Individual Cubelets

Add more cubelets to your STEM collection.

• Ages 4+

Bar Graph Cubelet - an ACT cubelet that displays the block value on a light-up ten bar graph. The value is normalized to the number of points on the bar graph so that a maximum value results in a fully lit bar graph.

Battery Cubelet - a basic building block that provides the energy needed to make your robots spin, drive, and squawk. The Battery packs 30% more power than the previous generation and easily recharges via micro-USB.

Blocker Cubelet - a basic building block that 'blocks' data from its neighbors. It still passes power, but effectively stops communication and can insulate one side of a robot from another.

Brightness Cubelet - a SENSE cubelet that detects the amount of light hitting its sensor. The Brightness Cubelet has an analog photocell that responds to varying light conditions. Expect values near zero in a dark room, and values near one when the sensor is in front of a bright light.

Distance Cubelet - a SENSE cubelet that detects how far it is from an object. It uses infrared light and is accurate between 10 and 80 cm. The sensor is directional, so it outputs the distance to the object in front of the sensor. At 10 cm, the block will output values near 1, and toward 80cm it will output values near 0.

Drive Cubelet - an ACT cubelet that contains a motor and roller wheels for moving on a horizontal surface. By default, the Drive Cubelet only moves in one direction, slowing to a stop with a value of zero and moving faster with higher input values.

Flashlight Cubelet - an ACT cubelet that emits a focused beam of light from a powerful white LED. Off with a value of 0, the light becomes brighter with higher input values.

Knob Cubelet - a SENSE cubelet that has a potentiometer embedded in one of its faces. This Cubelet outputs a 0 when turned fully counterclockwise, and a 1 when turned clockwise.

Inverse Cubelet - an ACT cubelet that calculates a value that is the opposite of the values it receives. Specifically, the Inverse Cubelet will (weighted) average its inputs and then output a value of one minus that average.

Maximum Cubelet - a THINK cubelet that accepts many different inputs but only passes along the one with the greatest value. With a maximum block, you could easily build a robot that performs an action only when a sensor reads a value over a certain threshold (set by a Knob Cubelet, perhaps).

Minimum Cubelet - a THINK cubelet that can accept any amount of data but only outputs the smallest value that it receives. It can be handy for creating an on-off switch for a robot and also for using with a Distance Cubelet to build robots that avoid falling off the edge of a table.

Passive Cubelet - a basic building block. It carries power and data from its neighbors, but it basically acts like a smart brick. It doesn’t move, sense, or change the data in any way.

Rotate Cubelet - an ACT cubelet with an actuator on one face that spins at a rate corresponding to the block’s input values.

Speaker Cubelet - an ACT cubelet that chirps according to the block’s data value. Contains a small speaker and an amplifier.

Temperature Cubelet - a SENSE cubelet that contains a tiny thermometer (actually, a thermistor) that detects temperature. It is calibrated to output a 0 in freezing conditions and 255 in hot, sunny conditions of about 35 °C.

Threshold Cubelet - a THINK Cubelet with a knob to alter the behavior of your robots. It will output a value of zero until its inputs exceed the threshold set by the knob. Above this threshold, data will flow normally. Use this Cubelet to create robots that react suddenly, gate data flow, or exhibit binary behavior.