The original Meccano concept was extremely innovative and exciting, at least when it was first introduced in 1901. It enabled users in hacking together concept prototypes of mechanical structures, linkages, and movements. Tens of thousands of engineers, researchers, and young learners put the Meccano kits to good use in realising their dreams. They learned what worked, and what would fail, by experimenting with the Meccano metal strips, brackets, girders, wheels, and other components. Now, over a century later, the company has introduced two quasi-humanoid robot kits that they demonstrated at the Bay Area Maker Faire.
Over the years, the Meccano brand has waxed and waned in popularity, and today it may seem a bit old-school or dated. Company ownership has shifted so many times that it’s hard to be sure who currently controls its destiny. Nevertheless, the Meccano kits still consistently deliver on their basic promises. If you’re interested in a kit that helps model mechanical structures, with some electronics integration, using scale model parts, then Meccano is definitely worth considering.
The two new robot kits, named the “Meccanoid G15KS” and “Meccanoid G15”, are basically humanoid in overall shape, though they do not walk. There is an easy programming option built-in that Meccano has named LIM, which stands for Learned Intelligent Movement. Those familiar with robotics will recognize this as Catch & Play - basically capturing poses or actions then playing them back on command.
Needless to say, the company has also released a smartphone/tablet app (iOS and Android) that can control the robots via Bluetooth and includes some additional programming capability.
The smaller robot (G15) stands just under 2 feet tall, half the height of its larger more capable twin (G15KS). In addition to the 2 motors that drive the robots feet, the G15 includes 4 servos controlling the arm movement while the G15KS has 8 servos for the arm and head movement.
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