HandiMate: exploring a modular robotics kit for animating crafted toys

Abstract

Building from our previous work we explore HandiMate, a robotics kit which enables users to construct and animate their toys using everyday craft materials [32]. The kit contains eight joint modules, a tablet interface and a glove controller. Unlike popular kits, HandiMate does not rely on manufactured parts to construct the toy. Rather this open ended platform engages users to pursue interest driven activities using everyday objects, such as cardboard, construction paper, and spoons. These crafted parts are then fastened together using Velcro to the joint modules and animated using the glove as the controller. In this paper, we discuss the results from two user studies which were designed to understand the affinity of HandiMate among children. The first study reveals that children rated the HandiMate kit as gender-neutral, appealing equally to both female and male students. The second study discusses the benefits of engaging children in engineering design with HandiMate, which has been observed to bring out children's tacit physics-based engineering knowledge and facilitate learning.