TTS Tactile Reader Pro

A screen-free way to program a floor robot. Children build a sequence by laying command tiles into the reader in order, then run it, which puts the whole program in front of them as a physical object they can point at, argue about and rearrange.

Debugging is where it earns its place in a classroom. Each tile lights up as the reader works through the sequence, so when the robot does something unexpected, students can see exactly which instruction it was executing at the time instead of guessing. Programs get longer as students get more confident, and up to three readers can be daisy-chained together with a magnetic connection to hold a longer sequence.

It connects over Bluetooth and works with Blue-Bot, Loti-Bot and Rugged Robot, lighting up in a specific colour to show which robot it is currently driving. That matters in a room running several robot types at once. Supplied with a set of standard movement tiles.