Boost will be Lego’s newest child-oriented kit that will offer a basic programming and robotics set.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Boost will be Lego’s newest child-oriented kit that will function as a sort of basic programming and robotics set without losing its playful nature.
Lego is no stranger to playful but educative technology. Lego building blocks in themselves have sparked numerous future projects. The company is behind the Lego WeDo, an education tool that helps kids learn the basics of coding.
It is also the developer of Mindstorms, its Lego robotics platform. The more advanced tech can help build other clever tools.
Now, it seems that Lego has released a product that might connect the two aforementioned tools. This would come in the form of Boost.
Boost is a kit which can help its user learn the basics behind programming and coding. However, it is somewhat more playful, without a specifically didactic nature.
The kit is built based on a Move Hub. This latter is a motorized block that sports a tilt sensor. It’s a special Lego brick, that will also sport a series of sensors. The Move Hub can take up quite some power. It works with help from six AAA batteries.
The Boost kit comes with a number of already included elements. Move Hub and 843 traditional Lego parts will be readily available. It will also contain another motor as well as a sensor. This will detect distances and color combinations.
Boost will also come accompanied by an app. This can be used from any supported smartphone or tablet. The Boost app will have two potential main functions.
It could work as a building guide. At the same time, it might also be a drag-and-drop type of programming tool. The app and the kit provide the necessary instruction for five robotics projects.
These will all be different and will include the following. A robot, a vehicle, a guitar, a 3D printer, and a cat.
The cat, robot, and vehicle are not unique to Boost. These seemingly standard projects can also be found in the Mindstorms kit.
Still, the guitar project has quite some potential. It will have a color and visual sensor that will respond to the fret’s colored bricks. As such, it could signal the connected device. This latter, would, in its turn, produce various tones.
The 3D printer project is possibly even more unique. It will be able to potentially assemble its own Lego creations. A hopper assembly and a conveyor belt would be the technology behind such creations.
The Boost app will help interconnect blocks. These latter will be programmable and will be the base for the kit’s creations.
As such, it will be similar to Mindstorms. Still, the Boost interface will be more simple and will be targeted at younger users.
However, it will still function and provide logic input and output functions. Kit users will also be able to develop their own ideas. Besides the five premade plans, Boost will also include the Creative Canvas.
A Creative Canvas mode will offer all the necessary programming and coding tools.
According to CES presentations, the new kit will start being shipped later in 2017. It will most likely start being delivered in the second half of the year. The Boost Kit will reportedly have a retail price of about $159.99.
Image Source: Wikimedia
Matthew Slotkin
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