An Arduino is a microcontroller — a single board designed to control something and perform a specific task. Unlike a Raspberry Pi, you won't find anything resembling an operating system here ...

Returning to family activities, you can make a homemade robot, with which you can use recycled household materials and glue.

But students still have to construct a functioning robot. At Sylacauga High School, for example, as many as 20 students are taking part in the project, said Paul Lynch, a teacher there.

5. The Cardboard Tweenbot In 2008, New Yorker Kacie Kinzer created a cute cardboard “robot” that was half art project, half social experiment.