Aug 27 2014
Continuing its 166-year history of offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected, Hammacher Schlemmer introduces The Build Your Own Jumping Robot, a kit that teaches children about robotics and mechanics via a robot that jumps.
The robot is built from 98 pieces, including snail-shaped cams inside each arm that rotate and compress the robot's central spring as the robot crouches. When the spring releases, the robot leaps playfully off the floor, illustrating the concepts of potential and kinetic energy.
"The Build Your Own Jumping Robot not only engages children with a fun challenge to build a robot but it provides educational, hands-on examples of physics in action," explained Fred Berns, Hammacher Schlemmer's General Manager.
Children can make seven additional motorized models, including a crab that moves sideways, a spring-loaded kicking machine, and a grappler claw that clutches anything within reach, demonstrating physical science principles such as Hooke's Law, elasticity, and linkages. The Build Your Own Jumping Robot comes with an illustrated manual that gives clear, step-by-step instructions and explains the scientific principles at work.