When I think about the future, I think about a setting similar to that of The Jetsons. It’s a world where our homes are in the sky, everyone travels with a jetpack, and your flying car easily transforms into a briefcase with the touch of a button (casual). But, most of all, it’s a world where it’s totally normal to have a robot in the house.
Now, kids (and twenty-something-year-old adults) have the chance to have their very own personal robot. More than just a toy, the Meccano Meccanoid G15, from Spin Master, will be a kid’s new best friend. While Meccanoid isn’t made to be a housekeeper or do chores like Rosie from The Jetsons, he pretty much does everything else.
Using more than 600 pieces and six motors, kids can construct the two-foot tall working, moving, talking robot that is full of personality, has a sense of humor (I dare you not to laugh at one of Meccanoid’s jokes), and is capable of responding to instructions—including mirroring your own movements!
Right from the box, kids and adults alike will be excited to build Meccanoid. I promise that there is no necessary experience or skill needed at all to build this robot. Kids who love all things tech will have a blast building, and kids who don’t have any experience will have a new-found love for robotics. The packaging comes with everything that you need to build Meccanoid, including the proper tools, so no additional items need to be purchased.
Everybody knows that half of the fun of having a robot is the satisfaction that you get from building it yourself, so be prepared to spend lots of quality time with Meccanoid while you build him. Kids can construct him piece by piece, as they build up around his main frame. Kids who are old enough can build him on their own, or youngsters can enlist help from an adult—little hands are perfect to hold some pieces in place while an adult screws them together!
As soon as you have finish building him and bring him to life with some batteries, Meccanoid will use his super-genius Meccabrain to guide you through connecting his motors. The Meccabrain also contains 64 megabits of flash memory, allowing it to remember all of the movements you teach it and record sounds for playback.
As soon as Meccanoid’s motors are all connected, he will do a quick test to make sure that everything is working properly. His giant LED eyes will light up and he will move his arms, kind of like stretching after a long nap. And then—drumroll please—your robot is all ready to go! Before becoming best friends forever, Meccanoid will ask you for your name (which he will remember) and he will ask you if you would like to give him a name (other than Meccanoid).
Meccanoid will respond to a number of pre-programmed voice commands. Some of my favorites are giving him a high five, seeing him do kung-fu, and dancing to different styles of music ranging from hip hop to ballet. He can also be programmed to recognize user-recorded voice commands. Kids definitely won’t get bored because Meccanoid knows thousands of phrases, tells jokes, knows fun facts, asks questions, starts conversations, plays games, and even remembers names and birthdays.
Aside from voice commands, kids can control Meccanoid using a free app available on all smart devices. Using the Ragdoll Avatar feature, kids can control Meccanoid’s movements with the on-screen avatar, making him twist, turn, or move anyway they want. The Motion Capture feature lets kids place their smart devices into Mecanoid’s frame and watch him as he mimics all of your movements! And, to add more fun, Meccanoid’s Learned Intelligent Movement (LIM) feature lets you program different movements and sounds and play them back whenever you want.
As if building your own robot isn’t cool enough, kids can rebuild Meccanoid as a dinosaur, a dog, or any other design that they can dream up.
If you can’t get enough of the robot fun, another member of the Meccanoid family is available for purchase. I fondly call the Meccanoid G15 the “baby brother” of the Meccanoid G15 KS, a personal robot that is double the height, parts, and articulation.
Not only is Meccanoid a must-have tech toy this holiday season, but it also introduces kids to concepts that they won’t even think about when they are playing. They will learn how to build and delve into the world of robotics to program their very own friend. So far, only time will tell if everyone will have a robot one day, but for now the Meccanoid G15 is the best option for kids.
