Oct 13, 2015 | By Benedict
The team of developers behind the hugely promising Robo Wunderkind, a robotics and coding kit for kids which has been dubbed the "Lego of the future”, have added a Stretch Goal to their massively successful Kickstarter campaign. The Stretch Goal, which has been given a $300,000 target, consists of a proposal to create a platform for users on which they can share their 3D-printed designs for Robo accessories.
If you haven’t yet heard of Robo Wunderkind and are thinking ‘Wait a minute, Lego is still the future!’, let’s take a step back: Robo is a robotics startup from San Francisco, California, comprised of Rustem Akishbekov (founder and CEO), Anna Iarotska, and Yuri Levin. Rustem came up with the idea for Robo while building robots using the popular open-source electronic prototyping platform Arduino. Whilst Rustem himself is a highly skilled engineer, he was aware of how difficult it is for beginners to program robots such as those he was working with. Determined to give the gift of robotics to others, he set about finding a way to make learning coding and robotics as easy as child's play.
After assembling the Robo team and then moving to China in 2014 to take part in HAX, the hardware accelerator scheme, Rustem and co got development underway for the Robo Wunderkind: a building-blocks type robotics and coding kit, aimed at kids of all ages.
Robo Wunderkind is a set of blocks which can be used to build a range of functional robots. The blocks can be stuck together, just like Lego, to build larger structures. But these aren’t just any bricks: by using the Wunderkind app on any iOS or Android device, kids can program their robot to perform a range of actions, such as:
- drive around while avoiding obstacles
- play a recorded sound when somebody enters the room
- react to claps and other noises
- play music when somebody picks it up
- record and play voice messages
- hide from or follow sources of light
- solve mazes
- surprise parents with a weather forecast
- set off on a treasure hunt using its digital camera
- blink when the lights are turned off
To take their project forward, Robo started a Kickstarter campaign with an initial goal of $70,000, in order to order tooling and kickstart production. The campaign has been a huge success, way surpassing its target and nearing $200,000 with 16 days still to go. This massive surge of interest in the project inspired the team to add some Stretch Goals to the campaign in order to garner further support.
Rustem, Anna, and Yuri have pledged to develop a platform on which users can share designs for 3D printable Robo Wunderkind accessories. The Robo Wunderkind is fully compatible with traditional Lego blocks, using a designated adapter, and the team are encouraging users to add further variation and creativity to their robots by designing, printing, and sharing 3D printed parts. The Stretch Goal target has been set at $300,000, and few would bet against them reaching it. A pledge of $149 will get you a Robo Wunderkind starter kit, $249 is sufficient to receive an advanced kit, and $499 is the cost for a professional kit. There is a range of further options available on the Robo Wunderkind Kickstarter page.
Technical specifications of the Robo Wunderkind:
- Allwinner A13 SoC
- RAM 256 MB DDR3
- Storage eMMC Flash Memory 4 GB
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n networking
- Bluetooth 2.1/3.0/4.0 for control connectivity
- Pass-through bi-directional communication between all modules via I2C bus
- Speaker and microphone for sound feedback
- Motors, servos and various sensors according to the type of set
- Status LED & Power Button Lithium-Polymer battery (3.7V/1500mAh) including an undervoltage/overvoltage cutoff
- Additional battery modules are available
- Micro USB charging
- Software libraries and examples for an easy start
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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So they never heard af LEGO Mindstorms??