Are you looking for the best gift for your child? Checkout this DIY robot kits for kids. Yes, this Arduino robot kits can be best gift for the child who is interested in building their own robot.
Robots are quite fascinating technological developments which have evolved drastically over the last couple of decades. Gone are the days where you have to join individual electronic components to make your own circuit you can call (barely!) a robot. The process was so cumbersome and time consuming and if you happen to be an engineering student a decade earlier, you will agree that things did NOT work more often than they did.
However, technology has improved drastically and so many DIY robot kits for kids are available in the market where you can make your own working robot in no time. These Arduino robot kits are available with varying difficulty levels and features as per your expertise and interest.
Why Such DIY Robot Kit is Require?
You might argue why such a robot kit is required in the first place?
- Well firstly, it can be a great bonding experience for the parents with the kids.
- Secondly, the robot kits for teens are probably the best way to understand the electronics, mechanics and programming in the form of a working model.
- Last but not the least, it will keep your kids away from TV and mobiles while educating them at the same time.
In this article we have compiled a list of 7 best DIY robot kits for kids which you can get on the market. So, let’s get started:
1. Finch Robot
The Finch Robot is an integrated DIY kit from BirdBrain Technologies LLC Pittsburgh, PA and comes with all the components soldered to avoid the hassle. The Finch Robot Kit aims at providing hands-on programming learning. Since the parts come soldered in, you don’t have to worry about loose nor wrong connections and you can focus entirely on the programming. The kit come with different sensors like light, temperature, obstacle etc which you can intuitively use in your programs as you get comfortable with it.
If you or your kids have more inclination to coding rather than electronics, this kit is ideal for you. The programming tools vary from graphics interface like Snap! (for beginners) to C# or C++ (for experts) to suit different age groups and expertise. The kit doesn’t require any external batteries as it uses an internal battery which can be charged by USB.
Price: The kit is priced at USD 99 (~ INR 7000/-) and offers a discount of 10% educational discount with free shipping across US.
2. Arduino Robot Kit
Arduino is unarguably the current frontier world-wide in open-source hardware and software platforms. The Arduino Robot Kit is aimed at beginners and the potential applications of the kit depends on your imagination. It consists of two programmable boards having their individual processors; the “Motor Board” controls the motors while the “Control Board” consists of sensors and is the decision-making part of the kit. The kit consists of different components like potentiometers, buttons, digital compass, motors and sensors. The kit has a color screen and speaker for output and can be configured and programmed by connecting the Arduino IDE through USB.
Like the Finch Robot, this Arduino Kit also focuses on programming. It comes soldered in and does not require any assembly. The Arduino kit is a result of years of thinking and planning to include all that can be ever wanted in a programming kit. The main USP of this kit is ease of use and extensive documentation available online for Arduino kits. The kit has sufficient expansion scope and you can couple it with different Arduino boards to get the results you desire. The kit includes an SD card reader, 4 rechargeable AA batteries along with its charger.
Price: The cost of the Arduino Robot Kit is USD 260 (~INR 18,250/-) which is a bit steep but if you consider the ease of usage and so many components in the kit, you know the price is justified and it’s not a bad deal!
3. LHI 250mm Pro Pure Carbon Fiber Quadcopter
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or Drones as we call them these days have unparalleled charm to every kid growing up. LHI is a Shenzhen based company known for building quadcopters and offers you a DIY Robot kit to build your own drone. The LHI 250 mm Pro Quadcopter Frame Kit comes with a carbon fiber frame which is lightweight and rugged. The kit also includes MT2204 motors (4 Nos.), a CC3D Flight Controller (1 No.), Simonk 12A ESC (4 Nos.) and Carbon Fiber Propellers (4 Nos.).
The flight controller is the heart and soul of the kit and runs on OpenPilot firmware. It consists of STM32 microcontroller which makes this kit one of the most advanced leisurely quadcopters. It is easily the best way to understand the basics operation of a drone. As if it was not interesting enough, think about the immense satisfaction of watching your drone fly high.
Price: The price of LHI 250mm Quadcopter is USD 113 (~ INR 7950/-) with free shipping across US.
4. Elegoo EL-KIT-012
Created in 2011, Elegoo Inc. focuses mainly on open source hardware research, development and production. The Elegoo EL-KIT-012 is an educational kit for absolute beginners and kids to get a hands-on experience about programming, electronics assembling and robotics knowledge. The smart car kit contains 24 different module parts including obstacle avoidance, line tracing module, infrared remote control etc.
