RE: Marty the Robot

DAB — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:00:37 GMT

Great product to get kids into robotics.

Once they get hooked, then they will have the skills they need for the future.

DAB

RE: Marty the Robot

Jan Cumps — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 09:47:26 GMT

You need to blacken the eyebrows for better face expression...

RE: Marty the Robot

jw0752 — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 02:47:11 GMT

Hi Andy,

Great post. Very entertaining and I can see how building the robot and then programming it would be a nice way for kids of any age to have some fun. I will have to watch to see if Marty makes the swim across the pond.

John

RE: Marty the Robot

shabaz — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 00:53:18 GMT

Hi Andy,

Great review! It actually looks really awesome. Very unique look.

I was looking for a robot birthday present a couple of weeks ago for a 7-year old kid, and I too examined the robot landscape briefly, so here are some more 'bots that could be interesting, although these ones do not walk. I found the common factor was the cost, far higher than I wanted to spend : (

Dash - seems fairly robust but doesn't do much without spending a lot more on accessories

Cozmo - looks super interesting but the price is too high. It is not released in the UK yet..

Vortex - actually looks great, but I get the feeling at £99 it is a rip-off considering it is a basic wheeled platform

Makeblock mbot - looks reasonable-ish, I did briefly consider it but can't remember the reason why I struck it off.

In the end, I gave up and went with a construction set (Fischertechnik), because it looked more fun and was cheaper.

Incidentally there is an Intel-based Makeblock robot kit too. No idea if it is still being sold. Also, there are the very large Meccano robots which as you mention do have a walk-like capability (I think it actually has rollers on the feet however, but I didn't examine it too closely), like the Meccanoid 2.0.