I'm looking for ideas to make a robot, that would be appropriate for my 11 nephew. I will make it for him for Christmas.
He's very very smart, very good with math and computers. he has expressed an interest in robots and hopefully this will inspire him to continue his interests in robots.
We live 3000 miles apart so we can not work on it together. (working on it with him would be my preference)
I have no children of my own. I'm not looking for ideas on making robots in general, but what I'm really looking for is idea's specifically for a brilliant 11 year old boy. what would appeal to him? what would bore him? what features or functions would make him say "I want to make one"? what have you built for an 11 or 12 year old? was it a hit or miss?
my budget is high (he's my nephew afterall). over the past few months, Ive been accumulating many different kinds of robot parts in anticipation of building many robots in the future. I think I have 1 or 2 of everything :-) I'll get a few more if I need to.
no project is too intimidating for me. I have a very good track record of accomplishing anything I start, especially if its the first time. I hardly ever fail. I will post my progress here on LMR as I build it. thats the least I can do if you give me some good ideas. so lets here it!
First, make your robot on experimental board, so he can change it when he learn more things about electronics and robotics. Plus use some easy to learn brain like arduino or similar. If your budget is high, you can add more futures to it. Like line following, rf control, avoiding obstacles, maybe turning for 180 degrees if you clap with hands, etc. If your budget even higher you can add some even more (complex) functions: robot hand on it and something like that… And put him a Santa hat
when I was 11, my uncle sent me a bread board on a small chssi with motore, a bunch of basic electronic components (resistor, capacitor, transistor, even an IR receiver!), a line following board, and a book of circuits. I don’t suggest a microcontroler yet.
When i was younger, I got a robotic arm for Christmas, it could be taken appart, re-programmed. I think something like that possible with a sleve with bend sensors to control the arm would be absolutly awesome.
I’m not sure that giving him a prebuilt robot is the way to go. Watching an obstacle avoidance robot running around on the floor is fun for the one who built it but gets a bit boring for everyone else. They are a bit like children. The parent (maker) loves them and can watch them for hours, others can think it is fun and then move on. So I would rather go for some sort of kit. Either something that you put together, or a complete commercial kit.
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I guess I’ll be checking into the Lego Mindstorm product line. I did not consider that. I think he can build stuff, but I dont think he’s done anything with programming yet. so hopefully mindstorm will have kid-friendly programming, etc. maybe I’ll buy one for myself also so I can send programs to him for it.
When I was a kid, long before easy and cheap access to microcontrollers, just as the earth was beginning to cool, I collected every electrical part I could scrounge. I had wires, batteries, light bulbs, speakers, wires (I know I already said wires, but I had a lot of wires), small motors, etc.
Radio Shack (yes, Radio Shack) has a note book full of electronic circuits you can build. There’s plenty online as well. There’s a lot of satisfaction to making blinking LEDs, buzzers, clickers, spinners and what have you.
Of course, there’s a lot more cool stuff out there now. Plenty of robot kits, with or without microcontrollers. If your nephew is already into computers, it might not be too early to start on a simple microcontroller. Otherwise, I agree with earlier comments about starting more simply.
I have one kit from Cheney Electronics. I think I bought it from the Electronic Goldmine. It has a basic robot platform and breadboard with simple electronics and sensors. No microcontrollers, but a great introduction to both electronics and robotics.
are the Evil Genius line of books. There’s one for robot projects that a 11-12 year old could follow. It even comes with a PCB that either you or he could put together. You could also go through the book and buy a bag of electronics parts for the projects for him to work with as well. The book uses the Basic Stamp 2 microcontroller toward the end when the author gets to using microcontrollers. It’s full of interesting projects aimed at teaching electronics from a robotics perspective.
