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We may not have Jetsons-style technology, but..
We may not have Jetsons-style technology, but you can play George or Jane with this time-saving robot, which streamlines some routine PC tasks. Find and Run Robot (aka FARR) comes stocked with handy tricks, and you can create your own or plug in add-ons as you go.
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The Finch - $100 Robot for Teaching Computer Programming

Screenshot - 5_5_2011 , 2_27_23 PM_thumb.png
It's hard for me to imagine a cooler toy to get your child to encourage them to learn how to program.

The Finch is a new robot for computer science education. Its design is the result of a four year study at Carnegie Mellon's CREATE lab. The Finch is made to easily integrate into high school and college CS courses. Institutions piloting the Finch have shown improved retention and year-over-year enrollment growth in their CS1 courses.

The Finch was designed to allow students to write richly interactive programs. On-board features include:
  • Light, temperature, and obstacle sensors 
  • Accelerometers 
  • Motors
  • Buzzer 
  • Full-color beak LED 
  • Pen mount for drawing capability 
  • Plugs into USB port - no batteries required 
  • The Finch is currently programmable with Java and Python. Additional language support will be released throughout 2011.

http://www.finchrobot.com/



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