LittleBot, a 3D printed learning tool for kids

LittleBot is a smiling 3D printed toy which aims at teaching children science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Created by Slant Robotics, a robotics company, LittleBot is a cube-shaped 3D printed body, with an Ardino set-up on a circuit board, an electronic as simple as possible to ease the learning, as well as dual drive motors and wheels.

The truth is that a lot of schools do not get access to technology because of its expensive cost. Slant Robotics breaks this barrier with LittleBot. Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, one can already get its own toy at $45. Obviously, this price can vary from $45 to $65 according to the advanced features chosen by the user.

If the aim is to teach robotics in a funny way to kids, the coolest thing is that it can also dance, follow a wall, avoid obstacles, clean and even battle with other LittleBots.

Children can customize themselves the Bot. By using a TinkerCAD, they can design parts or accessories for the STEM robot that just needs to be 3D printed before being attached to the toy.

Slant gave his feeling about the LittleBot: “every inventor has a story from [his] childhood where [he] ruined [his] mum’s vacuum cleaner or [his] own toys, trying to ‘find out how it worked’. We wanted to create a robotic toy that not only could be taken apart to ‘see how it works’ but encourage that kind of exploration so that a new generation of engineers and scientists can be created.”