Avishkaar Robotics Kits
Avishkaar Robotics Kits
A review of the leading maker of robotic ed-tech kits in India
Introduction
We are trying to look at leading manufacturers in the robotics ed-tech market of different countries, and this week our focus is on Avishkaar based in India.
Avishkaar means ‘to invent’ in Hindi. Avishkaar is the leading manufacturer of robotic ed-tech kits in India. We recently bought and evaluated the Avishkaar Robotics Pro Kit. Amongst the various products available from Avishkaar, we chose this kit because of the comprehensive variety of parts in the kit, which as per Avishkaar can be used to build 200+ robots. This kit is rated for ages 12+ by Avishkaar. At the time of this article, the kit is priced at INR 18499 (Roughly USD 220). Now, let’s get down to the review.
Avishkaar vs Vector and Bittle
Since most of our readers are familiar with the Anki Cozmo, Vector and Petoi Bittle robots (which are in the same price range as Avishkaar Robotics Pro Kit), let’s first understand where robotic ed-tech kits such as the one built by Avishkaar fits the picture. The Anki Cozmo and Vector robots are pre-assembled robots which can be used to teach programming skills in an ed-tech setting. As an example, Anki Cozmo could be used to teach programming in Scratch, while the Anki Vector is suitable to teach programming in Python via the Vector SDK or in Go via Wirepod. On the other hand, the Petoi Bittle can be assembled from parts (pre-assembled versions can also be bought from Petoi), but only in a specific way to create the Petoi robot. The Petoi Bittle is useful to understand robotic hardware components as well as learn software skills by programming it in Python or scratch or even changing the Petoi OpenCat open source firmware (which controls the Bittle). In that way, the Bittle caters to a wide range of audience, young kids can program Bittle with Scratch and Python, while mature researchers can program Bittle’s firmware or interface it with Raspberry Pi.
Avishkaar on the hand gives you the parts to design and then build your own robot. As such, once you buy the Avishkaar Robotics Pro kit, you get access to a variety of mechanical parts such as metallic plates, plastic gears, plastic wheels, motors, sensors, nuts and bolts, and a programmable brain with a battery. The idea is that you can use these parts to design, build, and then program your own robot. The accompanying manual has a few examples such as a wheeled cart which follows you, a smart dustbin, a vending machine etc., but there is a huge variety of robot configurations available online, that you can build with these parts (Avishkaar advertises 200+ robots).
Once you build the robot, you can program it with the Avishkaar Maker Studio (AMS) which offers a Scratch like visual programming interface to program the robot. After writing a program, you can compile it, and upload it to the programmable brain via a USB-C connection. The robot can now run the code.
Are you an educator thinking about summer or after school robotics camps for K-12 children. Talk to us on how you can use Anki, Petoi, and Avishkaar kit.
Evaluation
For this evaluation, we built a wheeled cart which responds to touch. When you touch the sensor it starts moving. When you touch again, it stops moving. It’s simple to build the robot with a couple of wheels and axles, the touch sensor, some metallic plates, and the programmable brain with the battery. The program is simple and useful for an easy demo. We intend to make it advanced by letting the robot detect obstacles and then maneuvering around them by moving left or right. The robot can then detect obstacles with help of the infra-red and ultrasonic sensors.
Here is a snapshot of Avishkaar Maker Studio with the program. Note how it shows both the block based program as well as the C++ program on the right bar. This interface allows a child learn C++ while exploring the block based visual interface.
And here is a video on how the robot performs when it is programmed. We have the ultrasonic and infrared sensors installed for obstacle navigation, but haven’t programmed them yet. Three sensors are located in the front, the programmable brain unit is located at the back.
Review
Having had a chance to work with this kit, let me list some of the tradeoffs of this robotics kit.
Pros:
Quality parts: The quality of parts is great. The metallic plates are sturdy and durable. The nuts and bolts work well. The plastic in the gears is great and does not feel cheap and vulnerable. In all, you (or your kid) will have a great experience with this kit. The components are definitely worth the money.
Good programming interface: The Avishkaar Maker Studio (AMS) has many options for kids of different ages to learn programming. We tried AMS on Windows 10. Compiling the program and uploading it to the programmable brain worked out of the box.
Great diversity of robots: Its great to see the wide variety of robots that you can build with these parts. The examples in the manual demonstrate examples of robots that look very different from each other.
Great packaging: Avishkaar’s packaging is very neat and compares well with other leading manufacturers. Here is how teh packaging of the Pro Robotics Kit looks like once opened.
Opening the package of Avishkaar Pro Robotics Kit
Cons:
Closed ecosystem: The programmable brain is a closed unit, it can only be programmed using the Avishkaar Maker Studio. There is no SDK to connect to it using Python or any other programming language. There is no Arduino based support as of now. Therefore none of the sensors in the Arduino world will work with this robot. You are limited to use parts available from Avishkaar.
Space: You need a reasonable amount of space to build these robots. They are more designed for school and club use. You can build these at your home, but you would need a garage, or a spare room. These are not designed to be built on you table or desk.
Wiring and ports: All the wiring is based of RJ45 ports. While this makes it easy for a young child to do the wiring, the setup looks more bulky than it could be. We also experienced instances of loose wiring, as an example, the connection from the motor to the programmable brain would become loose when the robot was being driven around at top speed, and then that motor would stop working.
Do you have experience with the Avishkaar Robotics Pro kit? If you would like to describe your experience, please do so in the comments section, or reach out to me.
Conclusion
The Avishkaar Robotics Pro Kit is a great gear for its price. There are lots of options to learn and build your own robot. We will be building more projects with this kit. Please subscribe to this newsletter to stay tuned.