Craft and construction kits have been a blessing in our recent lockdown phases, and now there’s a new one that might appeal to those interested in tinkering with robots. ArmPal is a robot arm kit that you build yourself, then pit against other robot arms in battles based on picking stuff up.

Robot arms are a pretty common sight in factories, and since they’re relatively simple we’re starting to see them become available for businesses and hobby programmers. This latest version, developed by a Hong Kong-based company called Mongda, looks like one of the simplest, with a focus on fun more so than work.

The ArmPal construction kit is mostly made of laser-cut wood, and putting it together involves gears, hydraulics, pulleys, magnets and other mechanisms. As complicated as it sounds, the only tool required to put it together is a screwdriver, and Mongda says that it’s simple enough for kids as young as 10 – with some parental help, of course.

Once it’s built, the robot arm can be controlled directly using a pair of joysticks on a connected unit. And then it’s game time. Several different tools can be attached to the tip of the ArmPal, including a claw, an excavator bucket and a magnetic crane. The heads are made to be switched quickly on the fly, and Mogda has designed a game to play with each of these.

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