Photon the robot goes into large scale production next month after 3D printing company Zortrax helped refine the final design.

If children are the future, then they need to be taught the skills which will undoubtedly be necessary when they’re all grown up; namely, 3D printing, programming and robotics.

But things like children and robotics don’t appear to mix well. Unless, that is, we begin to make the basics fun through interactive robots which children can design, 3D print and program themselves.

Therefore, Photon, a robot which teaches the kids programming independently, is the perfect way to encourage them to learn. It also claims to be the world’s first robot that grows with your child.

Clearly many people believe in this idea too; Photon’s crowd-funding campaign raised $52,829 thanks to 322 backers on Kickstarter.

To build the robot, 3D printing company Zortrax were involved in prototyping. They printed 25 different versions of the robot to help perfect the final design using their M200 3D printer.

In order to test out the robot, Zortrax spent some time with a group of children from an orphanage in Krasnem. As well as designing and 3D printing their own robots, the children were introduced to Photon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60aVOGISs2Y&feature=youtu.be

Is Photon the Robot the Future of Programming?

The Photon website has a fun design which will have you clicking the preorder button in no time. So far, people from over 30 countries have ordered their own robot.

However, the first production line isn’t until August this year. It comes after extensive research and input from around 3,000 children in Poland.

By using 3D printing, it was possible to easily tweak the robot whenever necessary. The technology also helped to reduce the time and cost of creating prototypes.

The final design has 10 built-in sensors which can detect everything from obstacles to light and sound. The robot can also communicate with other robots. However, perhaps the best bit is that children require no adult supervision when using Photon.

The robot works as a mentor and through an app, the Photon-Human Translator, where children learn to program and teach their new best friend.

There is even an educational Photon option. For this robot, additional teaching materials are provided and children can learn about programming, but also maths, Polish, or biology at the same time.

You can find out more over on the Photon website and order your robot on their “late backers website”.

Source: Press Release