Nowadays there are quite a few toy cars for children. But Sphero made something unusual: the company released an educational kit for elementary school kids in the form of a small Indi car, which looks like Hot Wheels. According to the company, it should help children develop a basic understanding of the principles of programming and logical thinking.
How Does The Indi Car Work?
The actions of the toy are programmed using special colored panels. Indi has built-in sensors that react to the color of the panels — depending on those reactions, the car makes different movements. For example, Indi turns left on red, turns right on blue, brakes on green, and so on. By changing the combinations and the location of the tiles, it is possible to build a rote for the car.
Using these different colors, children learn basic programming concepts, such as order chaining and problem-solving using only specific orders, while having fun. The idea is to create different types of complex roads avoiding traps and obstacles with the help of cards. There are also puzzles that children have to solve, which are equivalent to creating an application: they have a task and it must be solved using only the available resources.
As the website says, Indi is designed for second-grade students. And at a more advanced level, children will be able to reprogram the car themselves through the application on the tablet. In the tasks, children are encouraged to make ready-made mazes, as well as set their own for Indi.
Sphero Indi Car Perspectives And Price
It is an interesting project because most of the experts agree that in several years programming will be a basic school subject, and it will be used in almost all fields. So the sooner children learn the basic concepts, the better.
The single set costs $125 and is available for pre-order now. It is designed for three children and includes one Indi toy car, a set of colored tiles, programming tasks, and a storage case.
The whole class kit consists of eight Indi kits and costs $1200. The company will start shipping Both Basic and Cool Packs in September. The Sphero Edu Jr mobile application for more advanced learning can be installed free of charge. The kits also include a teacher's guide on how to teach a lesson using Indi.
Source: Sphero