Educational Insights Artie 3000 the Coding & Drawing Robot

My 8-year-old daughter LOVES Artie. The instructions that come in the box are pretty minimal. I highly recommend going to the website and watching the quick setup videos. For us, the set up was easy. We were able to connect to Artie’s wifi and get to the coding website with no problem. Our Artie didn’t need calibration - worked great out of the box! We’re using him on a hard floor. The drag and drop website definitely works best on a computer. It’s much harder to use on a phone - some of the controls get cut off on the phone, and my daughter kept accidentally moving the code commands when she was just trying to scroll, which was frustrating. All those problems went away on the computer. It might work ok on a tablet; we didn’t try that. The coding website has some fun, basic drawings pre-programmed, which is great for instant gratification. There are also instructions in the box for coding basic shapes. Once you know the basics, you can code your own designs. In the picture, you can see that my daughter (with a little help from Dad on getting the angles right) coded Artie to write her name. The mandala was a pre-programmed design. You might want some larger pieces of paper to keep Artie from going off onto the table or floor. Taping the paper down definitely helps! All in all, fun, great value for the money, and a creative way to introduce kids to coding basics.

From first opening the box, this is a great experience! Artie is super cute, and the packaging and support materials are high quality and good looking. The Quick Start guide is handy, and the numbered lessons are guiding us to what we can do and how to make the magic happen. It really does seem magical to be using this drag and drop code, and then watching our little robot follow our instructions to draw on paper right in front of our eyes. It’s like the code comes to life! The lessons are set up from easy to more advanced, so even if you don’t know how to code, it’s a great way to learn. It was really easy to follow the directions, and the pre-set projects were really cool too! Those don’t even take any coding – they’re just selected from a pull-down menu, press go and watch Artie draw. These inspired us to try even more advanced moves. The price is lower than competition, but there was no skimping in the product. How did they do it? I highly recommend the Artie 3000 for curious kids who want some real fun, real world experience with coding.

Update: After many tries, we finally got it to work, sort of. The instructions do not explain exactly how far to push the marker in the robot so she had to try many times to get it right. She's now having fun trying to figure out how to make shapes. Bought this for my daughter for Christmas as she asked for a coding robot. It's been a big disappointment. I can't even get past step 7. It wants you to connect to artie wifi then go to the website. But you can't go to the website because you're not connected to wifi. Then it tells you to go to local.codewithartie.com. I tried different devices to get to this site and nothing works. Image attached of the error message I get when trying to go to this site from one of my devices. My daughter was so excited to play with this Christmas morning but she is very disappointed. At this point I am ready to give up and return it.

I don't know about you but during quarantine kids REALLY need to stay occupied! My sweet nephew's birthday was last week and he loves problem-solving and he is incredibly creative, so I thought a little robot that teaches coding and creativity is obviously perfect! IT WAS A HIT! from opening the package and reading and following the guide instructions and cards, this toy kept him busy his entire birthday. My sister couldn't stop sending me videos of him loving it! She sent me videos of him following the instructions and making Artie do things from the guide, but she also sent me video of him doing his OWN coding as he learned how to create custom designs! It was so sweet. I just have to say I really appreciate products like this that keep kids engaged, focused, and learning without even realizing they are learning. On top of all that, he just kept saying in the videos "he is the cutest little bot!" GAH. Thank you so much Artie 3000!!!!

I had to return by first two Artie units. The first one did not engage any kind of motor to move Artie on the paper. The second would not bring up the internal Wi-Fi to access the programming interface. The third one finally worked. This is a really cool concept. You use a computer to connect to Arite over its own Wi-Fi hotspot to access a web server that has all of its functions built in hence the 4 stars for ease of use. Since buying it for my daughters birthday then going through weeks of troubleshooting and returns - I hope she has not lost interest in it. I would be nervous about gifting this to someone else so they don't have the same disappointment. From my experience, Educational Insights needs to do a better job of quality control. Amazon charged me a restocking fee on my 2nd return so I hope that someone else doesn't get my non-working Artie. I would be willing to pay a higher price for one that is better made.

Doesn't operate well. We were never able to get it attached to anything so my kid could use it. It was a HUGE waste of money. It wouldn't even connect to our laptop. Don't waste your money!

My father became a computer programmer in the early 80s, so I’ve been around computers since I could remember - when I told him about this little robot he was skeptical but intrigued. I had him help my children (ages 10, 8, 5 and 4) set it up and go, and we were ALL impressed. First, Artie is adorable; not necessary for function, but definitely worth a mention. Setup is a breeze, and although we didn’t need it I later saw the quick setup video tutorial which easily shows the steps so much that my 8 year old could have gotten it up and running. Truly the most difficult part was unscrewing the battery compartment, which wasn’t too bad. I also really appreciate that although he comes with a few felt tip markers we can use almost any without worrying about stocking up on specialized markers or hoping that they don’t discontinue the product and subsequently the accessories. This has happened more times than I can count and I truly appreciate the flexibility. The user interface is simple but backed by powerful commands when you see what Artie is capable of executing. All 4 of my children have loved having this as an addition to our educational toys, and I’m an artist so I love having the combination of coding with creativity. It was amazing to see how much my older daughters already new from their schools STEM and Maker Space activities, and how quickly my younger children adapted to the coding principles. We absolutely LOVE this little guy, he’s a welcomed addition to our family computer and homework area, ready to go whenever we are ready to experiment.

