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Home / Hot Stuff / Tech toys / Marty the Robot v2 is a kid-friendly programmable walking robot that can dance like John Travolta

Marty the Robot v2 is a kid-friendly programmable walking robot that can dance like John Travolta

Robobop

In a market awash with programmable robots for kids, you need to stand out to have legs. Marty the Robot v2 (£125) achieves this mostly with its actual legs, used for walking and – occasionally – dancing like John Travolta. Once assembled, much of Marty’s power is in those blue pins, their three-motor and spring design affording the ‘bot plenty of dexterity. Coding with Scratch or Python enables you to make Marty walk, turn, kick and dance. An array of sensors and capabilities – tilt; proximity; force; obstacle detection; grabbing hands; a speaker – allow more advanced fare. Modular extensibility means you can add a Raspberry Pi and a camera, too, so Marty can become autonomous and plot humanity’s doom due to you putting Night Fever on for the fiftieth time when all the robot wanted to hear was a bit of Kraftwerk.

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Profile image of Craig Grannell Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.