Finally – never again step barefoot on a LEGO® brick in the night! Leguino is now on Kickstarter.

BELFAST, UK – March 2018 –  Leguino launches on Kickstarter and creates the opportunity to anyone to invent. Leguino has built a Sweeper Bot which collects all the lost LEGO® bricks from your floor. The Leguino team made it possible by using the brick shaped Leguino electronics and designed the software for this unique robot with Leguino Visuino, the visual drag and drop software development environment.
By removing the barriers between the worlds of LEGO® and Arduino™, Raspberry Pi and the endless range of electronics – Leguino is a unique marriage to break barriers and overrides limitations: It opens the door for building your next level Lego® project. Leguino parts deliver the bridge. Finally!

Imagine the typical LEGO® projects: Most of them are locked in the LEGO® environment and the really hot and interesting electronic modules which are available for Arduino™ or Raspberry Pi and other compatible components cannot be integrated properly. They do not fit. By using Leguino parts these obstacles are removed: Revert to the endless Arduino™ solutions and add them to your new breathtaking LEGO® projects. Make your prototypes with LEGO® and integrate unique Leguino devices with crazy functions: Microphones, infrared data transfer, OLED displays, humidity sensors or why not try out a real webserver? Connect your LEGO® project to the Internet and override all limitations.

Inventing software with Leguino Visuino is as easy as connecting LEGO® bricks. For those people who are not skilled in writing software, developing programs has never been easier. Instead of writing hundreds of lines of programming code – Leguino Visuino, the visual drag and drop software development environment does all the hard work for you. Just focus on what you will build with bricks, wire them together and see it running in minutes!

The Leguino Vision

The Leguino Vision started with a very straight forward approach: Merging simple tools together to empower people to overcome obstacles while inventing. The Leguino belief is that by lowering barriers more and more people can develop their dream projects and follow their own ideas and inspirations. Ones‘ age or manual skills may not restrict anymore.

Leguino – you are the inventor!

Leguino fills the gap between LEGO® and Arduino™ and Raspberry Pi – now presented on Kickstarter

BELFAST, UK – March 2018 – Leguino is debuting on Kickstarter to fill the gap between two worlds of creation: LEGO® and Arduino™. The Leguino parts contain Arduino™ and Raspberry Pi compatible electronics and houses them into LEGO® compatible brick cases. Leguino delivers standard brick compatible cases for common Arduino and Raspberry Pi electronic components to enhance LEGO® projects and opens them to endless possibilities.

Imagine the typical LEGO® projects: Most of them are locked in the LEGO® environment and the really hot and interesting electronic modules which are available for Arduino™ or Raspberry Pi and other compatible components cannot be integrated properly. They do not fit. By using Leguino parts these obstacles are removed: Revert to the endless Arduino™ solutions and add them to your new breathtaking LEGO® projects. Make your prototypes with LEGO® and integrate unique Leguino devices with crazy functions: Microphones, infrared data transfer, OLED displays, humidity sensors or why not try out a real webserver? Connect your LEGO® project to the Internet and override all limitations.

Inventing software with Leguino Visuino is as easy as connecting LEGO® bricks. For those people who are not skilled in writing software, developing programs has never been easier. Instead of writing hundreds of lines of programming code – Leguino Visuino, the visual drag and drop software development environment does all the hard work for you. Just focus on what you will build with bricks, wire them together and see it running in minutes!

The Leguino Vision

The Leguino Vision started with a very straight forward approach: Merging simple tools together to empower people to overcome obstacles while inventing. The Leguino belief is that by lowering barriers more and more people can develop their dream projects and follow their own ideas and inspirations. Ones‘ age or manual skills may not restrict anymore.

Leguino – you are the inventor!

