I am a coach at Coderedojo (https://coderdojo.com). A few weeks ago, I bought an mBot. This is a real great device to teach kids how to code AND have fun. Last week, I also bought a Codeybot. While the Codeybot is also described as 'teaching kids to code", “S.T.E.M”, …, I am rather disappointed with the possibilities, at least at the moment.
The Codeybot :
- Cost more than twice the price of an mBot.
- Has no remote control. You need to use an iPhone/iPod/iPad/Android. Not every kid has that.
- Has, so far, only one extension : a ‘laser gun’. I’m not going to get that, as I don’t won’t to teach the kids how to battle each other. Was there no mentioning of a webcam ? Where can we buy that ? How about using the port for other extensions ? Are there any plans there ?
- Can only be programmed from an iPad. Again, not every kid has that (but most DO have a laptop). An iPad is not a good option, if you want to collaborate on a program. It is also not very convenient when you want to show the rest of the group what you did (using a projector, connected to the laptop)
- Has, according to the brochure ‘Open Source API’ (see my other topic). Where is that documented, so we can do our own (creative) things ?
- Runs on OpenWRT. So, it should be able to run Python. Would be great to extend the possibilities. Anyone ?
In short, while the mBot has (almost) endless possibilities for teaching code to children of all ages, the Codeybot is -at present- hardly more than a fancy R/C/ robot, that can balance on 2 wheels.