#648: Rollbot

Today’s invention is an educational toy: an alternative to the turtles sometimes used in schools.

A wireless mouse contains a couple of small motors. A child can use the mouse to draw a simple shape on the screen in the usual way.

The mouse is then driven, by a bluetooth signal, so as to follow, on e.g. a real desktop, the path described on screen. Although intended to provide language-free programming, this could be extended to allow the control of several such mice via simple programs written in some graphical language (like Starlogo or Squeak).