Overview
Robot Simulator is an educational game designed to teach children basic programming concepts. The player can customize the map as desired, adding different types of objects for the robot to maneuver around.
The robot has a variety of different functions including driving in different directions, firing objects and shooting lasers. Robot Simulator is available on Google Play
Conception
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The inspiration for Robot Simulator originated from a fundamental disagreement I have with the "no screen time for kids" movement. Most "no screen" Stem kits and projects are designed to teach science technology and engineering to kids. The problem is that all engineering fields require lots of screen time. Modern engineering wouldn't be possible without computers (the evil screen).
For Christmas I bought my son a Stem mouse. It's great that he can learn programming from this toy but it's somewhat unrealistic as programming a robot is done by a computer. I thought it would be interesting to make a virtual robot simulator based on a similar principle as the mouse. |
Concept 1
Why no instructions?
I am of the opinion that the best way to learn something is to figure it out on your own. It also allows the user to figure out how things work and explore the various options that way.
Status
The robot simulator was more popular than I expected. It is no longer in active development but has entered the support and maintenance phase.