WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:07.120 Designed for kids aged 10 and up, the Mechenoid is both a toy and a robotics 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:11.280 kit. It's being touted as a personal robot best friend. They say you can 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:15.759 build anything and that programming is easy and innovative. They say your kid 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:19.119 will learn the core values of science, technology, engineering, and 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:22.880 mathematics. And you might think from all the positive reviews that the 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:28.560 Mechoid is great, but let me tell you something. The Mechonoid is a terrible 00:00:25.680 --> 00:00:33.040 disappointment. It's an offensively bad box of empty promises. And all those 00:00:31.119 --> 00:00:37.200 positive reviews are only looking at the Mechenoid at a superficial level. It's 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:43.120 going to be pretty interesting for me to be the sole voice of disscent on this 00:00:38.879 --> 00:00:49.920 one. So, let's get into it, shall we? 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:56.000 I by Powers Revolt 2 has been redesigned from the ground up to utilize its small 00:00:54.239 --> 00:00:59.199 form factor to hold the power you need to game with confidence. Check out their 00:00:57.680 --> 00:01:02.719 link in the video description to learn more. Let me give you my thesis 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:08.159 statement right off the top. The Mechenoid is a robotics building 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.920 platform in name only because in reality 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:15.600 everything that makes a robotics kit good has been sacrificed and compromised 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:20.640 to blindly serve a singular objective to make this thing as cute as possible so 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:24.640 that it will sell. As a result, the pieces are misshapen, the instructions 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:28.799 are a mess, the assembly process is tedious, the programming options are 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:35.799 laughably simplistic, and the price tag is a bloated $400. Opening up the box 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:38.759 for the Mechenoid G15 KS, we see the 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:44.240 1,188 pieces, of which 961 are actually just nuts and bolts, 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:49.360 leaving 245 plastic pieces that actually comprise the robot itself. Now, 00:01:46.479 --> 00:01:53.360 traditional mechano mechano macano potato 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:57.600 potato pieces are actually made out of metal, but the mechonoid pieces are 00:01:55.520 --> 00:02:02.079 plastic. I'm guessing because a fully metal robot of this size would just be 00:01:59.759 --> 00:02:05.520 absurdly expensive to produce. Of course, you could just make it smaller, 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:10.399 but then it wouldn't have the cool factor that they seem to be banking on. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:13.840 What makes these pieces truly awful is not the fact that they're made out of 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:20.000 plastic, but the fact that they are such enormous, weird, and specialized shapes. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:24.480 You see, traditional Macano pieces are modular and simple, allowing the builder 00:02:22.239 --> 00:02:29.840 to be creative with them. But pretty much everything in the 00:02:26.200 --> 00:02:33.519 GK15S's box was specifically designed to 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:35.599 build one robot. Technically, you can 00:02:33.519 --> 00:02:39.519 build anything you like, but the pieces poor design makes this enormously 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.440 difficult. There aren't nearly enough attachment holes to use, and the few 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:47.440 that there are are not always positioned logically. There are also these random 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:51.599 studs that poke out and completely get in the way, making many configurations 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.840 impossible. The studs don't even serve to hold stuff together. They just simply 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:00.080 prevent pieces from sliding around while you attach them with the nuts and bolts. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:05.519 I mean, what on earth am I supposed to do with this or this or this? They 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:09.280 seriously couldn't break these up into smaller, more constituent parts with 00:03:07.760 --> 00:03:13.040 mounting points at predictable intervals. The only positive feature of 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:17.680 these pieces is that many of them have square indentations designed to hold the 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:21.519 nuts in place for when you're bolting everything together during assembly. So, 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:25.760 let's talk about that, shall we? Even though the designers decided to abandon 00:03:23.519 --> 00:03:30.959 the triedand-true metal pieces that Macano is so well known for, they still 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:35.440 decided to keep the traditional nut andbolt attachment system, something 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:39.760 that people already complain about. Perhaps this was done to maintain 00:03:37.440 --> 00:03:44.319 compatibility with the traditional metal pieces. But no self-respecting builder 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:49.120 is going to go anywhere near these plastic atrocities. So, frankly, I don't 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:53.840 see the point. Surely, there must be a simpler way for kids to quickly attach 00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:58.159 these pieces together. Some kind of pin system that snaps in place, perhaps. