Scratch Duino — which recently made its Kickstarter debut — is an incredibly customizable and accessible robot-building platform that any Maker will find helpful in their tinkering endeavors.
Scratch Duino is an educational tool at heart. The ease of use will help foster the robot design process for Makers young and old. The team describes the device as, “a complete solution, which combines both hardware and software in a single extendable setup.” Once perusing the inner components, it is hard to argue with that statement!
Featuring plastic encased parts designed for extended durability and kid resiliency, the kit includes two light sensors, two contact sensors, two reflective object sensors, and an infrared eye. At the heart of the project lies an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) programmed with the Scratch language, which was developed by MIT.
One component of the platform that enhances ease-of-use and facilitates speedy configuration is that the sensor modules attach to the robot base magnetically — up to 5 sensors can be attached to the platform simultaneously.
“Right out of the box our robot is ready to collect data and process it according to a piece of code you design with Scratch. This makes our robots flexible and interactive,” a company rep notes.
Now, there are plenty of robot kits out there on the market, but the Scratch Duino sports a little style in a sometimes-bland market. The unit comes in three distinct finishes: plywood, transparent plastic and colored plastic. Each finish can add a sense of character to a particular robotic creation.
While some of the aspects of the Scratch Duino may be introductory, seasoned Makers can utilize the Arduino IDE to hack into the inner workings of the kit and assemble intricate robotic systems.
The team behind the Scratch Duino is currently seeking $105,000 in funding to streamline their assembly process and increase sales volume. At the moment, the robots are manufactured at Fablabs and makerspaces to continue spurring global community development. Whether you’re ready to tinker or interested in backing this latest Atmel powered Kickstarter project, head over to their official page here.
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