2022 The Best Five STEAM Robot Car for Homeschooling

I wonder if you are confused when giving toys to your children as to what kind of things they will enjoy and have meaning. In recent years, the STEAM concept has become popular, aiming to develop children's multi-threaded working skills through creative play and learning inspiration in a holistic manner. With this, STEAM toys have become the perfect starter toys for young creators. In addition, with the epidemic, the norm of homeschooling has become more demanding in terms of the difficulty and safety of toys. Therefore, choosing the best STEAM toys for homeschooling is a topic that needs to be explored.

There's no way to talk about STEAM toys today without talking about a fantastic creation - micro:bit. micro:bit is a miniature computer development board designed for youth programming education by BBC. micro:bit is BBC's way of driving young people to engage in creative hardware building and software programming, and It is accompanied by a wide range of project tutorial resources and activities online and offline.

With the support of the micro:bit Foundation, technology companies from around the world have invested significant resources in building the micro:bit ecosystem. At the beginning of the development of the peripheral kits, the teams of technology companies coincidentally chose to use the carts as the first product of the micro:bit spin-offs, balancing the difficulty with the fun of the kits. Over the years, the micro:bit car series has become a classic product not only micro:bit, but also for children from the beginning to the advanced stages of learning programming. Today we would like to recommend a few technically mature cars for parents who are frustrated with the choice of toys for their children's programming learning.

1. Kitronik: MOVE Motor for micro:bit

Retail price 33USD.

MOVE Motor is a small off-road vehicle, racing powered by a variable speed bi-directional DC motor. 

Easy to assemble, no welding required.

Only the wheels need to be installed after opening the box.

With the obstacle avoidance function, it has an ultrasonic sensor and distance sensor.

Servo connection can be realized for better control of extended functions.

Cool as hell, with controllable four-color lights.

With free and interesting tutorial resources, including 11 in English and 6 in Dutch.

Disadvantages

The configuration is ordinary rubber wheels, not universal wheels, in the car steering and backward control may not be very convenient.

Only 2 programming languages are supported. Graphical programming Makecode and Python.

The single power supply only supports 4*AA batteries and does not support lithium battery power.

2. ELECFREAKS Smart Cutebot Kit for micro:bit and Pico:ed

Retail price 34.9USD.

Smart Cutebot is a fighting robot car, explosive and driven by dual high-speed motors.

Mini cute, enjoy immediately after unboxing.

Safe to use.

Burr-free edges and environmentally friendly materials.

Only the cart base plate process and edge feel have undergone 16 times optimization.

The only product marked as suitable for children over 6 years old and used under parental supervision in the introduction of all cars.

Realization of lights, music, line patrol, and obstacle avoidance functions.

Has a rich onboard configuration, ultrasonic sensors, distance sensors, 3 headlights, 2 patrol line

probes, and 1 buzzer. 

With rich expansion accessories, building blocks, PlanetX sensors, Octopus sensors, alligator clips, Smart AI Lens, lithium battery pack, and IIC interface.

Support 4 programming languages, Makecode, JavaScript, C++, and Python.

With the most abundant free cases, and constantly updated.

Currently, this Cutebot has 26 cases to teach you how to apply by hand.

Even if you teach yourself, you can get started quickly.

Quality assurance.

Fully enclosed motor to protect motor hygiene and extend the life cycle of the car.

Complete certification, covering FCC, ROHS, and CE.

Disadvantages

Not developed APP remote control function, temporarily only support Bluetooth, wireless, and handle.

3. Yahboom Tiny:bit Smart Robot Car for micro:bit

Retail price 31.99USD.

Tiny:bit is an interactive car.

Expandable includes alligator clips and is compatible with building blocks.

Intelligent obstacle avoidance, line patrol, music, ultrasound sensor, buzzer and microphone sensor, universal wheels.

It has 4 series of theme courses, a total of 22 courses.

A lithium battery is standard.

Support five remote control methods: Bluetooth, APP, handle (optional), handle (optional), remote control (optional) 

Disadvantages

Only supports 2 programming languages, Makecode and Python.

4. DFrobot Maqueen Lite Car for micro:bit and Arduino

Retail price 32USD.

The McQueen cart is an extremely flexible cart.

It supports multiple programming languages, Mind+, Makecode, Scratch, and Python.

Easy to build, claiming 60S build.

Rich accessories, with infrared sensors, IIC interface, and universal wheels.Convenient storage, configuration 1 plastic box. 

Disadvantages

Grinding is not fine enough, the bottom plate sticking, children use safety has a certain risk.

Tutorial resources are not rich enough, with only 14 cases.

5. ELECFREAKS Ring:bit V2 Car for micro:bit and Pico:ed

Retail price 22.9USD.

Unlike the previous four carts, this cart requires the independent installation and is a DIY car, better to train children's hands-on skills.

Expandable, with three expansion kits, Tracking module, Sonar:bit module, and Light-bar module

Support a wealth of programming languages, Makecode, Python, Java, Scratch, and C++.

Only 221 grams, the most pro-small car.Optional infrared sensor. 

Disadvantages

Tutorial resources are not rich enough, with only 11 cases.

The above five are the most popular small cars today. Each of them has its own advantages and shortcomings. Cutebot is small and cute, out of the box, does not require any building steps, for children with zero basic DIY ability, and is very friendly. Secondly, the Cutebot car's explosive ability is very strong, very suitable for fighting, and more attractive to children. Furthermore, Cutebot, ELECFREAKS, the main and most classic product, is not only equipped with a wealth of functional accessories and expansion accessories, and around this kit, ELECFREAKS developed as many as 26 case courses and is still in continuous update. Finally, the biggest difference with other carts is that Cutebot will put the safety of children first, the bottom of the car alone is polished 16 times, no burrs on the edges, and the maximum protection of children's use safety.

So if you are facing the problem of choosing the first STEAM toy for your kids, Cutebot is really a good choice. I hope today's sharing can help you and bring joy to your children's homeschooling life.