Height: 24cm

Weight: 650g

Eye colour: green, blue, brown, black, multi-coloured

Programming languages: MartyBlocks and MartyBlocks Jr (based on Scratch and ScratchJr) and Python

Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth and WiFi, connect via the app on iOS or Android devices

Key features: fully programmable and customisable; limbs that move independently and an expressive face

Run time: Marty can go for 2-3 hours on a single charge

Cost: £2,999 + VAT for a Small Class Bundle of 10 Martys plus STEM Extras

A dancing, football-playing robot that’s full of character, Marty helps introduce children from as young as five to the world of coding and robotics in a uniquely memorable way

To best prepare our children for a future in an increasingly digital world, it’s important to lay the groundworks from a young age; but in laying the groundworks, it’s also important to nurture their natural curiosity, creativity and imagination because it’s these innate qualities that give children the confidence to develop their skills in STEM subjects.

There’s quite a large body of evidence that suggests there are many educational benefits to having a humanoid robot in the classroom – from increasing attainment in literacy, language studies and reasoning, to improving communications and social emotional development. They’re also a lot of fun.

Marty is the only humanoid, walking educational robot (at its price point), which allows for an instant and undisputed human connection. A dancing, football-playing robot that’s full of character, Marty helps introduce children from as young as five to the world of coding and robotics in a uniquely memorable way.

Marty helps learners see concrete results from abstract concepts – his reactions correspond directly and instantly to the code sequences built by the programmer. Marty introduces foundation concepts such as sequencing, storytelling and the relationship between instructions and operations, enabling learners to develop their creative thinking and problem-solving skills, while learning important concepts across the curriculum: from computational thinking to numeracy, literacy and more.

Marty is a flexible learning tool that grows with students. From screen-free coding, through to Scratch and eventually real world programming language Python, Marty is the only robot to offer such breadth of learning progression.

Available to buy fully assembled, but made to be taken apart and rebuilt, budding engineers can get to grips with all the hardware as well as the software and there’s a lot of mechanics in Marty; including nine metal-geared motors, obstacle, colour, noise and position sensors, LED light panels and a speaker. Robotical also made Marty compatible with Raspberry Pi and BBC micro:bit mini codeable computers, further extending their scope for use.

The physical product is supported with extensive teaching resources that align to national and regional curricula and complemented by learning activities that enable Marty to be integrated with other areas of the curriculum. Robotical’s online Learning Portal comprises progressive learning paths for all skill levels, with activities, lesson plans and guides that allow teachers to focus on facilitating learning experiences and reporting on progress, while students advance at a comfortable pace.

Robotical also offer plenty of support to help teachers get the most out of the materials from live video calls and teacher training, to blog content, FAQs, user guides and tutorials.

Robotical know specialist STEM resources aren’t cheap and our aim is to try and remove as many of these barriers as possible: Marty packs a lot of tech into a small, affordable unit that can be adopted from pre-school to secondary school and beyond. It’s an investment that stacks up and makes Marty an exceptional ‘out-of-the-box’ STEM learning solution.

“The minute I brought Marty out of the box, the kids’ reaction was incredible. They were cheering, they loved it. I don’t think they had ever seen anything like it before. With the stickers on it, and the smiley face – it made it more personable and the kids thought it was super cool. Very easy to get started – We had it moving within 10 seconds out of the box” – Chris Butt, technology teacher, Glenview School

“Marty has been such an inclusive and approachable way to teach coding, particularly with those learners who have not caught the ‘coding bug’ through other resources. The robot is so appealing, and the support materials are accessible for all ages and stages. I see Marty as a very nurturing and forgiving way for learners to problem solve while having impressive scope for exploring increasingly more complicated challenges as the skills of learners increase” – Jenn McEwan, STEM programme co-ordinator, South Ayrshire Council

Try before you buy – Robotical will loan Marty to schools for a two-week trial…Robotical even cover shipping costs and virtual training for teachers. Sign up here: https://robotical.io/free-trial/

Classroom bundle giveaway

Robotical have teamed up with a group of fellow independent technology innovators to offer an incredible back-to-school giveaway on a school bundle worth over £1,000.

The bundle contains hardware and software kits for the classroom, each specifically designed to help primary learners in key areas of the curriculum including science, maths, language and music:

· Marty the Robot v2

· Soundbops Student Kit (1 Instrument & 1 Book)

· 10 Universal Tablet Holders from G-Hold

· Strawbees Crazy Science Kit from Robocube

· Osmo Coding Starter Kit from Robocube

· Sumdog Maths, Spelling & Grammar Class Subscription

The competition is open to all schools in the UK until 23rd September 2021, so head to our blog to find out how to enter: https://robotical.io/blog/back-to-school-giveaway