DIY Kits for kids to learn Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Programming via Playful Activities
Children learn the most by hacking into their toys and asking questions, they said!
But today’s children are playing with face fillers, internet algorithms, have seen self-driving cars, and whatnot! How do we break into these 21-st century toys?
Well, let children learn programming, AI, robotics, etc., and let them mimic these real-world applications with the projects they make.
How? Meet Quarky,
A re-programmable robot by profession, and a cute learning companion by passion, that children can create dozens of real-world-inspired projects with.
Quarky, through it’s interactive interface and engaging hands-on experience, teaches programming and robotics while introducing children to a multitude of artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts.
Quarky is pretty handy, is loaded with features allowing real-time wireless interaction via WiFi and Bluetooth, works with both block-based programming and Python, is complemented with online courses to assist students in their learning, and can be programmed using phones, tabs, or laptops.
Quarky is not just another robot with basic pre-decided activities. With its versatile features, wide variety of kits and add-ons, a child’s imagination is the only limit.
Because it was a HIT on Kickstarter!
And it’s on Indiegogo to further the revolution.
STEMpedia, the creator behind Quarky, has an experience of running two successful, fully-delivered crowdfunding campaigns – evive and STEMpedia on Indiegogo – with over 99% satisfaction rate.
Upon getting validation from industry experts at CES 2020, STEMpedia levelled up its efforts towards making AI education accessible to kids in every corner of the world. Since then, it has been the talk of the town with media and DIY-ers writing about, testing, and reviewing Quarky for you.
Whatever they want to, duh!
No, we are serious! Project-making experience with Quarky is proven to improve their problem-solving skills, algorithmic thinking, creative approaches, and make their thought process a little more innovative. In other words, hone their 21st-century skills. And there’s hardly any limit to what kids can make with Quarky, let’s take a look at a few of them.
“It’s like conceptually reverse engineering a Tesla at 1/500th the $$$$.” – Nicola Edison
“I’ll never let you go, Keep me by your side” – Quarky Onus Blue Raye
“Kevin would’ve been less troublesome if he was Home Alone in 2021.” – Kevin’s Mom
“I wish my child was this-obedient, not disobedient” – Shin Chan’s Mom
“Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s child is the naughtiest of all” – Unknown Parent
“AI AI AI, AI AI AI, (Don’t) Let it rain over me” – Smart Anthony
AND MUCH MUCH MORE …
Quarky has been tested by 500+ students and 50+ educators across 20+ countries over the course of 6 months. This is what they have to say:
Well, because it’s ultra-powerful, feature-packed and appropriately assisted.
This reconfigurable and reprogrammable robot kit comes with 6 Online Self-Paced Courses that allow children to delve into concepts like object detection and identification, face and voice recognition, gesture-tracking, path planning, optical character recognition, machine learning, and much more, via dozens of interactive activities.
Learn to code with Scratch and Python within a single, omni-platform programming interface – PictoBlox and let your imaginations go wild. With PictoBlox, kids can code their palm-sized buddy, anytime and anywhere.
Messy wires, breadboards, soldering things together, etc. can be a nightmare at a tender age. But should we let this scare kids from getting their hands dirty? No way! That’s why Quarky comes with tons of built-in electromechanical components like LEDs, motors, sensors, buzzers, etc., so that making AI projects never gets tedious.
Quarky is not a product, it’s a feeling, an indulgence, a wholesome learning ecosystem in itself. It keeps things simple and interesting, so that kids never want to stop playing and learning, making every day a brand-new DIY-ing experience.
Wondering what’s the secret behind Quarky’s endless capabilities?
Based on ESP32, Quarky is a reprogrammable robot with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Despite being pocket-sized, it packs a plethora of on-board elements that make it easy for kids to integrate with programming platforms to work on AI and IoT projects. Take a look for yourself-
Let us highlight it again, Quarky is not just a product, but a carefully crafted learning ecosystem that guides children from zero to being an AI hero!
Each Quarky kit is accompanied by up to 6 Online Self-Paced STEM.ORG certified courses. They help start a child’s AI journey while covering all the aspects step-by-step.
Quarky is available as two basic variants – the Innovator Kit that facilitates hands-on AI activities with 2-robot variations, includes an arena, recognition cards, etc.; and the Ultimate Kit that includes everything from the Innovator Kit, and packs more mechanical parts for 10-robot variations, includes an additional arena, extra electronic components, and much more. Read more below:
Add-Ons are additional boxes of electro-mechanical parts that will help children dive deeper into a specific concept. These are meant to be used in addition to the basic variants above, and enable children to experiment with complex robot types/families, like the Mars Rover or a Humanoid, or add more flavor to the playfulness with more avatars for your projects with the Creatives pack, or maybe explore swarm robotics with additional Quarky boards (i.e. the Explorer). Read more below:
Based on NASA’s 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s design, this pack adds 10+ variations of a celestial robo-marvel to your Quarky Army. With rocker-bogie and differential-arm mechanisms, this baby got all-terrain moves!
