Alvin Chae and Asaph Kim were frustrated with the lack of tools to teach kids about programming. Several products were available but not able to hold the interest of young learners. They attempted to build a small programmable robot system to engage children in programming and robotics, and added papercraft skins to add creativity to the process. Their Kamibot project is currently running a Kickstarter funding campaign.
The design goals for the project were affordability, user engagement and the ability to customize. The developers believe that customizing the look of the Kamibot and the programming functions will draw young learners in and keep them interested while they learn programming. The top of Kamibot can rotate independently of the body to make for better visuals, the most striking is the turret of the tank body rotating while the tank drives in a straight line.
Development was doing using the Arduino platform but Scratch and a system specific code called Kamiblock can also be used to program the robots. Apps are available for iOS and Android to control the bots through a smartphone or tablet. The interface looks sleek, futuristic, and more than able to pull in a young imagination.
An NRF51822 microcontroller acts as the robot’s brain and communicates through Bluetooth 4.0. A 1600 milliAmp hour battery can run the robots for 90 minutes continuously before needed to recharge. The kit itself contains four color changing LEDs, 2 DC motors, a servo motor, a piezo buzzer, three infrared sensors, an ultrasonic sensor and a gyro sensor.
This project stands out from the other programming and robotics learning systems because of the customization possibilities. It’s always promising for me to see projects fully utilize Art in STEAM educational projects. The amount of money I spend on cases to customize my eleven year old’s phone tells me that customization is a promising way to engage kids in learning. The campaign will run until March 17, 2016 and units are expected to ship in May.