Schlagwort-Archive: Robotics

GadgetBox – Affordable, Open-Source Robotics for Children 9 – 15 years

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The GadgetBox crowd-funding campaign runs until October 14th 2016 with a required minimum target of $50,000 US. You can help by making a contribution. More importantly, please spread the word to others who may wish to support.

GadgetBox is an educational robotics kit, which will enable children 9 – 15 years to participate in a variety of hands-on activities linked to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Pre-university STEM education has been identified as one strategic approach to preparing children for active participation in the changing technology landscape.

The requirement for GadgetBox, became evident while using commercial educational robotics kits in pre-university STEM activities such as construction, programming, and operation of a simple robot.  Price, maintenance, availability, and support requirements were cited as key reasons why successful initiatives have failed to gain widespread traction and visibility.

 

GadgetBox was created to address these issues; specifically by:

  • selecting the smallest sub-set of components that could facilitate basic activities when supplemented with items/materials readily accessible to children;
  • selecting, where possible, components readily available in local hardware stores;
  • providing guideline(s) to adapt/re-use sensor/actuator elements from local e-waste;
  • programming using a smartphone instead of a computer

Campaign funds will allow Edubots Engineering to produce a minimum of 20 kits, while concurrently testing curriculum exercises, and developing learning activities for upcoming school trials and robotics workshops in early 2017.

“We want to test GadgetBox, alongside commercial educational robotics kits in 2017. To do so, we must replicate and distribute the prototype – that takes funds.” – Cathy Radix, Robotics in Education, Edubots Engineering

GadgetBox was created using Open Source Hardware and Software to minimise development time, but also to enable children to design, build, and share designs for GadgetBox accessories.

“Because we believe that there is always room for improvement, we anticipate further modifications to GadgetBox based on feedback from users.“— Jeevan Persad, Fasove, Edubots Engineering

The improved GadgetBox designs, and online support forums, will be available to the public by early 2018.

Crowd-funding Campaign: https://igg.me/at/gadget-box/x

Clickmox Solutions launches first Kickstarter campaign

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Sudbury, Ontario, Canada – Local business, Clickmox Solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of its Kickstarter campaign for its new product: the Scan3D laser scanner. The campaign was launched on August 18th at 10:45am and will be active for 25 days – until September 12th.

Real-time scan of the Clickmox office

Although 3D laser scanning is a mature technology, it is not yet widely available to the public, due mostly to its high cost. Scan3D is a lightweight and affordable large area laser scanner, which is locally manufactured at the Clickmox Solutions office in Sudbury. It is designed to tackle the need for an inexpensive, compact laser scanner that is versatile enough to meet any consumer need.

Scan3D offers real-time 3D mapping capabilities at a fraction of the price of its competitors. Mountable on aerial drones and ground vehicles, Scan3D has many industrial and recreational applications from obstacle avoidance to vehicle positioning and 3D mapping.

Clickmox Solutions is offering three different models of the Scan3D system, costing $1,195, $4,590, and $6,590. All three models include a software development kit, which allows consumers to adapt Scan3D to their specific applications. The Advanced and Ultimate models also include access to Clickmox’s SLAM Libraries and instructions on how to create 3D maps in real time.

Scan3D uses a 2D laser scanner, which it pivots on a servo motor. It combines these data with data from a positional sensor to generate 3D maps. This technology has already been used by Clickmox in the mining industry.

Kickstarter campaign: https://goo.gl/ZlZEfK