My son got Artie for his 9th birthday, and sometimes it's hard for me to get him to put Artie away! There are several different coding platforms to control Artie, and my son is really loving the challenge of figuring each one out. He has absolutely no prior coding experience. There have been a few times that Artie doesn't draw what he was supposed to, but after recalibrating, he usually gets pretty close. I just read a few reviews that said putting in new batteries would help that issue, but we haven't tried that yet. We've had the same batteries in Artie since the end of Sept, so maybe changing them wouldn't be a bad thing to try! Ha! I will say that I bought Artie for a steal! I found a warehouse deal for $15. So, some of the minor drawing issues don't bother me much, and my son doesn't seem to care either.

Questo piccolo robot è un gioco educativo molto interessante, capace di avvicinare i più piccoli al mondo della programmazione, difatti, oltre ad un utilizzo base molto semplice per disegnare delle figure geometriche attraverso delle schede preimpostate oppure comandando i suoi movimenti da PC/Tablet è possibile utilizzare la programmazione a blocchi e addirittura linguaggi di programmazione quali javascript o phyton. In pratica, programmandolo a dovere, sarà capace di disegnare di tutto e addirittura scrivere delle frasi. Non necessità di nessun collegamento internet, la connessione avviene direttamente via wifi tra l’Artie 3000 e il device al quale lo accoppieremo, purtroppo l’app non è ottimizzata per dispositivi con display piccolo quali smartphone, per cui si richiede l’accoppiamento con un tablet o anche un PC. Una volta stabilita la connessione basta aprire il browser e digitare l’indirizzo “local.codewithartie.com” e da li inizia tutto, troverete nelle impostazioni anche la possibilità di selezionare la lingua italiana. Il robottino è alimentato da 4 batterie stilo (AA) non comprese nella confezione, al posto dei pennarelli inclusi è possibile inserire anche pennarelli o penne diverse, l’importante che abbiano lo stesso spessore, io per esempio ho provato con una Pilot V7 senza problemi. Oltre ad alcune immagini allego una breve video prova dove mostro il robottino all’opera in diverse situazioni, per chi fosse interessato può visionare il video anche dal mio canale Youtube in risoluzione superiore, troverete il link visitando il mio profilo personale. In definitiva si tratta di un ottimo robot e a mio avviso definirlo “giocattolo” è troppo riduttivo, anche il prezzo di vendita è interessante, 82,80 euro (dicembre 2019), un acquisto che mi sento sicuramente di consigliare!

Please be aware not optimised for tablets especially my daughters which is an amazon fire. If you have a comparable device I’m sure it would be excellent well made and fun for children

Se trata de un pequeño robot que dibuja guiado por una aplicación integrada que actúa con la que debemos descargar en una Tablet o PC y que se conecta mediante wifi. En la caja encontramos el robot, fabricado en plástico blanco y azul y una simpática cara con grandes ojos, 4 rotuladores de colores, una guía rápida y unas tarjetas con instrucciones (en castellano además de en otros idiomas); funciona con 4 pilas AA que no están incluidas. Dirigido a niños de 7 años en adelante, podrán programar sus creaciones utilizando la aplicación; una vez el robot esté encendido (tiene un botón en la trampilla de la cabeza), y hayamos conectado el dispositivo con su wifi (se llama Artie), hay que introducir uno de los rotuladores (no es posible dibujar en más de un color cada vez), se incluye un tope de plástico transparente de forma circular y situado en la base para que la punta no sobresalga más de lo debido; a continuación hay que situar a Artie en la parte central de un folio (ojo aquí, si se tarda demasiado en iniciar el dibujo, la tinta irá formando una mancha que atravesará el papel…), La aplicación tiene unos dibujos preprogramados para que niño se familiarice con el robot, pero es posible modificar los códigos de manera que las posibilidades que tiene el niño de crear dibujos son casi infinitas. Las tarjetas pueden servir para que el niño (lo mejor es que al principio al menos, tenga la supervisión de un adulto con un manejo aceptable de informática), conozca los conceptos de codificación básicos para formas simples como un cuadrado, un círculo, una estrella, con un poco de supervisión y paciencia, podrán poco a poco introducirse en el mundo de la programación, actividad enriquecedora sin duda de cara a su formación futura. En casa lo he estado probando con mi sobrino de 5 años que se ha quedado maravillado al ver cómo el robot se mueve por encima del papel sin apenas ruido y dibuja formas geométricas de una forma exacta y bastante limpia (aunque es inevitable que en el punto de partida aparezca siempre una mancha de tinta), pero al rato se ha empezado a aburrir, por ello no lo veo para niños de menor edad a la recomendada por el fabricante, no obstante, intentaré introducirle poco a poco con el modo de juego para que lo vaya conociendo; a otro sobrino de 14 años le ha parecido muy chulo y ha diseñado algunos dibujos “interesantes”, pero también ha perdido interés al poco tiempo... Es posible utilizar el robot con otros rotuladores, siempre que tengan unas medidas similares a los que incluye el juego, son bastante comunes así que eso no será ningún problema. El soporte de la app es muy bueno, con información suficiente sobre las características, posibilidades y dudas relativas al funcionamiento del equipo. Me parece un juguete educativo curioso, con múltiples posibilidades de interacción y una forma muy divertida de introducir a los niños en el lenguaje básico (dar órdenes), de la programación.

Hermoso

This is such a great item for learning coding. It kept my daughter entertained for hours.