Marty the Robot by Robotical

Marty is a great little robot that can do something which other robots in this price range can't - WALK!

The first thing I did after unboxing Marty was to build him - something I found as enjoyable as coding and seeing him dancing around. If that's not your thing then you can buy Marty fully assembled. The build was straight forward thanks to the clear instructions which were included in the box. Although I didn't need them, there are also videos available online for each stage of the build.

Once he was built, it was time to get programming - I used Scratch to get Marty walking, dancing and playing music (as shown in the video below). You can also program Marty in other languages such as Python and Javascript as your coding skills progress. Finally, it was time to set Marty free to explore the world around him - he became autonomous (able to make his own decisions) once fitted with the bump sensors (included with the kit) and ultrasonic sensor (available from Robotical at an additional cost).

I loved programming Marty and found, when using him with the STEM club in school, that the pupils did too. Getting pupils to engage with robotics, whether it starts with programming some fancy dance moves or just changing the stickers on Marty's face, can open up a world of possibilities and can lead them to developing their coding skills - something that will be increasingly important in this digital world.

Marty is lots of fun and you'll find plenty of support on Robotical's website https://robotical.io/

​I'd like to thank Robotical for supplying me with a Marty in order to produce the videos. Since they were made, Robotical have released Marty V2 which was 'redesigned from the ground-up to be easier to use, stronger, and with great new features including bluetooth, sound & voice, and exciting add-ons'.

Hopefully, I'll get my hands on one soon - fingers crossed!