Kano’s next learn-to-code kit is a build-it-yourself laptop

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/26/kanos-next-learn-to-code-kit-is-a-build-it-yourself-laptop/

by TheVinous • 9 years ago

65 40 9 years ago

tonyarkles3• 9 years ago

This makes me so nostalgic. In my mind, this is a spiritual successor to the Vic-20/Commodore 64 type computers. Meant to be programmed out of the box, with an environment that is reasonable for a motivated individual to learn and hack on.

cheez2• 9 years ago

My son had both the CPU kit and the screen kit. Whenever a friend comes over, he proudly displays the computer he built himself. He is a god to them. Then he goes to use his macbook. In any case, this is a great, cost efficient introduction. We eventually built a monster desktop for "work".

I will definitely get this for him next summer.

holychiz• 9 years ago

how old is your son? if he's around 6 year-old, he's a god to me! :)

brians• 9 years ago

Same experience: my 4yo built a rainbow-colored case for a Pi2 B, cabled in monitor and keyboard and mouse and power, and knows it’s the computer she built. Following Goerzen’s advice, she gets a text login—so three years later, she knows about startx, apt, and finds alpine about as usable as iPad Mail.app. When the computer was disassembled for a move, we had a great conversation about how to put it back together, what was working where, and how USB ports defy physics and have three sides, one of which is invisible.

cheez2• 9 years ago

He did it this past summer, so he had just turned 8. Those kits aren't hard at all if your kid is already used to stuff like Lego. My son builds stuff intended for 14 year olds no sweat.

leggomylibro6• 9 years ago

Awesome.

I wish that these wouldn't just use a Raspberry Pi, though. If you just give people a Magic Computer Board to slot into a few other bits of plastic and peripherals, how much will they really learn about the hardware?

What about a kit that you solder up yourself? Not the actual components, but at least some headers or leads to physically separate the different logical pieces of the machine. The core logic board with all those annoying BGA components could be a single board, but the peripherals might be broken out into headers designed for different module boards to plug in.

The USB adapter boards or hub board connect HERE, the audio amp board connects HERE, the microSD card/M.2 SSD storage board goes HERE, the Power supply board plugs in HERE, etc.

And then you open-source a modular 3D-printable case that users can design in a web interface, snapping slots sized for different plugs/modules in different places on a shell, choosing where the screen/hinges/keyboard/trackpad/board should sit. Link to an affiliate-linked online printer for convenience, and stock a few default configurations.

turbinerneiter3• 9 years ago

Soldering sucks. It was easy with the old leaded solder, but with the new unleaded it's harder. Sure, you can use sodler flux, but eh. It's no for kids and there is too much that can go wrong.

Also, what do you really about hardare by soldering?

semi-extrinsic3• 9 years ago

Why do you use unleaded solder? Don't eat the lead based solder and you'll be perfectly safe. Skin contact is safe. Wash your hands and clean under your fingernails after soldering if you want to be super sure you're not going to be ingesting any lead afterwards.

nalllar• 9 years ago

If it's for DIY purposes you can still use leaded solder if you prefer it.

Otherwise, not all lead-free solder is the same. Try Senju M705 or a similar SnAgCu alloy, you may be pleasantly surprised.

M705 datasheet: https://www.opendatasheets.com/datasheet/m705-senju-metal-in...

ch4ch4• 9 years ago

This kit is targeted for younger kids. A soldering iron presents a real risk for injury, and most parents will probably not want to buy something like that for their kids.

If parents wanted to extend this kit to include soldering, they could just as easily buy an additional Pi HAT kit from Adafruit...

seabird2• 9 years ago

Playing tag presents a real risk for injury. Climbing a tree presents a real risk for injury.

Any kid that is old enough to understand the concept of programming a computer and being interested enough to pursue it is old enough to solder. Don't grab the iron by the business end. Wear your safety glasses. Don't inhale the smoke. It's that easy.

leggomylibro6• 9 years ago

Yeah, maybe the headers could be pre-soldered, or just present as receptacles for pluggable cable ribbons that you also provide.

I think the important part would be breaking the hardware out of just being 'A Computer Box.'

sannee• 9 years ago

Oh come on, soldering is fairly safe - the worst thing you can realistically get is a small burn. Compare that to say, cycling or skying (which is something many parents let their 10 year olds do).

blacksmith_tb• 9 years ago

I don't think it's so terrible, most computing devices kids will have interacted with had no way to look under the hood, they are glued-shut tablets, phones, and laptops and the like. Even just looking at the greenboard and seeing where things are plugged in has some educational value. That said, I don't see how this is different from the Pi-Top[1] which has been around for a while (they also make the CEED, which is a cheaper all-in-one based on the RPi).

1: https://pi-top.com/products/pi-top

leggomylibro6• 9 years ago

That's a good point; and since you mention it, I was amazed just a few weeks ago when I took my phone apart and saw a small PCB with only a few SoCs, power ICs, buttons, and a bog-standard 3.7V 2200mAh LiPo battery.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it was still sort of neat to see.

tonyarkles3• 9 years ago

I mentioned elsewhere in the thread about my nostalgia for the Vic-20 and friends. Here's a book I remember taking out of the library when I was a kid: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxv0SsvibDMTZ2tQMmpyOWtsRFk... I didn't ever build any of the robots from the book (there weren't really any useful electronics suppliers in town, and I hadn't yet discovered the magic of Digikey...), but I still feel like I learned a lot thinking about how it would work.

I just flipped through it again, and I'm 99% sure that the circuits in that book would work just fine with a Raspberry Pi. Obviously you wouldn't use PEEK and POKE in BASIC to program it, but if the programming environment that Kano is providing gives you any kind of GPIO access, this could be an awesome platform to introduce basic hardware hacking.

IWentToTheWoods• 9 years ago

Electronics and robotics aside, the directions for building simple mechanical structures like hinges and joints in that book are pretty good for children, too.

cr0sh4• 9 years ago

I'm 99% sure that the circuits in that book would work just fine with a Raspberry Pi.

Not without level conversion. Most of those circuits likely assumed 5V TTL logic, not 3.3V CMOS. But provided you did do such level conversion, then yeah - they'd probably be fine with the RasPi.

JorgeGT• 9 years ago

I love my raspberry pi, but to "learn-to-code" I would rather buy an Acer Aspire 1 [1], which is cheaper than this kit, has much better performance and a very nice flat design. With the remaining money I would buy a raspberry zero that the kid can ssh to, embed in robot/contraptions, etc.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Celeron-Storage-Windows-A114-31-...

mentos• 9 years ago

What would you guys think of a school that allowed kids to use their cell phones if they first passed a 'build-it-yourself' course with something like this?

tytytytytytytyt• 9 years ago

Passing a course doesn't mean the kids magically have a legitimate reason to use a cell phone during class.

khedoros13• 9 years ago

Sounds like it would work as an incentive for kids to do the course, but not much else. If your goal is just to entice a few more kids into having an interest in tech, that seems worthwhile.

dmoo• 9 years ago

If you have a Pi already and a kid I recommend an install of the os. They have really done a great job, learn the command line as part a game etc.

http://developers.kano.me/downloads/

LordKano• 9 years ago

Somehow, I feel like I should have something more profound to say here.

I have been considering getting one of their kits for my children to build and learn.

Kano’s next learn-to-code kit is a build-it-yourself laptop

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