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:02.799 Nope. Instead, your 10-year-old will be stuck assembling this oversized 00:04:00.239 --> 00:04:08.480 monstrosity for hours and hours of just screwing together pieces using these 00:04:04.640 --> 00:04:11.120 tiny nuts and bolts, all 961 of them. 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:15.840 The entire process took me eight tedious hours. And unlike building something out 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:20.799 of Lego, I did not find it interesting or enjoyable. And that's partly due to 00:04:18.400 --> 00:04:25.680 the dreadful instructions, which are so bad for so many reasons. Often they'll 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:29.280 combine several steps into one, which greatly increases the chance of doing 00:04:27.280 --> 00:04:33.520 something wrong. Plus, there's almost never an image that shows what a fully 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:37.360 assembled step is supposed to look like. And you can't just look at the next step 00:04:35.440 --> 00:04:42.000 for that because the model on the page underos constant changes in orientation. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:46.000 Also, sometimes you have to use a slightly different nut or bolt, but 00:04:44.080 --> 00:04:49.520 because they're all the same color, it's not immediately obvious. I hope you 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:53.680 didn't accidentally mix any of these bolts together. Even while paying very 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:57.759 close attention, I still made several mistakes, which can take quite a while 00:04:55.440 --> 00:05:01.360 to realize and even longer to fix because it usually involves 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:05.680 disassembling some correct parts so that you can get to the incorrect parts. But 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:09.440 ladies and gentlemen, the disappointment doesn't stop there. With everything 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:14.320 finally attached and plugged in correctly, the Mechenoid runs through a 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:18.400 startup diagnostic routine, asks for your name, and enters the main menu. You 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:21.759 have to use voice commands to navigate the menus, which kind of feels like I'm 00:05:20.320 --> 00:05:27.199 on the phone with my cell phone provider. Control section of the command 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:29.280 card or say list commands to hear all 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:34.960 commands. If you are still having trouble, please go to www. The voice 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:38.160 recognition seems to work well enough, but you do have to repeat yourself 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.919 sometimes, and you also have to wait for the mechanoid to stop talking before it 00:05:40.080 --> 00:05:46.240 will listen for your commands, which can take a while. Here's a list of all the 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.840 mechonoids menu commands. It can tell jokes and tell you what time it is, 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.080 which is exactly as exciting as it sounds. Walk with me seems to work fine, 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:59.199 but doesn't look like it can move backwards in this mode. Shake hands and 00:05:56.960 --> 00:06:04.880 high-five work pretty much just as you would expect them to. The motion control 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:06.800 commands also seem to work fine. It all 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:10.600 works. It's just not really that interesting. Forward. 00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:18.400 Now, the website lists three innovative ways to program. So, let's take a look 00:06:15.440 --> 00:06:22.560 at that. The first one, LIM, or learned intelligent movement, allows you to 00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:26.800 physically move the robot's arms around, which can be recorded and replayed along 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:32.319 with your voice. I have to admit, I did have some fun with this one. No. No 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:38.319 disassemble. You can then save this to the LIM library and recall it later. No 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:42.800 disassemble. However, it's not nearly as precise as 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:49.400 the commercials would imply. Mechanoid is so easy to program. Nice robots run. 00:06:51.840 --> 00:06:58.880 What a fail. It can't play the piano. Moving on to 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:03.199 Ragd Doll Avatar. You can use your smartphone to directly remote control 00:07:01.280 --> 00:07:07.599 the movements of the mechonoid. This also works pretty well. You can even 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:12.000 change the colors of the LEDs if you really want to. And finally, motion 00:07:09.840 --> 00:07:16.560 capture mode uses your smartphone's camera to record your movements, which 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:21.440 the Mechenoid will attempt to mimic. This one really does not work very well. 00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:25.520 Sometimes the arms would flop around even while my own arms remained 00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:29.520 completely stationary. And that's it. It's just three different ways you can 00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:34.560 tell the robot to make noise and wave its arms around, which can be recorded 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:38.880 and replayed. I don't consider that to be programming. For the real 00:07:36.880 --> 00:07:43.759 programming, you can download this Arduino library, but this only became 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:48.319 available quite recently, so it was obviously never really a priority. Well, 00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:53.120 I guess if you understand C++, you can program the mechonoid any way you like. