This post was last updated on April 12th, 2022 at 08:42 pm
Kids interested in robotics, engineering, and mechanics will get a lot of enjoyment with My Robotic Pet Tumbling Hedgehog from Thames and Kosmos. It's a sound-activated hedgehog robot toy in kit form.
Kids control their robotic hedgehog's movements with different types of clapping. It will react by putting on a show of tumbles, rolls, and spins. It will curl into a ball and bristle its spines and scurry around.
The kit has 172 parts - body pieces, springs, and screws - and a colorful forty-page manual with full assembly instructions. The manual also includes some information about hedgehogs and bionics and has a comic section featuring Nuna the Tumbling Hedgehog.
Tumbling Hedgehog has a sound sensor in its head and will need four AAA batteries to operate.
Tumbling Hedgehog Instructions
Kit assembly starts with the Transmission Module, runs through Running and Movement Mechanics, Outer Shell, Head, Handling the Robot, and Using the Robot.
Assembling the kit could be a challenge for kids in the lower age range who perhaps are more interested in playing with the toy than putting it together. Also, those not experienced in building kits may need some parental help. Older children should take it in their stride.
Tumbling Hedgehog Troubleshooting
If the kids have any problems assembling the kit, they can read the troubleshooting section in the manual or watch the Thames & Kosmos assembly video tutorial on YouTube. They will see step-by-step instructions in close-ups and be able to playback the video as often as they need to sort any problems.
Watch the video tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dI2SoC-2l4
Should you need them, robotic hedgehog spare parts can be arranged by contacting Thames and Kosmos Support, whose email is in the manual.
How to Use Tumbling Hedgehog
You turn on your robotic hedgehog by pressing the button on its forehead for two seconds, and the eyes will flash green. The hedgehog is now in standby mode awaiting your command.
If you don't do anything for sixty seconds, it will switch itself off, but not before stamping its feet as a reminder to you!
The hedgehog robot will only respond to your commands when its body is stretched. That's when the sensor is active. When curled, the sensor becomes inactive.
Kids activate their robot pet by single, multiple, or rapid clapping, depending on the mode. There are three modes for kids to use, which they access by pushing the button on his forehead, and five different maneuvers that hedgehog performs.
Mode 1 - Roll backward, Roll backward, curl and sleep, Awake & uncurl.
Mode 2 - Multiple backward rolls
Mode 3 - Applauding for a backward roll
All is made clear in the manual.
A Few Specs.
- 5 Experiments
- Dimensions 10 x 13 x 4.7 inches
- Weight 1.7 pounds
- Recommended ages: 7 to 14 years
Kids will get the best enjoyment from this cute hedgehog robot toy if they enjoy model building and are interested in learning how it works. They will also need patience with their commands to the assembled robot so the sensors fully understand their instructions.