ANDQC@CUNYVM (Andrew A. Beveridge) (12/18/90)
My daughter a pretty smart 9 year old attended a workshop yesterday, where
a number of Robots were used by kids, including the Armatron, the Omnibot,
Robbie Jr., and a HERO-JR.
She was completely captivated by the HERO. She knows a little bit about com-
puters. What computer programs that might interface with a Robot, or programs
that emulate robots exist? How much do they cost?
What other suggestions do you have about teaching a kid about Robots, without
breaking the Bank.
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Andrew A. Beveridge
Department of Sociology
Queens College and Graduate Center
City University of New York
209 Kissena Hall
Flushing, NY 11367 718-520-7093
P.S. In other words, she wants a Robot for Christmas (actually the HERO).
Suggestions?hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) (12/20/90)
In article <90352.102403ANDQC@CUNYVM.BITNET> ANDQC@CUNYVM (Andrew A. Beveridge) writes: }My daughter a pretty smart 9 year old attended a workshop yesterday, where }a number of Robots were used by kids, including the Armatron, the Omnibot, }Robbie Jr., and a HERO-JR. } }She was completely captivated by the HERO. She knows a little bit about com- }puters. What computer programs that might interface with a Robot, or programs }that emulate robots exist? How much do they cost? } }What other suggestions do you have about teaching a kid about Robots, without }breaking the Bank. Does she have any programming experience yet? If not, or if minimal, get her set up with Logo and Turtlegraphics or equivalent. Software robots are much less frustrating to deal with than the hardware variety. Best she learn the basic programming concepts in a consistent, non-breakable environment before she tries to deal with with the real world of mechanical slippage, friction and maintenance. } P.S. In other words, she wants a Robot for Christmas (actually the HERO). } Suggestions? Logo this year, HERO or equivalent next if she's still interested. BTW, last I heard Heath/Zenith took the HERO-2000 off the market due to mechanical bugs in the arm. I take it the HERO jr. wasn't affected, since it has a different arm. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp(+)TTI Illegitimis non 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 450-9111, x2483 Carborundum Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun | philabs | psivax}!ttidca!hollombe
brianre@sco.COM (Brian T. Reid) (12/20/90)
In article <90352.102403ANDQC@CUNYVM.BITNET> ANDQC@CUNYVM (Andrew A. Beveridge) writes: >My daughter a pretty smart 9 year old attended a workshop yesterday, where >a number of Robots were used by kids.. > >She was completely captivated by the HERO. > >What other suggestions do you have about teaching a kid about Robots, without >breaking the Bank. In its early incarnations Logo ( a graphics oriented computer language meant for kids) was intended to drive a robot-like device with a pen in it that ran around on the floor. Much of Logo's command set still reflects this concept. I don't know if there was ever a commercially produced implementation that included a turtle but I have read (old) books that offer plans/kits from organizations involved with Logo. I've always thought that this was an interesting idea and possibly fun to play with ( for the kids, honest :-) so you have prompted my asking: Does anyone know of a Logo implementation that is available that includes support for a physical turtle on some reasonable home machine. ( I guess that probably means MS-DOS, <sigh> :-) I would be interested in anything, for whatever platform, including plans, kits, technical documentation. Everything I've seen had a non-technical slant, ie. from an educator's point of view, or was for _very_ old platforms. If there is interest I can summarize e-mail responses. ( Is this the best group for this? I think it is, but... ) Andrew, if you're interested I can provide references from some of those books -- Logo itself is interesting for kids and I know there are implementations of that around.. -- Brian T. Reid | Not necessarily, Technical Staff | I could be arguing in my spare time! -MP SCO Canada, Inc \------------------------------------------------ InterNet: brianre@sco.COM Usenet: {uunet,utcsri,utzoo,sco}!scocan!brianre