David SzondyJanuary 19, 2015Meccanoid G15 KS brings Meccano into the robot age

The Meccano Meccanoid G15 KS is compatible with standard Meccano parts

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Meccano is one of those toys with a very strong nostalgia element, involving memories of hours spent bolting together a toy wheelbarrow or a coffee table-size Forth Bridge. But 21st century kids relate more to smartphones than traveling cranes, so Meccano has come up with its Meccanoid G15 KS – a kit robot that can be programmed using motion capture.

First marketed in 1901, Meccano wasn't so much a toy when it started out as a prototyping system aimed at kids. It was a mechanical construction set based on standardized engineering parts with which children could build everything from a simple car to a mechanical analog computer, if they were inventive enough and bought a large enough kit.

Meccano was intended as an educational toy that taught basic engineering principles, problem-solving, manual dexterity, and had the goal of producing the next generation of engineers. It must have got something right, because in its heyday it was a rare university engineering department that didn't have at least one project on the bench that wasn't a Meccano lash-up.

In recent years, Meccano has passed through several owners and has been less about general kits than building specific projects, such as a specific car or an airplane, but the Meccanoid G15 KS moves out of the toy corn thresher league and into open source robotic building platforms. In many ways, it's a return to the more general, innovative kit days, but wrapped in a specific product.

Aimed at ages 5 to 14, the emphasis is on simplicity and ease of use. The kit even comes with ergonomic tools and "user-friendly instructions," which is a bit of shock for those of us who remember the basic spanners and instructions with deliberate errors included to encourage problem-solving.

In its basic construction, the Meccanoid G15 KS has a movable head and arms, motorized feet for rolling about, and LED eyes with over 500 colors available. It uses large polygonal, grid-like, high-impact polycarbonate construction plates, which seems a bit of a deviation from the old girders and symmetrical metal plates, but Meccano says that the new parts are compatible with classic Meccano – opening up unlimited design possibilities.

But what makes the Meccanoid really stand out is its programmability. Meccano says that no experience is needed to teach the robot once assembled, because its "Mecca Brain" has three programming modes. It can be taught by means of a "ragdoll avatar" app from a tablet or smartphone, or it can be programmed using Learned Intelligent Movement (LIM) – this means that you can move the head and arms, and the robot will follow suit, even repeating what's said to it. And finally, there's motion capture, where the Meccanoid mimics your movements using the camera of a smartphone mounted in its chest.

According to Meccano, the Meccanoid responds to over 100 pre-programmed voice commands and can learn more. It knows thousands of phrases, tells jokes, knows fun facts, asks questions, starts conversations, plays games, and can remember names and birthdays. In addition, it has 12 interactive modes and adapts to its environment.

The Meccano Meccanoid G15 KS comes with 64Mb flash memory with updatable firmware, Bluetooth connectivity, a rechargeable Ni-MH battery, dual 6-amp motor drivers, and eight servo motors with bidirectional communication.

It goes on sale in August for US$399, and is introduced in the following video.

Source: Meccano via The Wall Street Journal

Meccanoid G15 KS将Meccano公司带入机器人时代

meccanoid G15 KS带来Meccano到机器人age

meccano meccanoid G15 KS标准Meccano部分

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Meccano是其中的一个玩具具有很强烈的怀旧元素，包括回忆小时玩具手推车或螺栓连接咖啡桌大小的四桥。但第二十一世纪的孩子们更多地涉及到智能手机比起重机，所以Meccano想出其meccanoid G15 KS–套件的机器人，可以用动作捕捉程序。

在1901第一次销售，Meccano是没有这么多的玩具的时候，它开始了作为一个面向孩子的原型系统。这是基于孩子们可以从一个简单的汽车机械模拟计算机的一切标准的工程部分的机械结构，如果他们发明的足够买一个足够大的包。

Meccano的目的是作为一种教育玩具，教基本的工程原理，解决问题的能力，手的灵活性，在生产下一代工程师的目标。它必须有正确的东西，因为在它的全盛时期是一个罕见的大学工程系，没有至少一个项目上，不是Meccano应急。

近年来，Meccano经过了几个业主和有那么一般包比建设具体项目，如一个特定的汽车或飞机，但meccanoid G15 KS移出玩具玉米脱粒机联赛进入开源机器人平台建设。从很多方面来说，这是一个回归到更一般的、创新的试剂盒天，但包裹在一个特定的产品中。该试剂盒甚至还带有符合人体工程学的工具和通俗易懂的说明，“这是对我们这些谁记得基本扳手和蓄意的错误指令，包括鼓励解决问题的一点冲击。

在基本建设，在meccanoid G15 KS有一个可移动的头和手臂，机动脚滚动，并导致眼睛超过500种颜色可供选择。它使用大量的多边形网格状，高冲击聚碳酸酯建设板块，这似乎有点从旧梁对称的金属板有偏差，但Meccano说新零件与经典的组合玩具–开放无限的设计可能性兼容。

但是，是什么让meccanoid真正站出来为它的可编程性。Meccano说无需经验教给机器人一旦组装，因为它的“麦加的大脑”有三个编程模式。它可以通过平板电脑或智能手机“布娃娃头像”APP意味着教，也可以利用所学的智能运动程序（LIM）–这意味着你可以移动头部和手臂，和机器人会效仿，甚至重复的对它说什么。最后，还有动作捕捉，在meccanoid模仿你的动作，使用智能手机的摄像头安装在其胸部。

根据组合玩具，的meccanoid响应超过100预编程的语音命令，可以了解更多。它知道成千上万的短语，讲笑话，知道有趣的事实，问问题，开始对话，玩游戏，并能记住姓名和生日。此外，它有12个互动模式和适应环境。

meccano meccanoid G15 KS配备64MB闪存可更新固件，蓝牙连接，可充电镍氢电池，双6-amp电机驱动器，和双向通信的八个伺服电机。

它的销量在8月399美元，并在下面的视频。