[IAEP] XO robotics

[Yama Ploskonka]

I'd add a reflection:

think on your market.

Even underperforming economies have access to gobs of money to be able 
to pay for anything, they really do not care much about costs, and they 
seem to care even less about performance.

What I am focusing on is Yama Ploskonka at 11 years old, a 
maker-in-the-bud (scratch your own itch, they say). I was blessed with 
hard-working parents that would make the extra effort to get Yama to be 
able to move forward (I recall a major family meeting at about that age 
where I was asked what did I need for my Lab), but some colleagues at 
The Robot Group were not.

So price/cost , access is paramount in my designs.

Kids should be able to get the whatever it is on their own steam, and 
grow from that.
Expecting someone else will pay is probably not going to work too well

Geeks are exceptions in society, and as outliers are often not allowed 
to use the expensive stuff that the school has (remember the recent 
testimonials from Uruguayan kids) - people who *do things* put the 
expensive stuff at risk, which is probably true. Since mistakes are not 
allowed, taking risks must be stopped.

I want to open opportunities for

     the few, the geek, the kidbots
     (a paraphrase on an ad you may be familiar with)

Now, in the USA, nobody will take your educational product seriously if 
it is priced at less than $100 ;-)


<yamarant>
I've not given up on "quality education for all", but maybe it's too big 
a goal, so I am focusing on helping these few, who have the greatest 
need, being despised by the one-size-fits-all school, and, if 
*en-abled*, can make the greatest difference as they grow up.

Bang for the buck, as it were: so far, 2 M XOs, say half a billion USD 
in expense, has produced something like 5 programmers, maybe a dozen 
bloggers.
Ahem.
Solutions made for "all", as Sugar was at least intended to be, will 
never work as well as things that take into account that it is 
self-evident that every man is created different.



On 09/27/2012 10:40 AM, Dr. Gerald Ardito wrote:
> Tony,
>
> I have seen pictures of the Butia with the XO driving the vehicle. I
> am having trouble with the Spanish.
> I have been playing with the TI Launchpad as a potential robot
> "brain." Walter had offered making some plugins for Turtle Art for
> this potentially.
> I am also wanting to play with the XO and Arduino as well.
> I will share any progress.
>
> Gerald
>
> On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 9:17 AM, Tony Anderson <tony_anderson at usa.net> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am wondering how this TI MSP430 running on XO 1 - Robotics! relates to the
>> Butia project in Uruguay. Is this a better solution?
>>
>> What appeals to me the most about Butia is that it enable the child to its
>> own XO driving the vehicle. Can this be done with the MSP430?
>>
>> In Uruguay there was a demonstration of the Lego robot - pathetic! It was
>> tied to an umbilical cord. It was pre-built so the children had no idea of
>> how it worked or what was going on inside. And, of course, it is frightfully
>> expensive.
>>
>> The Butia project has developed a control board which is designed to be
>> reproduced by any one. I am hoping that someone in SF will undertake to
>> build the Butia kit. Could the MSP430 provide a cheaper and easier to build
>> control board for Butia?
>>
>> Yours,
>>
>> Tony
>> _______________________________________________
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