MakeblockCodey Rocky Interactive Emo Robot, Coding for Kids 8-12, STEM Toys Support Scratch Python Programming, Smart Robotics Gift for Kids 6+

Good

I bought Codey Rocky for my 9 year old daughter, who is interested in getting started with coding. So far, she loves it! It was easy to set up and to get started. First, we downloaded the android app. The app has three sections: 1) Drive, 2) Draw and Run, and 3) Code. We had a lot of fun with Drive. In this section, we simply drove Codey Rocky around using the on screen joystick. We also had fun changing the pattern displayed on the screen. This was super easy to do, just touch the bubbles on the Android device and it immediately transfers to the robot screen. Drive also has a few buttons that help Codey express some personality.The Draw and Run section was fun too. You draw a pattern on the screen, and Codey will drive in that same pattern on the ground. You can add some light and sound effects by easily dragging and dropping the effects on the line that was drawn. We had fun making an obstacle course and seeing if we could get Codey to navigate it.Before we attempted the coding in section 3, I downloaded the makeblock software to my Windows 10 notebook and looked at the coding examples that are built into that software. I think we could work directly from the notebook, but my daughter copied the examples into the Tablet and I could see she was starting to get the hang of it. She is now trying to combine the coding examples to make more complex programs.

This product is a fun and easy to use toy for someone young that is interested in basic robotics.

My step son absolutely loved this

Got this on sale around Black Friday time. As toys go, the hardware is awesome:- Programmable- Connects via bluetooth- Good power to the motors/servos- Multiple sensors- Enough modularity and reconfigurability to make things interestingThe software is *sort of* cool.- Very good introduction to programming- Reasonably intuitive drag/drop coding with decisions, branches, subroutines, etc.The problem is that—at least on the iPad version—you can't actually save your program. This is infuriating if you want to spend any time at all (which you'll need to do if you want to make the robot do anything cool). All that time doing drag-and-drop programming and rearranging the little icons/widgets to perform the tasks/tricks you want... and then no way to save.It reminds me of 8-bit BASIC programming back in the '80s when tape and disk drives were $HUNDREDS so parents just bought the computer console without any storage—and then little Timmy would spend hours and hours typing in a program and once typed in, had to leave the computer on for days and days to enjoy the program, because once you powered off, it was gone—and if you wanted to use the program again, you'd have to type it all in again, and that's a whole bunch of no fun.I'd have thought we'd move beyond that by 2020, but apparently not. Maybe the laptop versions are better and enable kids to save. But my kids have an iPad, not a laptop, so... we're stuck with a toy that *could* be amazing if they could build up their experience/knowledge/library of code over time and improve this week on what they did last week, etc.Instead, they're starting from scratch every single time, so each time they've touched it they get about the same amount of distance into things—say, 30 minutes to make it move forward and do one or two things—and they they move on and lose everything. Basically, they've gotten bored with making it do the same thing over and over again.If they were able to save their progress, it would be far more interesting because they'd be working on adding something new each time, and as a result, they would be learning something. Instead, they've learned basically to make it go forward and backward and that's about it because each time they start from scratch.Another one of those science toys that's infuriatingly close to being very cool, but manages to go wrong just as it was about to cross the finish line.

We got the Codey Rocky along with the Neuron blocks for my daughter for her birthday. They work together, but only in the computer app. It seems like there maybe tablet support for this in the future. The Codey Rocky has a nice little personality which is something my daughter really wanted. It seems like it has some growing left to do, but for the price I think it is good.

My son loves his Corey Robot. He's been doing coding in school, but I thought it would be better for him to see it motion, besides on the screen. I like that it takes you through the steps to show you how to begin coding. He enjoyed using the remote control & finger drawing in the meantime while going through the steps. Small enough where it doesn't take up a lot of space, yet the right size for the hands of a child. Gives my son and I something we can do together and as a teacher, this keeps him busy doing something positive on his tablet.

Solid little robot, and it's nice that it works right out of the box. Birthday gift for an 8 year old, and with the software already loaded on my (Android) phone it was an instant success. (Almost like getting a new pet...) Very easy to use software for controlling the robot out of the box, and the coding software looks very straightforward as well. (Based on Scratch 2.0) He's used it daily, and is just starting to delve into the coding software to see how to take advantage of sprites (for emotions) and some of the sensors. Key will be engagement with the coding capabilities, otherwise it's kind of an RC vehicle that can display some emotions and a couple of other tricks.