mirobot, a programable drawing robot for kids
photos courtesy of mirobot
hacking is now a cool kid’s hobby. no longer for nerds, computer programming is stylish and social. with mirobot, young elon musks can get hands-on experience coding to create unique geometric shapes. mirobot arrives in a flat-packed, laser cut kit that is painless for children to assemble. it uses a wifi connection and be programmed using a number of free applications through a web browser. the software is aimed to accommodate different age ranges with varied education levels. the mirobot is a modern revamp of ‘logo’, a timeless educational programming language designed in 1967 by daniel g. borrow, wally feurzeig, seymour papert and cynthia solomon. it lets kids write commands that instruct the ‘turtle’ to produce line graphics on the screen. mirobot brings it from the screen to paper, with advanced connectivity, batteries and ‘arduino’, an open source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware.
the robot is drawing spirographs
kids can use it to draw beautiful geometric shapes, whilst at the same time learning about the mathematics and learning programming techniques to make it move. it has been tested over the past year on hundreds of users as part of a user-centred design process in order to eliminate all of the difficult parts of the design so that it is suitable for children. the main designer, ben pirt employed no screws, glue or permanent fastenings. everything slots together easily, with each piece holding the previous one in place. mirobot is also designed for disassembly so that schools can use it again and again, or if a child makes a mistake they can backtrack and fix it. kids can share their creations with others, forging dynamic networks of creativity and innovation.
many iterations have resulted in something that’s easy for children to build
the mirobot used in schools around the world
an assembled mirobot
designboom has received this project through its ‘DIY submissions’ feature, which welcomes readers to submit their own work for publication. see more designboom readers submissions here.