The Elegoo EL-KIT-012 is powered by UNO R3 microcontroller board which makes it easy to customize the robot with different sensors and options included in the box. This easy to assemble kit can also be controlled via phone and tablets running on Android and iOS system. The module interface and ports are optimized so that the car can be assembled very quickly and intuitively with minimum chances of error. The kit is a complete package in itself including batteries, motors, chargers etc. and does not require any additional component for assembly and set up.
Price: The kit can be purchased at USD 99.99 (~INR 7,000/-) from the official website of Elegoo Inc., however other retailers such as Amazon have offered the product around USD 64.49 (~INR 4500/-)
5. SainSmart 17-DOF Biped Humanoid Kit
SainSmart is a company from Kansas well known for its DIY robotic kits on Arduino and Raspberry Pi-based platforms. The SainSmart 17-DOF Biped Robot Kit is a Humanoid using a precision digital servo system for agile action. The humanoid is controlled by a 32-channel gear driver board and a remote controller to imitate the actions of humans. Main chassis frame of the humanoid is made from ultra-light hard aluminum alloy with hardened surface treatment. The Robot Kit includes different body parts of the humanoid, servo drive control panel, wireless remote, USB cable and programming software with all the screws and gaskets so that it can be assembled without much difficulty.
The humanoid can be programmed with ease using a graphical interface programming for beginners. The expert users can write their own advanced code for the humanoid. The company boasts that the humanoid is equipped to participate in different robot shows including dance competition.
Price: The SainSmart 17-DOF Humanoid Kit is priced at USD 269.99 (~INR 19,000/-). It might sound a bit much but once you realize that you are getting a 1 feet tall robot that can be remotely controlled, it surely looks worth buying it.
6. Makeblock DIY Ultimate 2.0 Robot Kit:
Makeblock is another Shenzhen based company operating since 2013 which aims to help students in constructing their ideas into reality and taking the text-book education to an entirely new level. As the name suggests, the Ultimate Robot Kit has various options to help you build more than 10 different types of robots with this kit. This Arduino based kit is completely modular so that you can configure it for variety of applications from a robotic arm tank to a bartender. The mechanical parts of the kit are made from anodized aluminium with threaded-slots to build your own robot easily and quickly.
Assembling the robot does not require any soldering and its Bluetooth connection lets you control the robot with your smartphone or tablet. It is equally recommended for beginners as well as experts for different programming interfaces like Smart Device App Control (No Coding required), Scratch Programming (Minimum coding using a Graphical programming tool for kids) and full-blown Arduino and Python Programming for expert coders.
Price: This amazingly awesome DIY kit is available at USD 350 (~INR 24,575/-).
7. Zumo Robot Kit for Arduino
The Zumo Robot is offered by Pololu Corp, Las Vegas; a well-known company producing DIY robot kits for kids & teenagers since 2000. Probably the most difficult kit of the list, this kit is best suited for expert programmers as it requires a lot of coding. The Zumo kit is based on Arduino platform and contains of a Zumo Shield for Arduino, an integrated micro metal gear motors coupled to a pair of silicone tracks, dual motor drivers for the gearmotors, an array of six infrared reflectance sensors, a 3-axis accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyro for detecting impacts and tracking orientation. The kit also has a piezo buzzer for playing simple sounds or music.
The robot kit comes pre-assembled and does not require any assembly. However, you will need a suitable Arduino controller for programming and four AA size batteries to power it up. This robot kit is for experts as graphical programming is not possible and you have to write your own code. Different modules compatible with the controller can be integrated easily with additional lines of code. For those who are interested in assembly and soldering, the company also provides a more basic and cheaper version where the kit comes fully disassembled in a flat package.
Price: The product has exceptionally good ratings, is highly recommended and costs USD 99 (~INR 7000/-)
Conclusion:
Technology is rapidly evolving and the DIY robot kits provides the best way to adapt to it and keep your kids entertained at the same time. It does not matter where you yourself belong to engineering background or know the basics of programming as there are many kits which require merely configuring the components without any soldering and connections.
From humanoid to drones; from cars to robotic arms; we have tried to include the best kits for different applications and price ranges and hope that the list was intriguing as well as informative. So, if you are looking to surprise your kid with a gift, you know where to begin! Did we miss out on the kids you were interested in? Do let us know in the comments section.