littleBits Space Kit satellite orbit (via Littlebits)
If you’re a self-proclaimed nerd older than 10 years of age, you probably learned all about electrical engineering by tearing apart various household electronics and seeing if you could successfully rebuild them from scratch. (Old tube television for me) But, what if there were an easier way? LittleBits is back with more.
littleBits was launched by Ayah Bdeir in 2011 to combine the building freedom of Legos with functional electrical wiring for a true electrical engineering experience. Bdeir, who spoke at TED recently, said littleBits was created as a way to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by giving them first-hand experience building mini machines – and the technology isn’t just for kids, either. (Is STEM making a difference?)
littleBits was also developed to open the door to electrical engineering to adults with an interest in the subject who studied other disciplines during their studies. If you’ve always wanted to know how to take an Arduino board and build a Robot to do your evil bidding, littleBits may give you that foundation in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
Each littleBits kit comes equipped with electrically powered building blocks and lessons on engineering. For example, a basic lesson teaches children that a successful electronic circuit must have both a power source and output and also explains which colored wire is which. The kits are flying off the shelves and when NASA caught wind of the product, they wanted to partner – and did (because, well, who says no to NASA?).
The result: the littleBits Space Kit, powered by NASA. The $189 kit teaches nerds of all sizes and shapes how to build a star chart, wave generator, satellite orbit and mini Mars Rover, all electronically powered. Each space kit box comes with 12 magnetic modules, remote trigger, infrared LED sensor, NASA booklet on circuit applications, lesson plan on space and instructions for building each model.
littleBits plans to make the Space Kit programmable for your everyday hacker and will even host workshops for the kits in the near future, in the hopes of boosting interest in space travel and STEM.
littleBits plans to keep an ongoing partnership with NASA (good choice Bdeir) and has received a downpour of donations from international organizations, including True Ventures and Joi Ito, to keep the project going.
Does your child pretend to be an astronaut? The littleBits Space Kit may be the first step to him realizing that pipe dream.
C
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