A coworker who knows about my geeky parent pursuits asked me to send him some links to get him started. I'm recording what I told him here for posterity. When people ask me in the future I can direct them to this post.
My favorite resource is Make magazine. Is it the most visible publication in the growing "maker" community and always contains great projects of all kinds. Most of the projects are documented online at http://makeprojects.com/.
Another excellent resource is the Geek Dad blog from Wired. The signal to noise ration can be a little low if, like me, you aren't interested in dungeons and dragons or comic books. But there are still many gems per week for the rest of us. The editor, Ken Denmead, has also published several "Geek Dad" books containing projects to do with kids.
LEGO has made two different robotics kits. The first generation Mindstorms kit is not made any more. It was LEGO model 9719 – if search for "LEGO 5719" on eBay you can always find a few kits for sale. I bought one in pretty good condition with all the pieces for $125. The second generation is called LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 and can be bought at many places. Amazon sells it for about $230 (it's "lego 8547").
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| Mindstorms (LEGO 9719) |
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| Mindstorms NXT (LEGO 8547) |
The first generation is compatible with traditional LEGO bricks. The second generation is somewhat compatible with traditional LEGO bricks, but the pieces that come with it are LEGO Technic. The first generation is slightly easier to program, but even the second generation is pretty easy once you get used to it. Both have visual programming environments.
My 7-year-old daughter just attended a LEGO "camp" for three hours at Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO)
If you want to take a more DIY approach to learning about electronics and robotics, O'Reilly and Make publish several books that can get you started. They have beginner electronics books and books like "Making Things Move" and "Making Things Talk" (meaning make devices communicate with each other). I've read the former and loved it.
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| Arduino Uno |
Finally, anyone getting into electronics and controlling things should also learn about the Arduino "project". Arduino is an open-source hardware platform that incorporates a fairly powerful microcontroller with circuitry, firmware and programming environment on a standard layout, making it very easy for beginners to start controlling things. You can buy all kinds of fascinating Arduino-compatible stuff at places like Maker Shed and Sparkfun.com. There have been three generations of Arduino so far, if you buy one now you want an Arduino Uno.
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