The Founder of Leguino

The Leguino founder Urs Markus Ernst Streidl has a demonstrated track record for successfully founding companys over 25 years. He has a degree in computer sciences and economics and has (co-)founded 8 tech companys. He is the winner of the German nation-wide Start-Up competition in 2006. He lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland where he cofounded one of his last ventures, BrainWaveBank LTD (one of the hottest Startups in Ireland). This venture has secured in excess of $1.5M in seed capital and R&D funding to date.
Leguino is the first project which integrates the knowledge of his own children (ages 7 and 9). They are the pros and enthusiasts at Leguino.

Bell Robot announces the crowdfunding campaign and launch of their modular interactive robotics learning kit for kids

Mabot takes learning and makes it fun. Their interactive robotics learning kit is an educational toy designed especially for kids and youngsters. It’s the first modular robot kit that allows nearly endless combinations of robot builds that is simple to use, educational, as well as fun for the whole family.   

 

Children are naturally curious and as any parent knows, they love electronics such as phones, tablets, video games and toys. The team behind Mabot sought a way to take this natural tendency and turn it into fun, interactive learning that builds problem solving skills and creativity in kids. They designed an incredible robotic system that uses modular components to create robots and powered vehicles that can move, sense their surroundings and interact with the environment. Mabot is like a next generation remote control vehicle, one that utilizes advanced robotic capabilities.  

Using a series of modular balls that easily connect together, a virtually endless number of robots can be built. Building and modifying robots is fast and simple using hot-plugin, a feature that allows the balls to be connected and disconnected without the need to turn off the power. A Battery Ball powers other components that drive the robot, sense colors and objects nearby and even pick things up. A Brain Ball controls it all along with two intuitive Apps that make programming fun and easy, the Mabot Go App and the more advanced, Mabot IDE App. 

For beginners, the Mabot Go App includes pre-set, step-by-step build instructions for more than 10 robots that guide new builders toward their goal while demonstrating basic coding. Once users are ready to take it to the next level, the advanced Mabot IDE App is used to program the robot for more complicated tasks using coding blocks similar to Arduino. Having two Apps creates a pathway to learning for young programmers who can learn and grow at their own pace.  

Mixing and matching the robotic modules lets kids create robots with different looks, uses and functions. The Mabot is also compatible with the popular Lego brand toys, putting a modern spin on a classic kid’s favorite and adding another dimension to creative building. The robot kit and companion app make learning robotics and coding fun for kids of all ages and provides a positive family activity.   

“As engineers, robotics experts and parents, we realize the importance of raising children with valuable skills for the future. But we also know that learning must be fun in order to fully engage kids. We designed Mabot with fun as a first priority and then created a learning system that kids love.” Bell Robots CEO, Alvin Wang 

 The Team behind Mabot is Bell Educational Group, a leader in robotic learning curriculums for kids. They developed Mabot in response to feedback from parents and teachers about the difficulty of getting kids interested in STEM learning. STEM is an educational system that emphasizes a holistic approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that encourages collaboration, problem solving and creativity in children. This proven approach to learning is vital for early childhood development and results in lifelong skills. Mabot was created as a powerful learning tool for youngsters age 6 and up to engage kids in a totally new and fun way of learning robotics and programming. 

 Mabot is currently being launched via a Kickstarter campaign so they can reward early adopters with special deals and pricing.  

Summary: Bell Robot announces the launch of Mabot an interactive robotics learning kit for children that teaches creative building, coding and robotics.  

Algobrix Makes Coders Out of Kids With Its LEGO Compatible Coding Blocks on Kickstarter

DELAWARE, USA  – July 25, 2017 – Algobrix is announcing the launch of its Kickstarter campaign today to make programming simple and fun with its play-based coding blocks. Algobrix turn traditional LEGOs into programmable robots through tangible lines of code. Each coding-block teaches children the basics of STEM with its step by step coding activities for a kid-friendly introduction to programming.

