Do you like nature? Do you have a beard? Then you’ll love these things. Cubelets are essentially robotic building blocks. By connecting sensors, motors, and feedback devices, you can create clever little automatons that can interact with the world around them (within reason). Most important, however, is that Cubelets has decided to feature a bearded, Dutch spokes-mountain-man to sell their product, an excellent choice for almost any kit-based robotics project.
Sold by ModRobotics, the kit is available for pre-order for $160. This includes six Cubelets – two sensors, two “action” blocks, and two “brains” including a battery pack. A giant kit costs $520 and includes 20 pieces. They’re made for kids eight and up and run on rechargeable batteries.
These things are clearly very pricey but they are educational and aimed more at schools than at kids who just want to jam blocks together. It is unclear if every package comes with a hirsute Dutch man to help you build your Cubelets, but you would think that for a few dollars more they could ship one out along with a supply of beer and Edam to keep him fed and happy [UPDATE – I checked: it doesn’t].