If you’ve ever been interested in learning about coding, but you didn’t know where to start, the Ozobot Evo Marvel Avengers Iron Man Master Pack might be a great place. You’ll use OzoBlockly, Ozo’s coding program, to “drag and drop blocks of code to take full control of Evo’s features,” and there are other fun ways to learn while playing.
Ozobot started making mini robots several years ago — you may recall the Ozobot Bit, a miniature robot that could follow codes drawn with markers on paper. The Ozobot Evo is their next generation robot which “entertains right out of the box with autonomous LED lights, sounds, and movements. Evo uses Infrared Proximity Sensing to avoid obstacles and App-Enabled RC Controls to explore the world with you.” The Marvel Avengers actions skins only add to the fun.
Inside the box, you get an Ozobot Evo in titanium black (1.25″ tall), an Iron Man Action Skin (~3″ tall), a nine-piece Field Simulator board, a skin holder, a Carrying Pouch, and a USB charging cable.
The Iron Man skin is pretty cute; it looks ready to fight, but the arms don’t actually move. There are cutouts in the chest and torso as well as the eyes, these are there so that the Evo’s LEDs will show.
So let’s start with the Evo robot since it’s the brains of this operation.
photo courtesy of Ozobot
The Ozobot Evo features:
- Color and Line Detection
- Proximity Sensing
- App-Enabled (iOS and Android compatible)
- OzoChat worldwide messaging (gated chat for ages 12 and under)
- Remote Control mode
- Expressive sounds and LED lights
- Character and Content downloads
- OzoBlockly-Enabled for introductory to advanced programming
- Bluetooth-Enabled
- Compatible with Marvel’s The Avengers Action Skins (sold separately)
- For Ages 8+
- 60+ Minute Playtime
The Evo comes with a bit of a charge, but it is a good idea to fully charge it before you use it the first time. Once it’s charged, you can install the Iron Man skin for the first time. You connect the skin by attaching the plug on the back of Iron Man’s suit then pressing the button to the left of the plug to activate.
The Ozobot Evo app is the next part of the process. You’ll want to download it from Google Play or the Apple App Store, then go through the setup process.
It’s really simple to connect the Evo to the app and get set up. Unlike other code-based toys I’ve played with where you have to go through a coding process in order to use the toy, the Evo is actually ready to play out of the box, even if you aren’t yet ready to start coding. The app has a circular touchpad control that allows you to move Iron Man around similar to how you would direct a remote-controlled car. Amusingly, Iron Man will make comments as you move him around — asking “is that really necessary?” when you make him go, grunting when he hits an obstacle or doing a dance when you have him turned on but he hasn’t been given a command.
The Marvel Avengers’s Evo versions come with a nine-piece play field. You start by assembling it with the green side up, pressing and holding Iron Man’s button until his eyes flash white, and then placing him on either of the two lower starting spots.
Iron Man will chug along, making comments as he completes his programming; it’s all quite amusing to watch. Of course, you can also use the play field as a smooth surface to direct your Evo (in the Iron Man skin or without) using the Drive option on the app.
If you have more than one Ozobot Evo Marvel Avengers robot on the playing field, they will interact with each other and talk to each other. I didn’t have a second one, but I can imagine that it would be pretty amusing.
So let’s talk about the programming portion of this toy. As I mentioned earlier, you can use the OzoBlockly Web Editor to program your Evo to do various commands.
You can set the editor to your level of expertise — everything from Novice to Advanced. Using the web editor, you can teach your Evo to do a series of simple…
… to elaborate commands.
Aimed at kids from 6 up, the Ozobot Evo is a great way for young and old alike to whet their appetite for learning how to code. Who knows where that desire might take them, but I can’t help but applaud anything that is able to make learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fun and entertaining.
The Ozobot Evo retails for $99; the Marvel Avengers versions retail for $124, and all are available directly from Ozobot.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: Makes learning code fun and entertaining; Three ways to play — drive from app, used code on play field, code your own movements; You can attach the Marvel Avengers skin for customized sounds and movements; You can play with the Evo robot on its own without the skin; Perfect gift to encourage STEM
What Needs Improvement: Nothing