Showing posts with label aquabots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aquabots. Show all posts

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Robotic Aquabots provide fun of a fish tank without the hassle and mess - A Geek Daddy Toy Review

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured products for free to review **

My kids have been begging me to get some new pet fish since their most recent ones passed away but one thing I realized from the last go around is they really aren't up to the responsibility of feeding them nor keeping the gold fish bowl clean.  I didn't want to be the one taking on the responsibility of a second go around with pet fish but also my kids nagging was starting to wear on me.  The problem may have been solved with some AquaBots™ from Hexbug® that are part-toy, part-pet.  These robotic little critters provide the fun of watching an aquatic creature swimming around under water without the hassle and mess of taking care of a live fish.  Of course learning responsibility is an important part of growing up so when my children get somewhat older and a bit more mature we'll give real fish another shot - but for now these AquaBots™ will do just fine.

Hearing about my goldfish predicament, the good folks at Hexbug® sent A Geek Daddy a few Aquabots™ to try out with my twins. We received an AquaBot™ Jellyfish and AquaBot™ Seahorse which my kids couldn't wait to open up when they came in the mail.  To describe them as excited would be an understatement as they anxiously watched me unpack the toys and fill up the included fish tanks with water.  What is really nice is you can just drop the toys right out of their package into water and off they go!  The AquaBot™ Jellyfish and Seahorse have an automatic on and off sensor activated by water.  Once they are submerged in water the toys begin to swim around but pull them out of the water and they stop...pretty cool! To maximize battery life after several minutes of swimming a Hexbug® AquaBot™ will go into sleep mode as not to wear out its batteries.  When you are ready to play with the AquaBot™ again thanks to high-tech sensors and patent-pending technology there are 3 easy ways to wake it up:  run your fingers through the water, touch the toy, or tap on the side of the fish.  Plus because Hexbug™ knows parents hate to go out and buy more batteries for toys, each AquaBot™ comes with a spare set of button cell powers - I really like that!


The Hexbug® AquaBot™ Jellyfish come in 5 different colors: Pink, Purple, Orange, Blue and Green.  We received a pink version that just thrilled my little girl.  The Jellyfish uses its 18 tentacles, powerful ducted impeller and 15 pre-programmed swimming routines to spin and slide through the water.

We also received a blue Hexbug® AquaBot™ Seahorse that was also a real hit with my kids.  The Seahorse has a selection of 5 translucent colors to choose from (blue, purple, green, red & orange) and by using smart fish technology and powered by electro-magnetic propulsion its curly rubber tail and back fin steer itself through the water.


My kids are at an age where they still like to play in the tub but many of the bath time toys out there are too babyish for them.  These toys worked just as well in the bath tub as they did in the fish tanks they came with.


The Hexbug AquaBot Jellyfish and Seahorse get A Geek Daddy nod of approval because my kids had a lot of fun with them and these aquatic creatures kept my children amused without my having to worry about feeding them or picking up poop. In addition to the Jellyfish and Seahorse, Hexbug® also produces a variety of sharks and fish AquaBots™ to choose from.  You may want to consider picking up the AquaBot™ Tri Pack which includes an Angelfish, Jellyfish, and Seahorse that retails for approximately $29.99.


One thing consumers should be aware of is that while on the Seahorse switching out the batteries is as easy as unfastening a screw it is a bit more complicated with the Jellyfish involving a special tool (that if you aren't looking out for can easily be thrown away with its packaging) which needs to be inserted into a special groove to open up the water tight seal.  Don't worry though because the Hexbug webpages for each product include a video with instructions on how to change the batteries on each of these Aquabots if you find yourself stumped.


For more information, visit hexbug.com/aquabot


Friday, October 16, 2015

VEX Robotics: Gear Racers

** A Geek Daddy was provided the featured product for free to review **

The makers of popular mechanized insect (Hexbugs) and fish (Aquabots) toys have added a new product to their lineup called VEX Robotics that through entertaining children provide them with an educational experience involving elements of engineering, science and technology.  VEX Robotics allows kids to play with gadgets they've built with their own hands that include a Catapult, Gear Powered Cars, an industrial Robotic Arm, and a Zoetrope, among other things.  If you are a parent looking to educate a child about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) principals through a fun hands on learning experience VEX Robotics are some toys you'll want to check out.



I had the opportunity to build and race with my kids the VEX Robotics Gear Racers which are a pair of cars that are powered by kinetic energy.   The construction set comes with over 180 easy connect snap pieces that allows you to build either two racing cars or to combine all of the parts to create either a rover or one big robotic dragonfly.  What is really great is there are no tools, glue, or batteries required to put the VEX Robotic Gear Racers together just follow the directions and snap all the provided pieces into place.

Once you've snapped your car together let physics do the rest of the work for you!  Pull these cars backwards and then watch them zoom forward under their own power.  When the cars are pulled back the resistance lever holding a pair of rubber bands raises generating tension that transfers through the gears inside to cause them to launch forward.  Re-positioning the gears inside the cars allows the cars to travel at various speeds and distances helping kids to learn about the fundamental principals behind speed and torque.  It is a really nice feature with the construction kit that it provides enough parts to build two cars that can be raced against one another.  My daughter picked red and my son chose blue and it was off to the races!


These Gear Racers are recommended for Ages 8+.  Based upon our experience these construction kits probably need to be built by parents for children at the younger end of this age recommendation, with some parental assistance for 10-12 year olds, and teens can probably handle it on their own.  There are lots of small pieces included washers and gears that need to be in just the right place for the cars to operate properly and some puzzle solving thinking is required to ensure everything is snapped together just right.   Here are the building instructions to give you a feel for the difficulty level of putting the VEX Robotic Gear Racers together.  Honestly, if I was able to assemble these cars you and your kids can do it too!  While I did the building of our Gear Racers, my six year old twins handed me pieces and held parts in place for me as we discussed what the gears and rubber bands were for and how they made the toys work so it really was a teachable moment that we had fun with together as a family.  My wife got in on the action and started to build the blue car while I was in the midst of building the red one.  Egos were on the line in regard to whose Gear Racer would work and do the best when our kids took them to the sidewalk to race.


The suggested retail price for VEX Robotic Gear Racers is $24.99.  Also it is nice to know that all the construction pieces for the Gear Racers are compatible with educational VEX IQ pieces in creating your own custom VEX robot with unlimited possibilities.  Innovation First International has created its Hexbug, Aquabot, and VEX Robotics toys to give children a positive experience with robotics at a young age hoping that will assist in promoting an interest in STEM related career fields as they grow older.  The VEX Robotic toys are a spin-off of products used by teachers and students in Innovation First International's VEX Robotics competition.

The VEX Robotics competition expands learning beyond text books and lectures by allowing students to engage in competitions that encourages teams to work together to develop new skills and solve problems utilizing robotic equipment in after school competitions.  Over 100,000 student teams representing over 30 countries compete annually in local, regional, state, and national VEX Robotics competitions. The VEX Robotics toy line is meant to take some of the teachable lessons learned through these competitions at schools and bring them home for parents to utilize with their kids in a fun way.


Because VEX Robotics toys like Gear Racers are designed to inspire kids to become engaged in STEM focused learning A Geek Daddy gives them a nod of approval.  I always appreciate when educational lessons can be presented in an entertaining way so that children approach these topics as challenging puzzles rather than arduous tasks.