Robotiky: Make coding into child's play(kickstarter.com) |
Robotiky: Make coding into child's play(kickstarter.com) |
I don't mind (and on occasion actually enjoy) paying to help develop or maintain software, ditto to help develop, maintain, or manufacture hardware. But something like this should be fully hackable, and these days I won't pay for anything less.
http://mbed.org/blog/entry/Robotiky-Robot-Kickstarter/
So it is fully hackable running anything you write on that.
So the hardware may support hacking, but their software isn't designed to be hacked (e.g., requiring licenses).
http://www.sharpsme.com/optoelectronics/sensors/distance-mea...
Having come back from Botball, I have to say that overall this robot doesn't feel fully baked.
The robot shown is just a prototype, the shipped product will have at least the functionality we have stated - and probably a lot more.
I guess the disadvantage is the higher price point.
I'm worried about the website not being maintained and the Robotiky becoming an expensive paperweight.
Childhood should be about goofing off on tricycles, playing tag, and creating awesome Lego towers from a big box of blocks. I love programming now, but if I had started coding as young as the children in the video, I don't know if I'd be as jazzed about it as an adult.
Maybe the kids who play with these programmer-esque type of toys can potentially write better code when they're adults, but is it possible that the kids playing outside, reading the Magic Treehouse, or drawing pictures will be more well rounded, more cooperative, and overall better colleagues?
I do my best to raise them to be social and to make close friendships. They are quite the social butterflies but as their main influence, they copy a lot of my habits. As I had been on my own since my late teens, this meant that I've learned not to depend on others and surprise, they copied me.
Maybe these personality traits are correlated with programming robots but I don't think programming robots causes it. It's more what they are taught at home.
I spent my childhood doing all those things -- including programming from a fairly early age. I'm still jazzed about it as an adult. In fact, moreso than lots of people I know who do it professionally, but got into it later.
I don't see why this is a bad thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(robot)
I was comparing the turtle robot I used when I was younger to the Robotiky robot (I appreciate that it is also possible to build a very sophisticated turtle robot).