DIY Robot Critters

Product Description

Kamigami is a build-it-yourself robot platform using foldable plastic material! Designed after nature's fastest critters, they magically fold up from a flat sheet & zoom over almost any terrain, even outside. Download the free app from your favorite app store to drive your Kamigami, battle with friends, play interactive games, or, best of all, design and program your robot's reactions, games and movements. The visual programming interface makes it easy to blink lights, play sounds and maneuver around obstacles. The app will continually offer new updates and game suggestions, so there's no room to get bored. Kamigami are light as a feather and quick as a bug!

Features

• Kamigami makes robotengineering fun and easy
• Build your robot by folding lightweight, flat sheets of plastic
• Program your robot with easy-to-use interface that puts you in control
• Play with your robot by driving, racing, and battling using the free app
• IR Sensors let you battle with friends
• Ultra-tough material is designed to take a beating

Top Reviews

Great model, needs some adult assembly supervision, but a fun toy!
by Phil in MIdland (5 out of 5 stars)
October 20, 2017

When you get this model, there's not much to it. The motor and the parts are light and you wonder if this is really worth the price. As you assemble it and play with it, you can see that a lot went into the design of this model and it brought big smile to my face. I plan to buy another one and present them to my grandsons at Christmas.

First off, it takes time to assemble the scorpion. You punch out the parts and use plastic rivets to keep the thing together. You need no tools to make this model, just some patience. It took me over 90 minutes to get the model built. I can probably put another one together in about an hour now that I know how the parts fit together.

Using the manual that is found in the app you download, you start your step by step procedure to assemble the 'chassis' first, and then the graphic overlay. The instructions are great, very easy to follow, and the parts fit correctly. I only had an issue with the rivets when I tried to fix the scorpion overlay onto the leg chassis. The rivets didn't hold. I found a way to accomplish this (finally!), but it took me another 20 minutes to do that. The finished model is very cool. I would love to have this in my bedroom if I were a kid again. The legs move ingeniously and create a 'scurry' motion that is fun to watch, and a bit creepy.

When the model is finished, you charge it thru a USB port in the butt portion of the model. You can plug in to a wall recharger or your computer. A full charge will give about 30 minutes of play time, according to the manufacturer.

Using the downloaded app, you can make this model scurry around your carpet or floor (haven't tried it outdoors yet). There are presets for making it dance (figure 8, square dance, disco), play tag, battle, or code the motions, lights and sound. It is easy to use the controls on the app to move the model around. It doesn't have sensors to avoid obstacles or engage battle with another robot. You can play "tag' with another opponent which I think would be fun. I love the different lights and the sounds (which emanate from your device, not the model).

The scorpion has moveable segments on the tail and claws that work manually, but are cool nonetheless. I can make the model do a nosedive or a tail spin. It is loads off fun. I'll update this review when the grandkids give their reactions and input. I wish it were about $15 dollars cheaper, but can honestly say that this is not a cheaply made toy.
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Wonderful toy for developing kids' patience and spatial development
by runnin mama (5 out of 5 stars)
January 13, 2018

I got this for my 6.5 year old (1st grade) for Christmas. It is a huge hit! I think it is a great educational toy that kids will really enjoy for the fun factor as well. She would not have been able to assemble herself at 6.5... I would think maybe a dexterous 8 or 9 year old, with above average spatial orientation understanding, might be able to assemble herself. However, building it was a FANTASTIC experience. It took us about 2.5 hours working slowly. We did it over two days, taking a break about halfway through which I think was a good thing. I let her follow the directions as much as possible. Trying to figure out the orientation of pieces is a great way to develop spatial skills. If I were trying to speed through the assembly on my own it would probably take 20-30 minutes. She loved seeing the progress she was making, and I love that she can see the fruits of her work (no instant gratification) and how the steps add up to make a functional robotic components. I also liked the little explanations embedded in the instructions.

So needless to say, anticipation was building for the playing part of it, and the Lina robot did not disappoint! She has been playing with it a lot. The only thing we haven't figured out yet was the CODE part of the app. It said that you can drag and drop commands but I could not get that to work on my phone. Hopefully it will work next time... thinking I may just need to restart my phone. I think I will get one for my nephews birthday so they can "battle".
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Fun little toy
by Nick (5 out of 5 stars)
January 4, 2018

This was a Christmas gift and both my kids (7 and 4). The assembly is somewhat tricky and it is pretty annoying that it doesn't come with assembly instructions. You have to download the app to a compatible device before you can start assembly, I wasn't even able to find the instructions on the website. I understand that you can't control this robot without a device but I should at least be able to assemble it. At the time we assembled it I only had a phone and the screen isn't really conducive to looking at the pictures where you need to pay close attention to the orientation and folding of parts.

My son (7 years old) and my daughter (soon to be 5) love this robot. So much so that my daughter has asked for one for her upcoming birthday in January. They are really excited to try the battle and laser tag modes with multiple robots.
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Plastic rivets work but read the instructions.
by N. J. Simicich (5 out of 5 stars)
December 28, 2017

We bought one each of these for the grandkids, as well as a littlebits. My review will compare them.

The 7 year old was able to provide active help with the assembly, as well as being able to do the block drag and drop programming. Te 10 year old was able to get the entire thing assembled.

The assembly was relatively easy. The only question the ten year old had was about the rivets. The 7 year old could do the plastic snap riveting easily, the 10 year old refused to watch the video (I cautioned him to look carefully at how the rivets were put together, he ignored me, then he had to redo stuff, a good life lesson).

