Lego Boost is robot building for the rest of us
LAS VEGAS -- Vernie considers me with his icy blue yes, an orange eyebrow slightly cocked. Then, suddenly, he races forward and asks me my name. I shout it into the nearby tablet and we commence bonding.
Okay, we don’t so much bond as I command and Vernie, a new Lego robot, responds.
Vernie is one of five models that children ages 7-to-12 can build and program with Lego’s new Boost kit. The new, 543-piece Lego set, introduced this week at CES in Las Vegas, is like the younger brother to the Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot-building kit. That set is relatively complex, uses special pieces and requires a lot more patience on the part of kids and parent to work out even the most basic programs. Doing so pays dividends, but if you’ve never coded before, it can be a little off-putting.
Boost eases that process in almost every way. The Lego pieces are all traditional and you can even use your existing Lego set pieces with it and the coding is largely confined to code-blocks that already have lots of instructions baked in and fully compiled. On the accompanying iPad app, builders need only select and attach puzzle-like programming blocks that handle instructions like canned responses, turning 90-degrees, making the iPad listen and controlling light colors. They can daisy-chain them together and even build separate program block chains that, with the press of a virtual green “play” button, all run at once.
On the build side, the app guides children through the process of creating Vernie, by breaking down his construction (he uses virtually all the set’s pieces) into discrete parts. The set will not ship with printed instructions, all the build guides reside in the app.
After the head and upper torso are built, Vernie will ask about going for a walk and even try to shimmy along. Realizing he has no legs, the robot and app will guide builders to construct the tread base and attach it to Vernie. “It may be the first time a Lego model has encourage a kid to keep building,” said Lego Design Director Simon Kent who was guiding our demo (and kept programming his own voice into it for comic effect).
Like Mindstorms, Boost ships with a central hub that includes Bluetooth to connect to the iPad, a pair of motors to drive wheels and motion and two input/output ports. It's powered by six AA batteries. There’s also another motor, which includes a tachometer so it can be used as an input device; it knows when it’s being turned, which direction, how fast and by how much. A sensor module helps robots see distance, movement and colors. Each module and motor is programmable through the app.
What to build
Using the included Lego pieces, motors and sensors, you can build a cat, a guitar, a tractor, a quadruped and Vernie. Vernie is the most complex of all the builds. Each one guides users through the building and programming process in a step-by-step fashion, where each completed task unlocks a new one.
Tasks, though, are not dry and don’t feel like programming work. Vernie can be programmed to tell jokes or rap and the cat can be playful and programmed to drink virtual milk (and then digitally fart because it’s lactose intolerant).
Different tasks teach different programming skills. The app introduces the idea of how to program the hub’s built-in accelerometer by having you flip the cat on its back or pick it up and have each action trigger a different response.
There is room in Lego Boost to grow as a programmer. While most blocks shield children from actual programming, there are some that offer parameter control, like the speed of revolution on a motor (25% as opposed to 100%) and even allow young programmers them to nest multiple blocks in one block via drag-and-drop so that placing it in the chain triggers a much larger set of actions.
After Verine and I got acquainted and we attached a Lego RPG, the 10-inch tall robot showed me his shooting skills (all triggered through app programming). Vernie shot at a target and at people in the room. We even used programming to make Verne shoot only when we clapped. While Vernie can talk, all the sound effects and the listening capability are housed in the iPad app. Not sure how that discontinuity will play out for kids.
We saw the kit, which ships this summer for $159.99, in a beta stage. While Vernie’s parts and functions look mostly complete, the app was full of stock graphics and unfinished animations. Even so, what you could do with this early version was impressive. Like Apple’s Swift Playgrounds, which seeks to simplify the task of teaching programming to kids, Lego Boost may succeed because it’s entertaining and engaging first, with low programming bar to entry to gain access to and enhance the Lego robot actions. For now, it looks like the perfect step ladder to the richer and deeper Lego Mindstorms.
Topics CES
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
