When Canon Reeves’ sister asked him to build a robot with her, he couldn’t find an affordable kit able to give his sister the skills she wanted to develop. This led him and his team of engineers to develop robotics kits that teach the concepts of creativity, exploration and innovation. The engineers at MORE Technologies are now focused on the power of children as our hope for changing the world using technologies that haven’t even been invented yet. The group built a ‘robot ecosystem’ full of 3D printed components with an eye on expansion based on a user’s growth and skills. MOREbots are running a Kickstarter campaign to fund their first production pieces.
The Base Robot is built around an Arduino Uno controller but the campaign says that if a user prefers Raspberry Pi that can also work in the system. The base kit comes with the Bluetooth module, two motors, the motor controller shield, batteries, 3D printed parts, dowels, wires, and rubber bands. These components together can build the first robot and give a beginner the tools to learn prototyping, coding and electronics. The system is open source and encourages expansion using the pre-built expansion kit but also hopes that users will feel comfortable enough to create whatever they can think of in their head to solve a problem.
MOREbot’s community is called the Makerplace and houses tutorials, 3D printing filers, user projects and communication spaces. The campaign page is clear that entry level users will benefit from the lessons and the pre-built 3D printed components, and experienced makers can also use the platform to develop bigger and more capable projects. The field of teaching robotics platform is crowded and seems to grow every day, but the MOREbot’s system looks like a great addition because of its focus on expansion and community. There are lots of great company-built expansion projects on the campaign page and a few more online built by early users. My favorite is the Boatbot built by MORE’s R&D intern. The already successful campaign ends on April 21, 2019.