AJ SadauskasNov 12
Here's an interesting item at the Australian Computer Museum: https://acms.org.au/

In the early 1980s, after selling Atari, founder Nolan Bushnell set up a company that sold computer-controlled robots.

This is one of them...

#robot #Atari #NolanBushnell #retrocomputing #robots #robotics #tech
Show threadBill JeffriesNov 12
@ajsadauskas I think that is TOPO. I went to computer camp in early 80s and we had a contest to program the robot through a maze.
Show threadAJ Sadauskas
@ajsadauskas @billjeffries I think you're on the money:

"Topo is a series of robots designed in the 1980s by Androbot Inc., for the consumer and education markets. It is wirelessly programmable via an Apple II with a modified version of BASIC called TopoBASIC (and later Forth with TopoFORTH). The program allows the robot to perform a set of geometric movements, to move about a room and perform tasks. It is like a servant robot, although it does not truly meet the requirements of a robot, as it had no sensors to use to receive input and then make decisions accordingly."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topo_(robot)

It's a lot bigger than I imagined it would be!
Topo (robot) - Wikipedia

Nov 12 at 11:48amWeb
Show threadBilliglarperNov 12

@aj @ajsadauskas @billjeffries

If you look for something with todays tech, the mBot is worth a look. They are currently having a sale.

https://www.makeblock.com/pages/bfcm-2025

#mBot is based on #Arduino, #mBot2 on CyberPi. They can be programmed in #Scratch or #Python.

At 70$-150$ for the base versions, they are quite affordable for what they do.

#robotics #ProgrammingForKids

Makeblock 2025 Black Friday Mega Sale

Makeblock provides advanced coding robot kits, toys, software, xTool Laser cutters, and educational resources designed for K-12 and higher-level STEAM education.

Makeblock
Show threadBill JeffriesNov 12
@aj @ajsadauskas Haha yeah it was pretty tall. We had two person teams where one person would sit at the Apple II entering commands and the other would walk with Topo and guide.