Ozobot A Tiny Programmable Robot that Teaches STEM and Coding.

Ozobot is a tiny programmable robot guaranteed to keep your kids intrigued , interested and immersed for a countless amount of time with fun activities.As an engineer, it generates more curiosity when I come to know that a product teaches basics of engineering in a fun way. Writing a review is just not few words but an experience. So I  sat down with my coffee for a couple of days to analyze this tiny little robot to review it before I introduced this small programmable robot to my son. Thanks to Tryazon and Ozobot for providing me this opportunity!

So What is this Ozobot? Let me put it for you in simple terms.

Ozobots are gaming robots that teach kids the basics of coding through fun mazes, race tracks, and playgrounds. How is it done? It’s pretty innovative. Ozobot uses sensors and senses different color codes. It follows lines and detects intersections drawn on paper and digital screens, and changes command based on the color of the lines like spinning, speeding up or slowing down, and other tricks and functions. As mentioned Ozobot can be played both on paper or a tablet.

Ozobot is a tiny robot. Base about the size of a  quarter and is only a bit taller than one inch. The device fits comfortably in the palm of my hand.

Ozobot starter kit that we got included Ozobot 2.0,4 Markers(you can use any markers),2 Skins – DIY Stickers, Code Sheets, A Charging Cable, with over 20 activities and with super-cool accessories. Kids between ages 6-9 would be pretty excited about the accessories they get to use. My son was !!. The activity sheets had pre-drawn patterns that  clearly demonstrates to first-time users how the Ozobot moves based on color combinations and shapes. You can print more sheets at the Ozobot website or experiment with your own patterns.

Ozobot mostly follows lines and the lines have to be a certain thickness. This tiny robot reads colors of the line. You would notice this when the LED on the robot changes colors when it passes through each color like red, blue, green. Ozobot recognizes color codes — patterns of varying color and performs different functions like spinning, slowing down, going fast, taking a left jump, taking a right jump and a number of other functions.

So to put the Ozobot to test I invited my neighbors and their kids for a gathering. Without any surprise, the kids were super amazed by the tiny robot. My neighbor’s kid who is 13 years old quickly picked up the functionality of the robot and started explaining how it works to the two  7-year-olds and a 9-year-old present at the gathering. Older kids have more learning options as they could code Ozobot with Ozoblockly, an easy-to-use block-based programming language, which enables kids to learn to program while playing.

I quickly realized that there’s a bit of a learning curve for younger one’s ages 6-8 years. My son did  a great job of understanding. But was more intrigued and interested in the robot than its functionality initially. But a couple of days into testing he started popping up valid questions related to the programming, how the robot actually senses code , should we use only markers and also started getting creative in building mazes.

Above you could see his initial maze

He built this maze with a tad help from me.

You could see that my 18 months old is super excited as well.

I wanted to introduce my kid to STEM-based products there is no doubt in that. But this time, I took it one step further by taking this product to my son’s class. Thanks to his class teacher who equally thinks that the kids need to be exposed to more and more products like this! Check out their reaction when I show them the robot.

These 2nd graders really had great questions  like why the robot works on a certain thickness of lines, why should we use markers only can we use colored pencils.Makes sense right be it a marker or pencil the robot should sense the color!

They finally got to work by drawing mazes. During this process, they have come up with some mazes which would not work. So we discussed why it would not work and how it can be fixed. Kids are learning problem-solving skills which are indeed the most important skill which children should develop to apply it in any part of their lives.

Kids had fun drawing all the mazes and testing to see if the Ozbot works the way they imagined. You should see the look on their face when it did. At the end of the session when it was in fact time to move on to other class activities they were very disappointed and were not ready to transition.  So I presented the class with an Ozobot that I got for the review! Oh, no points for guessing their reaction! They were super thrilled that the Tiny robot is going to stay with them in the class.

While there are Ozobot APPS available to download which enhances user experience. I felt that kids should learn about the robot first and then the APPs. So we spent most of our time on paper. Ozobot APP has various APPs if you want to give it a try . OzoPath – single or dual player tile-based strategy game for Ozobot. OzoLuck – a social game of chance where Ozobot chooses your luck. OzoDraw – lets users draw their tracks and mazes and use the bot’s codes.

Older kids would love the OzoBlockly a web based app. Ozoblocky is powered by Google’s Blockly, a visual programming platform. Kids can drag and drop commands into a workspace and come up with their games,  patterns, and paths.

Overall it was really a fun experience introducing Ozobot to different gatherings that I had in my house and at my friends and also at my son’s class. I just loved the experience when I interacted with the kids.

Finally, Ozobot packs endless opportunities to play, learn, interact and share through game applications, creative curriculums, and downloadable content. This  blend of entertainment and education and can be enjoyed in the family room, in the classroom, and on the go!