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:58.319 But honestly, why would you want to? And tell me, what is the point of having 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:00.080 arms if the hands don't do anything? It 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:04.960 would be cool if the hands actually worked and the fingers could grasp 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:08.800 objects and pick stuff up, but they can't, which is boring. I guess you 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:12.800 could take it apart and build the dinosaur, you know, if you want another 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:17.120 10 tedious hours of bolting stuff together, but that sounds pretty boring, 00:08:15.039 --> 00:08:21.280 too. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Hey, my kids enjoyed the Mechonoid, and 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:26.319 this guy isn't 10 years old, so why should his opinions matter?" Well, guess 00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:31.360 what? I was a kid once, and I remember that the best toys were the ones with 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:35.839 great replay value. The toys I kept playing with and coming back to time and 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:42.640 time again. For me, this was Lego, Nintendo, Pokémon, Game Maker 5. I still 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:46.640 have all that stuff. And the other toys, they probably went to the trash or the 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:50.240 thrift store. Once assembled, there's so little you can do with the Mechenoid 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:55.279 that I don't see how it's going to maintain the interest of most children 00:08:51.959 --> 00:08:57.200 beyond, I don't know, a week or two. And 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:01.040 after that, I predict the novelty will wear off and it'll be pushed into a 00:08:58.880 --> 00:09:05.600 corner and never played with again. The mechanoid is so terrible, in fact, that 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:09.519 it feels to me like some other company designed it and then just slapped the 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:13.279 McConnell label on top. Which is kind of funny because I wrote those words and 00:09:11.040 --> 00:09:19.360 then later discovered that it's actually true. Yes, my friends, it turns out that 00:09:15.920 --> 00:09:22.480 McConnell was acquired in 2013 by a 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:25.040 company called SpinMaster. Oh, it all 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:29.120 makes sense now. Spin Master are the ones to blame for this mess. Look at 00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:33.040 this article. Apparently, their idea of a renaissance is to add a bunch of 00:09:30.800 --> 00:09:37.760 cheap, cutesy, colorful crap into the Macano lineup. Okay. Okay. Spin Master, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:42.720 I know you're watching, and I've got something to say to you. Macano has 00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:48.080 existed for over a hundred years because they made good quality, longlasting, 00:09:45.839 --> 00:09:52.000 interesting products. Please try to exercise some responsibility and 00:09:49.920 --> 00:09:56.399 restraint so that you don't completely drive them into the ground with flashin 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:01.839 the pan products like the Mechenoid. And hey, I've got a toy idea for you. How 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:06.720 about a full metal McConnell robot with wheels, gears, axles, beams, LEDs, 00:10:05.040 --> 00:10:10.720 several motors, and a full array of sensors? Give it a fully programmable 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:15.200 brain with remote control and give us instructions for building cool stuff. 00:10:12.800 --> 00:10:19.760 And then price it competitively. Now, that's a great robotics kit that would 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:24.399 support STEM education. VEX Robotics figured this out, and so can you. And 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:29.760 now, let's see if I can sell this thing. Maybe I can trade it in for a better toy 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.079 at Toy Traers. That's like the big robot 00:10:29.760 --> 00:10:35.920 guy. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we don't want them at all, actually. You don't 00:10:33.680 --> 00:10:39.839 want them at all? No, not at all. I have one here that I'm not really having any 00:10:38.160 --> 00:10:45.120 luck selling. This one I actually sold when it was returned. So, try and get my 00:10:42.880 --> 00:10:48.880 money back if I'm lucky on that. Right. Okay. Thanks a lot. Oh, you're welcome. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:56.000 Yeah. Bye-bye. They won't even take it at toy traders. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:00.720 If the Mechonoid was just an overly expensive toy, I wouldn't care. But 00:10:58.560 --> 00:11:07.279 they're selling it as if it's a STEM educational robotics kit, and it's just 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:10.160 not. The Mechenoid completely fails to 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:16.800 deliver enough fun or educational value to justify its $400 price tag. Okay, 00:11:14.560 --> 00:11:21.440 everyone. That's all that's all I have to say. Uh I'm just I'm still I'm so 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:25.839 shocked at all the positive reviews for this thing. Do you think I'm missing 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:29.839 something? Am I wrong? Leave a comment below with your thoughts. And did you 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:33.600 play with traditional mechano growing up? What did you think of it? Leave a 00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:38.240 comment about that, too. And go ahead and slap a like on this video or a 00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:42.279 dislike. Get subscribed or don't. Whatever. Check out our forums. Buy a 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:47.040 t-shirt. I promise none of them cost $400. And check out my review of the VEX 00:11:44.880 --> 00:11:50.720 IQ Super Kit if you want to see what a proper robotics kit looks like. And 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:56.560 hopefully I'll have a review of the Mindstorms EV3 coming soon as well. See 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:56.560 you next time.