

If you got the money, you can invest on a lego mindstorm kit. 

I have been looking again today. A coworker has a 3D printer, so Bob the Biped is an option.

The mBots by makebot seem popular

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So does a fellow forum member....

And I have always wanted to build a large exoskeleton geared towards construction.....

Know any welders? 

Def

[JP]

Nope. It sounds like an excuse for you to buy some welding gear.

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[Vidar]

One need excuses to buy welding gear? Oh no, I'm doing things all wrong! (I thought Grant had started on an exoskeleton using plaster anyway?)

It seems Bob the biped would mean making all the parts as well, and that they would be specific to that model. Thus few options for repurposeing the same parts towards other ideas or variations. (A 7 year old will be unlikely to 3D model and print any needed alternative parts). A kit like VEX or Lego is friendlier that way - you can make a lot of very different stuff with the same parts, thus making them more universal and enabling various creations. Maybe turning the focus more towards general principles than a specific model.

 

[JP]

Good tip!

Isn't an Iron Man suit just a big MT? Maybe a Mech Warrior first before we get into an AI like J.A.R.V.I.S.

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[Vidar]

I kind of like the idea of an exoskeleton that does all kinds of work without me having to be inside. I guess I'm more towards a robot taking general instructions rather than being driven or needing detailed programming. (I especially don't want to be inside in any scenario involving mech warriors

[Grant Lamontagne]

Vidar obviously wants to live for a long time.... where's the fun in that?   

Def

[Vidar]

I don't know? But dying seems even more boring, and seems to just last forever. Generally though I like to think there is no conflict between adding life to years and years to life.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I suppose that all depends on how you do it!

All the celebrities that died young are iconic.... more than they would have been if they got old!

Def

[Vidar]

Very true. As I'm unlikely to become an icon anyway, I think I'll just focus on staying alive 

[JP]

Sound strategy Vidar. Vegetables play a big role though. Were you made aware of this before you came to your conclusion?

Why wouldn't you want to be inside a very small but powerful bipedal excavator?

Ooooh, think of the Pacific Rim battlebots....minus the mind link part.

Ok ok, let's compromise on Real Steel bots.

[JP]

Oh no! On YouTube I have just found Robot Pro Wrestling. It is pretty awesome RC stuff.  I don't think the Robots are "thinking" for themselves.

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[carboncopy101]

If you got the money, you can invest on a lego mindstorm kit. 

I have been looking again today. A coworker has a 3D printer, so Bob the Biped is an option.

The mBots by makebot seem popular

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For bob the biped, you can use cardboard and let your kid design bob it will be fun.

The mbot is an overpriced product, there are chinese knockoffs of that and they are good enough.
The design for an mbot is a classic mobot so you wont go wrong with the cheaper alternatives.