Ozobot, one of the world’s smallest programmable robots, brought along a new friend to the 2015 International CES. The new 1-inch Ozobot Bit is designed to teach kids how to program with an intuitive color-based programming language.
Ozobot Bit can sense colored lines, detect patterns such as intersections, read flashing light codes, and execute a total of 500 commands.
Ozobot Bit is basically identical to the original Ozobot, offering all the same capabilities, but it adds in Google’s Blockly coding editor. The idea is to have kids expand their coding know-how and see the results unfold in front of them in near real-time.
The programming is done on a mobile device, either iOS or Android. Once the coding is complete, just put Ozobot Bit on the corresponding surface and hit a button and the Ozobot app will immediately communicate the commands to the robot.
Ozobot Bit move at speeds up to 3.5 inches/sec and can be used on paper, game boards, tablets and smartphones. Once the coding has been set,
“We are establishing Ozobot as a platform built around programmable robots that fuse together learning and playing,” says Armen Kroyan, CTO of Evollve Inc., the company that makes Ozobot. “Ozobot’s small size, intelligence and versatility make it into the ultimate smart game piece that plays in both physical and digital worlds.
“On the STEM learning and programming side, children at a young age get an introduction to basic programming concepts, logic and deductive reasoning using Ozobot’s intuitive and easy-to-grasp color-based code language. Older kids and adults can learn programming and access Ozobot’s more advanced capabilities using our block-based programming editor based on Google’s Blockly.”
Ozobot Bit will be available in Q2 2015 for $50 per set.