Imagine your typical LEGO set growing up. Chances are you would build a car, play with it and deconstruct it shortly after being left underwhelmed or frustrated. With Algobrix, play is limitless and screenless so kids (or kids at heart), can develop greater analytical thinking skills while learning the basics of coding while creating moving masterpieces. All it takes to upgrade your standard-block play to coding-block play is a bit of programming and imagination. Creators simply:

  • Snap: Each block represents a unique function and commands the AlgoBot to play audio, light or move in any direction.
  • Set: The parameters are stacked on top of the function block to determine specifically how the AlgoBot will carry out the function and for how long.
  • Activate: Once the function blocks are snapped together, a sequence is triggered and the AlgoBot is set into motion.
  • Explore: AlgoBots come with a variety of mats and activity cards to enhance and elevate the learning experience.

Why program on a screen when you can program with your hands? Algobrix takes standard, computer code and allows you to hold it in your hands in the form of coding blocks.  Now, ordinary LEGOs are transformed to create moving AlgoBots. AlgoBots light up, make sounds and explore the space around you through simple code.

“Kids find it difficult to sit next to a computer and learn how to program,” describes co-founder Amir Asor. “The first problem is language related and the second problem is that they don’t enjoy the experience. Algobrix changes what is stereotypically a boring, confined experience to a playful, intuitive, and fun learning experience while maintaining a high, positive correlation with coding languages that leave a lasting impression.”

“The third industrial revolution is around the corner,” says CTO and co-founder Dr. Danny Eizicovits. “We are starting to see robots in hospitals, schools, and even our homes. By teaching our kids to communicate with our robotic counterparts, we are hoping to give them the proper tools, and competitive edge in a world that is moving further towards robotics every day.”

 

About

Algobrix was founded in April 2016 after Amir Asor and Dr. Danny Eizicovits came together with a collective goal to enhance and redefine how children learn to code. The company’s mission is to introduce young children to an entertaining and effective style of education that is based on fun, intuition, and the joy of LEGO-building through the implementation of coding and its patented coding blocks.

Amir, CEO and Co-Founder, established his first educational company, Young Engineers, in 2008 and was named YBI Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011. Following his success with Young Engineers, Amir co-founded BRIXO, an electric building blocks company, that raised $1.5 Million through Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Algobrix’s CTO, Danny Eizicovits, received a PhD in Robotics and is an award-winning researcher and lecturer in accordance with Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

SuperBot to the Rescue!

It’s time to do some superpower thinking and show us a Super Robot, a.k.a. SuperBot! Make it super cool, super geeky, super smart, or super fun, and show us what makes your robot a SuperBot – and what dilemma, challenge, or chore it rescues you from! The greatest SuperBot will send his or her creator on a super-duper trip to LEGO World Copenhagen.

Grand Prize: A trip to LEGO World Copenhagen in February 2017 where you will get to show your SuperBot to thousands of LEGO fans.

Judging

A panel of judges from the LEGO MINDSTORMS team will select one grand prize winner and 2 runner-ups. They will judge entries upon:

  • Super-factor originality: 25%
  • Attention to contest theme: 25%
  • Innovative building technique and functions: 25%
  • Innovative use of LEGO elements: 25%

How to enter

  • Visit: https://www.lego.com/en-us/rebrick/contest-page/contests/superbots
  • Create a robot using LEGO bricks and your LEGO MINDSTORMS robot (EV3 or earlier model) or power functions to solve an everyday challenge of your choosing
  • Create a video under 30 seconds showing your creation in action
  • Upload your video to the video hosting site of your choice, such as YouTube
  • Enter the contest by going to the “submit entry” page on LEGO Rebrick and submit maximum 5 screenshots from your video. Make sure to also add the link to your video before you submit
  • Use the description field to describe your robot and its features

Submit your entry at: https://www.lego.com/en-us/rebrick/contest-page/contests/superbots

Entry Deadline

Submit your entry no later than August 18th 2017 at 10:00AM EST.

