Makeblock: open source ‘Lego for adults’
It’s being billed as “Lego for adults” and could mean your fondness for construction toys may no longer be just a guilty pleasure.
The new robotics kit created by China-based Makeblock provides all you need to relive your childhood, with nearly 100 Lego-compatible mechanical and electronic components.
But this time around you’re building robots for real, assembling modules that can create walking spider robots, beverage bots, or even your very own Wall-E.
“Makeblock is an aluminum version of Lego bricks,” explains Makeblock founder Jasen Wang. “Like Lego, parts can connect to each other easily and flexibly, but you don’t need nuts to make the connections, since we have a clever threaded slot design.”
All the pieces slot together in a construction process designed to be easy and intuitive, says Wang.
“We’ve done some work to make the electronics and software more friendly to beginners. We use uniform modular connectors with color tags to help you make the right connections, and we plan to have a smartphone app to let beginners interact with their robots without any programming.”
Construction toys like Lego capture the imagination of children and adults alike, says UK psychologist Jon Sutton.
“As children, Lego taught us to follow rules, but also to discard them,” says Sutton, who has written about the psychology of Lego.
“Lego is a simple, uniform, non-representational material that can be transformed into the most complex, individual objects representing the wildest of fantasy worlds.”
The fantasy world of play is increasingly being harnessed in education across the board, not just in robotics, says Jeff Schwarting, founder of SuperFunner, an organization that seeks to aid education through “gamification.”
“There’s a growing belief that play may be tied to learning — but it’s wrong. Play is learning,” says Schwarting.
Read the full report here.
Source CNN.com