Robots

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Does anyone know of a programmable robot that would be good to to use for teaching programing to a 9 yr old who is VERY intelligent? I have a family who wants me to teach their 9 yr old son to program, and i think robots would be a much more interesting way to begin rather than the traditional "hello world" program.

I found this one http://shop.lego.com/product/?p=8547&La ... &ShipTo=US and am currently researching it.

You might also be able to find something "virtual" online that could be fun. Sorry I don't have an example, but there must be something suitable out there and for less expense too!

My 10 year old son who is in the gifted program at school has begged for a lego mindstorm...the thing is just a bit on the pricey side though.

There are books out there too on programming the thing...maybe you could check out a couple of the books at a local library or book store to make sure it's in your childs level before plucking down the bucks.

I bought an arduino.

Its not a robot, but it can be used as part of one. You connect it to your computer with USB and program it using a simple subset of C. There are connection points on it where you can attach devices like LED lights, sensors, or motor controllers. You'll need a second power supply for most motors as it only outputs 5 volts at a few milliamps.

There are also RC robot kits you can buy and would have to assemble (had one when i was about 12-15 years old). Not sure what the site would be, but google something like "robot kits" or along those lines (yes, i went through a robot phase . . . and still am to a degree ).

no such thing as an rc robot

there was a lego thing i used to have, it worked thru dos and was basic xyz coordinates play

Eggman would love it to be so, but the fact is, there is no true robots. Telerobotics is a practical technology, and all extant production level robots have remote control. Even the semi autonomous units on mars are carefully observed and outfitted with remote kill switches.

Those units in use around humans, such as at hospitals, all feature an easily accessed control panel. Any nurse or patient could stop it in seconds. Likewise, if they wander out of their assigned area, they will shut down. This is usually backed up by a network signal, a form of remote control.

Another good example of semi-autonomy are the robots used to explore volcanic craters. They get to pick their path, but human observers can override them.

There might be trusted semi-autonomous units, but they are still under some form of human control.

Research units are used in tightly constrained environments and likely only with humans immediately present. They are usually tethered to a machine which feeds them power. Again, these are not autonomous machines as would be required in a true robot.

once again, fuzzy was pwned to dust by reality

There is an emulator for programming robots using Java called Solarium that you can download for free, Java SunSPOT Emulator. I used it for learning some basic Java last Fall for the FIRST Robotics Competition. (Also you might want to suggest FIRST Lego League, there may been teams near-by. Its a competition for pre-high school students using Lego Mindstorms robots.)

The original Mindstorm is good for teaching a kid to program. The current one is a lot harder to program because there are more motors and a slew more sensors. The robot by Lynx motion is even more complicated. It's got something like 36 more motors on it's processor.

The NXT can't sustain AI with it's 32 bit processor. With the system files on it, it won't be able to fit the programming necessary. I think I know how to get mine to self program, but need more batteries to test my theory. My parents limit how many batteries I can have because I use them up really fast.

I was able to connect more than one motor to a port by using inverter cables connected to each other end to end. You can run up to 8 motors and still get it to work.

Reality being something that escapes Eggman.

Zoot took a summer camp/class about the NXT and also took a camp/class about engineering that gave him a chance to learn about CAD programming. He'd messed around with programming before that, but the camps seemed to help a lot. The NXT camp is part camp and part a recruitement/promotional thing for the Lego League. Zoot has no interest in competition but spends hours a day programming his NXT. He learned pretty well without starting with the first one. He's 13 now and has been at it for a few years. He's been obsessed with robots since he was 4.