Target had a nice sale (half off or more) on the Meccano Erector line of robots. They aren’t new, having started back in 2015, but after looking at the specs and manual I thought they were a good deal on sale. This post will be about the smaller if the two I bought, one of the Micronoids named Code ACE.

The ACE is a simple bot. There is one servo built in, two color changing LEDs for eyes (which appear to be wired together and not independently controlled), a speaker, and a microphone. On top is a 4 position selector switch and a USB port for more advanced control.

The way the ACE is able to move uses a trick of physics and wheels on the feet that only roll forward. By wltwisting the servo (and thus moving the whole body) in just the right speeds it is able to jerky move forward, or by twisting slow then fast it can turn left or right. It’s not very precise, but kinda funny.

The 4 position switch selects different play modes. I dont recall the official names, but they are roughly sleep, random play, DJ mode, and programming. Sleep is just the off mode, and incidentally the battery life has been really good as I haven’t had time change batteries in the year plus we’ve had it. Random mode will try to babble back to you based on the microphone input. It only kinda works, and doesn’t seem to always recognize my questions, but is fun when it works. Also in that mode, if you twist the body it detects the motion and will cry. DJ mode plays down a beat and pushing the buttons on top will play a short sequence of some techno style music. Twisting the body will change the tempo.

The programming mode is where the limits of the simple bot become most evident. The controls on top allow you to pick an action of forward, left turn, or right turn and the microphone is on recording audio, so you can make the bot speak while it moves. But it doesnt sequence the motion playback to the audio playback, so one can run out before the other.

Using the USB cable you can program a more complex sequence and control the eye colors, but bit much else. The bot doesn’t have any sensors beyond the mic and rotation sensor on the servo. So there is no way to tell if the bot has hit a wall or fallen over. Or to react to something in the environment.

The box claimed that multiple Meccano bots from the same line could play together somehow. But as I only bought one I haven’t verified that. It would be interesting to find the source code for that and see what is possible.

This has been a fun toy, but we don’t play with it that often. The limitations have kept it from really capturing the attention of the older kids. But it has been something that the 3 and 1 year olds like to come in to my office and take out to play from time to time.

Note: I started this review back in mid 2018. In finishing it now and putting it in my Construction Toy category. Part of the appeal of the Meccano toys is the fun of putting them together. But I’m finding between the ACE and MAX that the metal screws tend to come loose when played with by younger kids, and especially with the MAX some of the screws are not easily accessible after fully assembling. So keeping them together means keeping the hex driver handy, and occasionally scouring the floor for a small nut. Ideally these bots could be rebuilt into other creations, but limitations on sensors and programming don’t inspire that much.

UPDATE March 2020: I just stumbled on a Hackaday page for the Meccano MAX – Hacking