A new robot developed at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University is getting some buzz. Named “Root,” the robot is designed to teach coding to users at all levels—even as young as kindergarten. A recent Verge report describes the robot as a “Roomba-shaped bot that follows simple programs to crawl around the floor, draw crazy patterns, and avoid obstacles.” Using an accompanying app, users can access Root’s array of sensors and magnetic panels to drive up walls or along whiteboards to make colorful images with a small pen found on the underside. Mashable writes, “Root [allows] anyone who’s new to coding to make sense of the often-unintuitive nature of programming languages.” Don’t hunt for this robot on Amazon just yet: Root isn’t available to buy commercially, but you can reserve one for $199. The creators say it will be ready to ship “early next year.” - Christine Weiser, Executive Editor
