Building robots is a great way to learn about electronics and code, whether you're 6 or 60 years old. These days, you can find awesome robot kits that give you the parts and instructions to build everything from a tank that can use object recognition to an arm that can pick things up to a robotic crab that hobbles along on its legs.
But building the robot, a process that usually only takes a few hours is just the beginning of the fun. Once your kit is complete, you can either move your robot manually or, better yet, program it to act autonomously. If you or your child haven't coded before, don't worry: many of these robots even come with tutorials to walk you through the process.
With the holiday shopping season upon us, there are many opportunities to find savings, and below we're listing all the best Black Friday deals on robot kits.
Best Black Friday Robot Kit Deals
Makeblock mBot Mega: was $119, now $88 at Amazon
This powerful kit has a high-quality metal chassis, mecaum wheels for moving side-to-side and an Arduino-compatible controller board you can program via Arduino language or a block-based app. It also can work with a Raspberry Pi.
Makeblock mBot Ranger: was $159, now $110 at Amazon
This 3-in-1 kit can make a a metal tank, a robot racing car or a self-balancing robot. It comes with an Arduino compatible board you can program using a block-based coding language or with Arduino language.
SunFounder PiCrawler: was $139, now $111 at Amazon
This crab-like robot requires a Raspberry Pi to help it hobble around the house.
Makeblock mBot Coding Robot Kit: was $72, now $49 at Amazon with coupon
This entry-level kit makes a two-wheeled car with an ultrasonic sensor that you can program via its Arduino-compatible controller. Great for kids, the mBot can be programmed via blocks or text code. It also has lots of expansion kits you can buy for further learning. Click the coupon button to get it at this price.
SunFounder 3+1 DOF Robot Arm: was $89, now $71 at Amazon
This 3-DOF arm comes with an electromagnet and a bucket so you can experiment with dragging things around.
Yahboom Robot Arm Building Kit for Jetson Nano: was $379, now $302 at Amazon
Made to work with AI-centric Jetson Nano board (not included), this robot has a powerful metallic arm with 6 degrees of freedom.
Makeblock mBot Ultimate Robot Kit: was $349, now $284 at Amazon with coupon
The highest-end MakeBlock robot kit can build 10 different types of robots including a tank that has an arm. Click the coupon code to get it at this price.
Yahboom BBC Micro:bit Coding Robot Car: was $60, now $42.39 at Amazon
This two-wheeled car works with your Micro:bit (sold separately) and comes with sensors, buzzers and RGB lights.
Yahboom Robot Tank for Raspberry Pi: was $138, now $111 at Amazon
This powerful aluminum tank comes with a built-in camera you can use for object recognition. It has a series of tutorials to help you program it in Python and an app to remote control it. Requires a Raspberry Pi 4.
Lucky Doug 12-in-1 Solar Robot: was $19, now $16 at Amazon
Fun for parents to build with their kids, this kit lets you build a variety of solar-powered robots.
Elegoo Tumbler Self-Balancing Robot Car: was $84, now $67 at Amazon
This Arduino-powered, two-wheel car balances it self and uses an ultrasonic sensor.
SunFounder Robotics Kit for Arduino: was $59, now $47 at Amazon
This bipedal robot can dance and use its ultrasonic sensor to get around.
Elegoo UNO R3 Smart Robot Car Kit: was $89, now $71 at Amazon
This kit comes complete with everything you need to build an Arduino car with an acrylic base and four wheels. You can program the robot to do avoid obstacles, follow lines and more. It even comes with a camera you can use to get a live stream.
