J JamesGames.com Lightning Mcqueen, from Cars, is Mattel's latest programmable robot for kids
 

Lightning Mcqueen, from Cars, is Mattel's latest programmable robot for kids

Toy Fair features robotics at every age level.
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By: James Oppenheim | Created: 2017-02-19 23:14:26 | (Updated: 0000-00-00 00:00:00)

2017's  biggest hi-tech trend in toyland is the proliferation of programmable gadgets for kids.  Last year Fisher-Price pushed coding to toddlers with the amazing Code-a-pillar.  It took the metaphor out of "object-oriented programming" by giving kids literal "objects" to code with in the form of the body segments of the bug.  The robot could be commanded to exececute a series of manuevers by assembling the body part objects,  each of which would point the bug in a different direction, in any order.  

This year the robot, Lightning McQueen from the Cars series from Pixar, is controlled by drawing a path on a touchscreen on the trunk of the car.  The robot executes the manuever, following the path sketched on the touchpad.  You can see it in action on my YouTube channel.