
Robotiky: Make coding into child's play - salter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robotiky/robotiky-make-coding-into-childs-play
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yaddayadda
Lost interest when I saw rewards that include "logins" and "licenses" combined
with no mention of plans to open source.

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.

~~~
salter
It is based on the arm mbed system.

[http://mbed.org/blog/entry/Robotiky-Robot-
Kickstarter/](http://mbed.org/blog/entry/Robotiky-Robot-Kickstarter/)

So it is fully hackable running anything you write on that.

~~~
yaddayadda
From your link, emphasis mine, "The team prototyped the idea using an mbed-
enabled NXP LPC1768 prototyping board, _and then transitioned to a full custom
design_ using the mbed HDK for NXP LPC11U24 board based on an ARM Cortex-M0+."

So the hardware may support hacking, but their software isn't designed to be
hacked (e.g., requiring licenses).

~~~
salter
I think it is important that the hardware is based on a big opensource
platform – it means you are never going to have an expensive paperweight. With
the software it is transitioning to use standard programming languages – so
you get the full hackability of those later on. If there was sufficient demand
from users then the software could be open sourced – definitely intend for
people to be able to create their own programs and share them.

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SeanLuke
Those bump sensors would be snapped off in ten minutes in my household. How
hard would it have been for them to slap a Sharp Infrared sensor or two on
there?

[http://www.sharpsme.com/optoelectronics/sensors/distance-
mea...](http://www.sharpsme.com/optoelectronics/sensors/distance-measuring-
sensors)

Having come back from Botball, I have to say that overall this robot doesn't
feel fully baked.

~~~
salter
Swapping out the bump sensors for IR is something that we really want to do,
we just have to finalise the manufacturing details.

The robot shown is just a prototype, the shipped product will have _at least_
the functionality we have stated - and probably a lot more.

~~~
SeanLuke
I'm sorry, but _what_? This is robot design 101. How could you not have
included this in your initial prototype?

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eloisant
So it's pretty much a physical Logo?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_\(programming_language\))

~~~
salter
We drew some inspiration from Logo, but Robotiky progresses to a much higher
level than Logo.

~~~
RodgerTheGreat
There is quite a bit more to Logo than turtle graphics. It is a complete
programming language; essentially a dynamically scoped m-expression Lisp with
support for fairly sophisticated functional programming[1]. In what way is
your system "much higher level"?

[1]
[http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/v1ch0/preface.html](http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/v1ch0/preface.html)

~~~
salter
Sorry - I had logo, and the turtle robot's that run it, mixed up:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(robot)](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).

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LukeWalsh
Personally I really like the Lego NXT sets. All three of my younger brothers
had the opportunity to use them through after school programs and it was a
great introduction to simple programming.

I guess the disadvantage is the higher price point.

~~~
ryanhuff
As you may know, Lego now has the EV3, which includes some enhancements.

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adaml_623
It looks great but their is a lack of an About Us section on the website.

I'm worried about the website not being maintained and the Robotiky becoming
an expensive paperweight.

~~~
salter
I can assure you that it will be maintained. John and I are committed to this
project and have been working on it full time, and will continue to do so.

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nosage
Sweet, the wheels it uses are from K'NEX.

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huhtenberg
£80 for a robot reward seems a bit too high.

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sloanesturz
Their very first argument is "But we also know that kids love playing games,
interacting with real objects, and making things."

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?

~~~
cheez
Chances are that kids learn how to be social from their parents. My kids read
(past and present tense) fantasy stories, program NXT, play lots of sports,
explore the backyard alone or with each other and are unfortunately fairly
independent, just like me.

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.

