Assembling a LEGO masterpiece sparks the imagination, and creative thinkers can now bring their LEGO robots to life by assembling and programming these magnetic electronic modules from Microduino Studio.
Ideal for kids, teachers, makers, designers and engineers, Microduino's mCookies are the smallest electronic modules that will power up your LEGOs.
Founded in 2012, Microduino has seen success on two Kickstarter campaigns, enabling the company to develop over 50 blocks and over 30 sensors. And now, the next generation, mCookie, allows thinkers and inventors of all ages to create and build open-source projects.
The mCookies are small and stackable modules that are compatible with the open-source hardware Arduino. The modules include colored shells that make it easy to distinguish whether the specific module is a core, extension, function or communication piece. The module allows inventors to add a motor, audio, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other functions to power up their designs.
The small electronic modules can be stacked with all LEGO series products – think LEGO car controlled via smartphone – making it a great tool to get students interested in making their own electronics.
To add functionality, the quarter-sized pieces snap together with four magnets — one on each corner. The modules will reject each other if they are not aligned correctly, making for easy assembly.
Creative thinkers can build their dream machines and power them up using Arduino IDE, writing their own programs and transmitting the code via USB to the hardware. Beginners can also use Scratch, an open-source program that allows users to drag and drop to bring their creation to life.
Items such as a BLE light have been made using the mCookie CoreUSB, BM, LED color and Hub modules. A mCookie music box can be constructed with the CoreUSB, RTC, BM, Hub, Amplifier, Audio and Crash. Finally, an mCookie robot car control unit can be produced with the CoreUSB, BM, BLE4.0, Hub, Motor and Servo modules.
More advanced inventions can also be made — such a quadcopter controlled with a joypad, a Wi-Fi weather station, a smart garden and a bicycle PGS tracker. There is no limit to what the imagination can bring to life.
After raising $167,570 on the project's Kickstarter, the company says that shipments for the mCookie will start in August.
Microdunio's mCookie is available for pre-order now on its website, with the 101 Basic Kit retailing for $78, while the 201 Advanced Kit retails for $148.
