Robotics/Electronics for 12 Year Old Brother

Post Reply New Topic

Hi all,

I have a little brother who is into all things electronics and computer related, and I'm trying to figure out what to get him for his birthday/Christmas. He's had a few snap circuits kits before but I think he's above that level now. I was looking at Lego Mindstorms (he's a Lego kid), but they are expensive and from what I've heard the controller block is pretty weak.

The type of things he likes best are those that are very hands-on. He'd probably be fine even with basic soldering and such.
He's a December baby and asked for one big present this year instead of two smaller ones, so I'm looking for something especially cool. I'd like to stay under $150 or so.

What electronic toys have you enjoyed? What would you recommend for a 12 year old?

Interesting: As I've been where he is.

First thoughts:

Parallax.com

BOE-bot kit (Radio Shack has) is under $99. I'm not very familiar with it but is a small programmable robot base with wheels which I think connects to a PC through USB to be programmed, and other circuits can be made, bought, added, to enable it to do more... such as sense people, sense walls, or maybe follow lines of electrical tape on the floor or magic marker on large flattened cardboard boxes.

Hydra Game Console is around $199 and would be similar to the ATARI 800 system I had when I was that age, I do actually have a Hydra, and it is possible he could learn to make video games to play with friends, this comes with sample games and half-finished games. It is also possible to Hydra clones cheaper (which I have done), it's Processor is only $12, and similar motherboards are $39, but those do not come with software nor instructions nor accessories (keyboard, mouse, joystick,connectors) like the Hydra does. It is programmed while connected to the USB of a Windows PC, which means requires access to one. It connects to a TV. It is expandable, and more features (such as a SD card adaptor) are reasonably priced but additional, and that would allow storing thousands (instead of only 2) different games on it at a time. The console itself looks like a small motherboard without a case, which case could be built out of LEGO or something. Because this slightly exceeds your price guideline and may or may not become a major hobby for him (he'll either think it's the best electronic kit ever and spend a lot of time on it or become frustrated trying to learn how to program it, though it is easier to program than anything else I know of), I won't push the idea too much.

edit pending more ideas ...

Last edited by ValMikeSmith on 11 Dec 2008, 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good place to go for that sort of stuff is Edmund Scientific's robotics sections. That's where I've been getting my science toys since I was 4.

You could also look around Think Geek for some cool little things to give.

Actually, the opposite is true. I have worked with Lego Mindstorms to teach kids in that age category (and younger, and older) about basic robotics and programming. There are two general types of Mindstorms, the older RCX and the newer (read: superior and more costly) NXT.

Both are awesome. They come with a pictographic interface for programming the control brick. The RCX interface is inferior and limited, while the NXT gui is basically a complete functional language (in the computer science sense). There are tools available to allow you to code the NXT and RCX bricks in popular languages, like C.

IMHO the NXT is well worth the money if you are trying to get a child to be interested in programming / robotics. I nearly bought one for myself!

Below is an NXT that can solve a randomized Rubik's, and can be made with a single kit. Instructions for this robot and others are available, and I have personally made what you see below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fAn5A0HbhU&eurl=http://www.tiltedtwister.com/&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

I have used the NXT, with default tools only, to calculate "large" prime numbers (6+ digits), find Fibonacci numbers, etc. The children I worked with learned, over the course of ~12 hours over 5 days, how to build a robot to specs and complete a course in a competition.

I highly suggest getting the Lego Mindstorm's NXT for this 12 year old, even if you have to convince your parents to help out with the money.

I wish I had got things like this as a kid. I'd probably still be playing with them.

You are never too old to be a kid again....I am thinking about getting a Lego Mindstorm set for me to play with....And I am 50..

Thanks so much!

I've found quite a few things now that I could get my brother, and even more that I'd like to get for myself.

ValMikeSmith - Parallax is amazing. I can't believe I've never come across that site before. The Boe-bot looks pretty neat, but I think the Hydra console might be a bit more fitting. He hasn't really had an opportunity to get into programming yet and he is obsessed with video games, so it sounds like it might send his interests in a healthy direction. If I were to get this for him (since it definitely seems worth it), is there anything you'd recommend to go with it in the way of project ideas and such?

DNForrest - ThinkGeek is where his presents have come from for years! I think he has every child-friendly device from there, including a trebuchet...that he uses to fling lego people...to attack the dragons, of course.

Death_of_Pathos - It's good to hear something good about the Mindstorms. I actually saw them in action in a robotics course a few years ago at Carnegie Mellon, (they were designing models for robotic rescue vehicles), but I never actually got to use them. I thought they were the coolest thing ever but when I started reading reviews it was really disappointing. I get the feeling though that a lot of people buy them because they are neat, but don't actually bother learning how to make the robots do anything worthwhile. I think if I start saving up now, he might be able to have Mindstorms for Christmas next year.

See, now I'm starting to plan this out - get something to teach him how to program this year, get him something to program next year, buy him a bunch of electronics bits the year after that... and pretty soon he'll be taking over the world.

For learning the basics start out with Forrest M. Mims book "Getting Started in Electronics"


Available at Radio Shack or here: http://www.forrestmims.com/

The Mindstorms Robolab RCX Lego stuff is great. At Oregon State University, during your first year in the Chemical and Bio Engineering program, a key class you're required to take (the only ChE/BioE class your first year) is based entirely around Robolab and Matlab. To pass the class, your programmed vehicle has to complete an obstacle course where it follows a black line around a loop, through two hot boxes, then launch two "missiles" in a certain direction depending on which box was hotter, then do a victory dance to MIDI music. Ours played the Safety Dance whilst doing celebratory humps (only one professor got what it was doing).

Also worth considering is Arduino:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=666