Granddaughter got the Terrix. Grandson got the Mantix.

He decided not to assemble the arms (Mantix) the way they were shown.

Both robots worked right away, first connection had to be tried about three times.

Purple lights that you don't expect on connection seem to be a software upload to the Kamigami, over bluetooth from the app. Took a couple of minutes.

Best of all, the Kamigami software, unlike the Littlebits Droid Inventor, runs on Kindle Fires. The kids all have fires and do not have phones that can hold large apps, they are full. But the Littlebits software is not available in the Amazon app marketplace while the Kamigami software is.

If you rename the Kamigami from one app, and you connect to the robot from another phone or tablet, it knows the name it was given. So they must be storing a little info on the chassis.

The instructions are clear. They were understandable by a seven year old. They have a lot of pictures and videos of the chassis preparation, and not so many of the shell for the particular robot. But they were complete - although I swear that I had to put the Terrix's head on the chassis twice because they tell you to turn the plastic over but not to turn it back.

The rivets can be removed, if you lift the head the rivets return to a neutral position. Or you can push out on the center post with a thumbnail, after orienting the rivet so that you are pushing the post between the halves of the part of the rivet that spreads. They give you several extra rivets.

The walking bug action seems to work well. There is some limited program-ability. They can change light color, make noises, and other cool things. Of course, this robot does not have any ability to teach anything about electronics.

Now, the whole assembly is based on complex plastic hinges. You get a single sheet of plastic, Carefully punch out the pieces and attach them to the chassis in the order shown. The flexible hinges transfer power from a rotating wheel on the chassis to the complex system that moves the legs back and forth. I imagine that the hinges won't last forever. But they show no signs of wear. They charge with micro USB cables (cables but not chargers are included).

Notch systems make it unlikely that the chassis could be assembled incorrectly.

All in all a very enjoyable toy experience that might even teach someone something,
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This thing is wicked cool
by laura wipfler (5 out of 5 stars)
December 29, 2017

Oh man, this thing is wicked cool. Bought for my 8 year old sister who LOVES bugs and she has been playing with it for a solid two days. It's a little complicated to put together, so as the adult I did most of the building, but the instructions are via the app and there are videos and the steps are very clear. The robot itself is super neat, runs, dances, has lights/sounds! It's rather fast too! And the mechanics really make it look like a bug with the way the legs are springy and operate. We absolutely love this thing, so worth the price and will probably be purchasing another in a different style!
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Easy to use, fast and fun!
by K. Walker (4 out of 5 stars)
February 2, 2019

This is a fun little robot for sure. It is FAST once assembled and so fun for my littles. It took about 30-45 minutes for me and my 7 yo to put it together, but this is our first robot type toy together so most would be faster than that.

My reason for having less than 5 stars is mainly because the pinchers don't actually move and the control is my phone. If the pinchers were more than just folded over plastic and they moved this would make the toy just that much more amazing.

Also, having my child ask for my phone 100 times a day gets a little old. Having it's own controller would be amazing so my child could play with this whenever she wants even if my phone isn't available for use.

Overall, my 5 yo now wants her own and I would buy again. I got this for well under retail and would only buy when it's on sale, but would buy again.
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The best gift my son received!
by KristyW (5 out of 5 stars)
January 2, 2018

This little bug is so fun! It was a great time putting it together. Your child will need help though because you have to push pretty hard to get the parts to snap together. It was a blast building it with my son. Once built, we have had so much fun making it dance, and run around. We like to use the coding to try to get it to end up in a specific spot. I wish these weren't so expensive because I would definitely order more. Love it!
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Surprisingly great! Impressive toy for this price.
by Stephen Chamberlin (4 out of 5 stars)
January 4, 2019

This little robot vastly exceeded my expectations for a $15 toy. It moves fast, it's robust, it's easy to control, and it holds its fun value well. It has cool lights and sound effects. The smartphone app that's used to control the bot is mostly well-designed, and we had no troubles connecting to the bot via bluetooth or with anything else. Six legged locomotion works amazingly well. My 12-year-old daughter loves this, and she's normally not a big fan of robots, models, or engineering toys.

I'm subtracting one star for some minor gripes. There are no real instructions for the app, so you're forced to press all the buttons to discover what they do. There are a couple of gauges and a heart icon in the app's UI whose purposes are still a mystery. Assembly of the robot's chassis was also more difficult than it should have been. The IKEA-style non-verbal assembly instructions are occasionally unclear - illustrations from multiple angles or zoomed-in views would help a lot. Some of the assembly steps also required more finger dexterity and strength than my 12-year-old could easily manage.
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Too much fun
by JT (5 out of 5 stars)
September 30, 2019

This is the second Kamigami Robot I have purchased. The first one was a gift and then I had to have one. I know that it is a child's toy....I am 58 years old. I lack the dexterity to assemble the robot but once that was done I have had a blast with it. The coding is fun and the result is entertaining. The person I bought the other one for and I played in the Tag and Battle mode which is challenging and exciting. Lots of laughs and this is one of the most durable remotely controlled pieces of electronics I have ever seen. I am in no way a toy person but the Mantix is versatile that it keeps my interest. I would recommend this for anybody. Best use of my smartphone yet.
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Rugged, fun
by shansen (5 out of 5 stars)
January 17, 2018

I gave this, along with a second Kamigami robot model, to our grandkids (ages 5 and 9) for a Christmas present. It was definitely a successful gift! These robots are not only both still working after several weeks of hard use, they are still being actively used and enjoyed by our grandchildren.. . .

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