The makers of the Kano Computer Kit are expanding their line of products designed to help kids learn to code.
Kano is launching a Kickstarter campaign for three new kits that kids can assemble and then program from a web browser. One is a programmable Camera Kit. Another is a Speaker Kit. And the third is a “Pixel Kit” with 128 programmable lights that make a low-res screen.
If Kano raises at least $500,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, the plan is to sell the new kits alongside the company’s existing Raspberry Pi-based Computer Kit.
The new kits don’t use a Raspberry Pi. Instead they’re powered by a single-board computer with integrated WiFi and Bluetooth called a Kano Brain.
Assemble your hardware, open a web browser and you can use Kano’s tools to program each device.
The Camera Kit is a 5MP camera that can be programmed to capture images, videos, or GIFs or apply filters or flashes to images. It runs Linux-based software, features a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, ARM Mali-400 MP2 graphics, features 3 USB ports, and has 1GB of RAM, and comes with an 8GB SD card.
There’s an LED ring flash with 10 RGB LED lights, a tripod, a tripwire sensor, and macro and fish-eye lens add-ons, among other things.
Kano’s Speaker Kit has a gesture sensor which can be used to control the system in various ways. It has a model dial for switching between apps, a gesture controller, and a “boom tube” for emphasizing bass.
The Speaker Kit has a similar Kano brain, but this version also has a 3.5mm audio jack.
And the Pixel Kit can be programmed with playable games that use the 128-pixel display and a tilt and swivel sensors for controls. It has 3 USB ports, a mini USB port, a joystick and buttons, and a mode dial.
All three kits are said to offer 3 hours of battery life.
The kits each have a suggested retail price of $130, but they’re going for $99 each during the Kickstarter campaign There’s also a “triple pack” option which includes all three kits for $349.
If that campaign is successful, Kano hopes to begin shipping kits in January, starting with the Pixel Kit and followed by the Camera Kit (in May) and the Speaker Kit (in July).
