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Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

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Re: Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

#43

Post by disown »

xondono wrote: post #39
disown wrote: post #31

The skeptic in me wonders if this is just an advertisement campaign for "programmable robots". > I want to show my kids what you can achieve with software development Have you tried a simple "hello world!" program? That did wonders for me. > and I think dealing with some physical thing that is controlled by your code is incredible fun Something physical that is controlled by code? You mean something like a computer m…

To a lot of people, what happens in a screen is just “stuff”. They can see “stuff” happening when they play videogames too. Having something touchable that moves according to what you told it to is very captivating for some people.

> Having something touchable that moves according to what you told it to is very captivating for some people.

To most people, it's "stuff" too.

Also my response was in reference to children learning software. Not mindlessly clicking guis. Writing, compiling and running "Hello World!" isn't "just stuff".

Re: Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

#44

Post by blacksmith_tb »

rihegher wrote: post #8

Thymio is a good starting point especially if your kids like to build things with Lego blocks since you can attached some on it. https://thymio.org

That's interesting, form-factor is close to the Edison[1] which I have been looking at also, but the Thymio has some extra sensors, I see. Price is steep though!

1: https://meetedison.com/

Re: Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

#45

Post by NoZZz »

formercoder wrote: post #12
nwsm wrote: post #4

LEGO Mindstorms is a really good line imo. Maybe higher level on the software side, but is great for what you're describing- getting beginners interested in coding through robotics.

Back on the original yellow brick you could hack it and write something like C++ for it IIRC. Not sure about the current generation.

It had NQC (Not Quite C) available for it.

Re: Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

#46

Post by tmaly »

nickloewen wrote: post #11
tmaly wrote: post #6

I would highly recommend the microbit driven cutebot. You can use block based programming which I find is much easier to get kids started on. There is even a Scratch interface for microbit, if you want to start a little slower. A new version of the microbit is coming out in November. You can do quite a lot with the new version see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24763120

I also recommend the cutebot. It's available from adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4575 The micro:bit itself is the ideal "physical thing that is controlled by your code" and it is indeed very fun. The cutebot is a great place to start but you might want to consider getting some other bits and pieces too. There are all kinds of breakout boards that will provide servo control, relays, etc, and any of those w…

I never thought about the blue tooth aspect. I could picture some interesting projects now.

I am also looking forward to the microphone on version 2. Voice control will be fun for kids.

Re: Ask HN: Best programmable robot for a child with SDK?

#47

Post by jacknews »

tmaly wrote: post #6

I would highly recommend the microbit driven cutebot. You can use block based programming which I find is much easier to get kids started on. There is even a Scratch interface for microbit, if you want to start a little slower. A new version of the microbit is coming out in November. You can do quite a lot with the new version see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24763120

Also the very similar Micro:Macqueen: https://www.dfrobot.com/product-1783.html
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