No Army could be complete without bi-pedal soldiers marching on the frontlines. And when they’re this cute and cuddly and have got all the necessary moves, they are never losing a war for you.
If looks could kill, Quarky Army would be the deadliest out there! They are a cultural revolution, you have to include folks from all shapes and colors. Grab a set of 12+ avatars for your robots and projects and make your Quarky Army look majestic!
Get an additional set of Quarky board (+accessories) to add more Quarkiness to your projects. Technically, this add-on enables swarm robotics flavor to the AI & robotics adventure.
Introduce students to Artificial Intelligence with our specially designed AI classroom bundles consisting of ultra-modern Quarky kits and teaching resources for an all-around STEM education experience. With the kits being so affordable, you can get one for every student in the class and take them on a one-to-one immersive AI learning journey!
The Mini Classroom Bundle is the most affordable way to bring AI learning to your classroom. Most suitable for makerspaces, after-school-activity-centers, etc. with upto 5 teams learning at once (i.e. 5 students for a 1-to-1 setting or 5 teams for a many-to-1 setting), while providing access to online courses and PictoBlox for 50 students.
The Classroom Bundle is the best value for money way to bring AI learning to your classroom. Most suitable for makerspaces, after-school-activity-centers, etc. with upto 10 teams learning at once (i.e. 10 students for a 1-to-1 setting or 10 teams for a many-to-1 setting), while providing access to online courses and PictoBlox for 120 students.
The AI Lab is an affordable way to bring AI learning to your school/ educational institution. Most suitable for schools that are looking to establish a new AI teaching facility at their premises. It is suitable for upto 15 teams learning at once (i.e. 15 students for a 1-to-1 setting or 15 teams for a many-to-1 setting), while providing access to online courses and PictoBlox for 250 students.
*Please note that, if you are a school that wants to add Quarky to an existing (not new) lab/ facility, the Classroom Bundles above will be a more suitable choice.
Quarky is not just a wonderful learning companion for students, it’s also a great TEACHING companion for educators! Quarky makes it easy to teach AI and robotics in an engaging manner and improves learning outcomes.
For the love of teachers, we have several means to handhold you and prepare you to take AI teaching to even the remotest part of the planet. For you, we’ve dedicated teacher-training sessions, open-houses, modular curricula, comprehensive teaching resources (lecture slides, session plans, activity sheets, etc.).
These materials and teacher-training programs have been tested with 50+ teachers across the globe, Take a look at the experiences they have to share:
Does AI seem too tough to grasp when young? No no, hold on, we’ve got a secret that makes it pretty easy and engaging too (read productively addictive). Quarky introduces you to coding through a complete hands-on approach with PictoBlox, an intuitive Scratch-like graphical/ block-based programming interface with advanced AI tools.
PictoBlox not only allows children to code with blocks, but includes a Python interface as well, making it the only (afaik) application to handhold children through the block-to-syntax transition in their skill to code.
Quarky comes complemented with a series of online courses that guide children step-by-step through the learning process. From conceptual depths to challenging capstone projects, from quizzes/ assessments to real-world challenges, everything that a child may need help with comes included.
The curricula designed for Quarky is accredited by STEM.ORG, one of the oldest STEM education research and credentialing organizations in America, and has been beta-tested by 500+ students across 20+ countries.
As of the day of launching this InDemand Campaign, about 2,000 Quarky kits have been manufactured and beta-tested from the first production run. Another 2,000 Quarky kits are under production to meet the pre-orders via Kickstarter and the InDemand campaigns.
Quarky is all prepared to greet you, and so shall you be, to bring the future of AI learning to your home!
Quarky is the brainchild of STEMpedia, a globally-renowned EdTech startup and creator of the famous all-in-one electronics prototyping platform evive. STEMpedia is head-quartered in Ahmedabad, India, and manages international operations via its subsidiary, STEMpedia Inc., California.
We’ve served 100,000+ students across 60+ countries, have worked with several government initiatives in India and across the globe such as the Atal Innovation Mission, AI Step-Up Module, Close the Gap, etc., and hosted 2020’s biggest international AI and coding competition for kids, Codeavour 2020 AI, that saw the participation of 5000+ teams across 90+ countries.
We ran two successful campaigns previously – one in 2016 and another in 2019 – and fulfilled all the orders on time. And we intend to do so this time as well. Pinky promise. The entire team of STEMpedia has put in all of their mind, body, and soul into bringing Quarky to life and can’t wait for you to get one for yourself!
This section includes raw and unedited footage of Quarky’s functionalities, and demonstrates different aspects of the product’s real-life applications.
Unboxing the Quarky Innovator Kit and demonstrating object-identification.
Demonstrating face-expression recognition and mimicking with Quarky robot.
We are working continuously to improve the experience of learning AI and robotics via hands-on activities for children, and we need your support to make this a huge success.