If you’re not sure what time zone you’re in here’s a time zone converter

LEGO® BOOST Building and Coding Set Unveiled at CES Empowers Children to Bring Their LEGO Creations to Life

– Building on the company’s history of merging digital programming and physical building, LEGO BOOST will inspire a younger generation to build and code their way to limitless play –

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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW – Today the LEGO Group announced LEGO® BOOST, a supercharged building and coding set that lets children bring their LEGO creations to life by adding movement, sound and personality. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, LEGO BOOST will be previewed to members of the global media at Digital Experience! on January 4 and will be demonstrated to CES attendees as part of the Kids@Play Kids & Technology Marketplace from January 5-8, 2017 at the Sands Expo. With a suggested retail price of $159.99 (USD), LEGO BOOST will be available in the second half of 2017.

Build the Toy You Want
LEGO BOOST combines the endless play opportunities of a traditional LEGO set with an endless variety of movement and sound capabilities made possible through an easy-to-use, app-based coding environment. LEGO BOOST was developed for children ages 7 and older by an international team of LEGO designers. Using familiar LEGO elements and simple coding language, LEGO BOOST delivers an intuitive approach and opportunities for quick success.

Powered by a Move Hub, a LEGO stud-covered brick with built-in tilt sensor upon which children can add LEGO elements, motors and a sensor that combines color and distance detection, LEGO BOOST brings movement to any LEGO creation. The set includes building instructions for five diverse models; Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder, each designed to give children the basic building and coding skills needed to express their creativity by personalizing whatever they build.

„We know that children dream of bringing their LEGO creations to life, and our chief ambition for LEGO BOOST is to fulfill that wish. Once children build a LEGO creation, we give them simple coding tools to ‚boost‘ their models by adding personality,“ said Simon Kent, design lead for LEGO Group. „We want children to first and foremost have a fun and limitless play experience, adding the coding opportunity is the means to get there.“

Coding Brings Your Toy to Life
LEGO BOOST introduces children to coding through a free downloadable app that contains the guidance, building instructions and simple coding commands to bring to life five LEGO creations, one at a time. Much like building with LEGO bricks, children build behaviors and actions by linking digital coding blocks in an easy-to-understand horizontal layout. To further personify the experience, LEGO BOOST lets children add voice recordings to their creations, adding personality without requiring spelling and typing. The app also includes more than 60 activities designed to inspire additional building, coding and play.

Creative Canvas Lets You Boost Any LEGO Creation
To further inspire creative building and coding, the LEGO BOOST app includes a „creative canvas“ that includes basic building instructions for three simple base models that children can use to customize their own LEGO creations. The three bases available at launch include: a walking base for making animals like a dragon or a pony, a driving base for building vehicles like a dune buggy or rover, and an entrance base so that children can make their own castle, fort, or even a futuristic space station. Once children are comfortable with building and coding the various LEGO BOOST models, they can use the kit to „boost“ any LEGO creation – from LEGO CITY and LEGO  Friends to LEGO NINJAGO and The LEGO BATMAN Movie.

LEGO® BOOST Includes:

Hardware

  • 3 BOOST Bricks:
    • Move Hub with built-in tilt sensor
    • Combination color & distance sensor
    • Interactive motor
  • 843 LEGO elements
  • Playmat, calibrated to the app, designed to facilitate mini challenges to practice simple coding trials

LEGO BOOST App

  • Free, downloadable app is iOS and Android tablet compatible

LEGO BOOST uses 6 AAA batteries. Alkaline batteries are recommended, but rechargeable batteries can be used, though may result in weaker power output.

Quick Overview

  • Includes over 840 LEGO® pieces, plus a LEGO Move Hub, Interactive Motor and a Color & Distance Sensor.
  • Move Hub features Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity, two encoded motors, activation button, internal tilt sensor and a light.
  • Interactive Motor is an encoded motor.
  • Color & Distance Sensor detects distance, motion and color, and can also function as a light.
  • Check out the cool white, orange and blue color scheme.
  • Rotate Vernie’s head to activate its shoulder-mounted spring-loaded shooter.
  • Build the M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4) and try out the different tool and customization attachments to prepare the vehicle for an array of exciting activities.
  • Learn how to play a song and rock out with the Guitar4000.
  • Look after your own pet with Frankie the Cat. Be sure to feed it the right food—or it might get upset!
  • Construct, code and operate the AutoBuilder to produce real miniature LEGO® models.
  • Build and code robots and models, and complete exciting activities with the playmat and intuitive LEGO® BOOST app, available for iOS and Android tablet devices.
  • Easy-to-use intuitive software with icon-based drag-and-drop coding interface.
  • Building instructions for all 5 models are included with the free LEGO® BOOST app.
  • This product requires batteries (not included). Please refer to the product packaging for type and quantity.
  • Vernie the robot stands over 10” (27cm) tall.
  • M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4) measures over 4” (12cm) high, 9” (23cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide.
  • Guitar4000 measures over 1” (5cm) high, 16” (42cm) long and 5” (15cm) wide.
  • Frankie the Cat stands over 6” (17cm) tall.
  • The AutoBuilder measures over 10” (27cm) high, 7” (19cm) long and 6” (16cm) wide.

LEGO BOOST will be available at most stores and online shopping sites where toys are sold, through select consumer electronics retailers, and at LEGO Stores and shop.LEGO.com in the second half of 2017 and will have a suggested retail price of $159.99 USD, €159.99 (EUR) and $199.99 (CAD). For more information, visit www.LEGO.com/BOOST.

About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK., Shanghai, China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials. Guided by the company spirit: „Only the best is good enough“, the company is committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.

bionicTOYS Launches Flexible Building Bricks on Kickstarter

bionicTOYS Launches Flexible Building Bricks on Kickstarter An Award-Winning Design That Turns Child’s Play Into STEM Learning

BERLIN, November 29, 2016 — Inspired by nature’s own flexibility, bionicTOYS has launched its first collection exclusively on Kickstarter. These highly-elastic building bricks let children and adults explore the art and science of motion through play.

 

bionicTOYS was created by German product designer Marcel Pasternak as a way to introduce important STEM-based skills to children. Through creative building, they are able to replicate organic actions found in nature and learn about bionics, mechanics, potential energy and other important principles of physics. The patent-pending flex-brick design allows for inventive, multi-functional play that can also interact with existing building bricks, such as LEGO® Technic or TinkerBots®.

With its Kickstarter launch, bionicTOYS is reimagining construction-based play. “It’s quite handy because you can just bend it in all directions,” says 13-year-old Felix. Its colorful design and easy-to-construct sets allow school-age children, parents, teachers, LEGO® fans, and design enthusiasts to explore a great range of creative possibilities.

About bionicTOYS bionicTOYS was created by 29-year-old Marcel Pasternak as part of his master’s thesis in product design. It has quickly developed into an educational toy company that has won the Green Product Award (Kids category), the Marianne Brandt Award – Material Effects (Product category) and is one of the winners of DMY ́s New Talent Award.

Link to Kickstarter

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 – Project „Mak3rBot“

The Mak3rBot is a LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot that consists of 3D printed Parts. The design is based on Damien Kees RileyRover / Joe Menos Retailrover as this design only needs a few parts. All parts were printed on a Vellemann k8200 3D printer. Most of the parts could be found on Thingiverse, some needed to be exported from Ldraw/LeoCAD. The LEGO ActionCam Camera mount has been designed by Andy Milluzzi. The mission of this robot is to travel to Maker Faires and share the #MINDSTORMSMAGIC with the makers around the world and show them that it is possible to combine LEGO with your maker hobby and create your own parts and robots.

The pictures were taken at Legoworld Utrecht 2016. The Mak3rbot robot and pictures were made by me, Sebastian Trella. Feel free to share pictures or contact me if you need more information or help with creating your own robot.