Doctor Who Cybernetics

This is for kids from 8 to 80+ (they say). First thing to say is that it is an absolutely brilliant idea. This cyberman head electronic kit is truly about cybernetics. When I used to watch Dr Who everyone was interested in the science - is time travel possible? What is cybernetics? Most of the discussion around Dr Who on the telly today is about how the programme is made, and what hobbies the actors have, the science is ignored. This kit is brilliant for getting at the science - the little booklet/manual makes connections between the programme's cybermen and real scientific ideas. The kids were really interested in this and we've had a lot of fun today.

In principle the kit consists of a motorised base plate which can be activated by any one of three different sensor circuit board devices (one infra red operated by your tv remote; one photosensor circuit that responds to light and a third to obstacles). The idea is that you can have any one of these 3 circuit boards installed at any one time and so control the movement of the cyberman's head. Each circuit responds to different external stimuli and then triggers the motor which moves the head - you can't install all 3 circuits at once though.

The sensor circuits are pre-soldered so basically just need wiring into the base plate. The base plate has 'spring connectors' so you just connect wires from batteries, motor and circuit board to these springs. This is very common in educational kits concerning electronics. It's a bit fiddly in this kit as you have 3 wires going into one spring often and coming from the same direction on the base plate it is difficult not to disconnect wires as you are trying to stick a second or third one in. Our youngest member today was 11 and he did have a bit of trouble with this as we were wiring the infra-red sensor.

There is a 'manual' to show wiring - the manual is based on colour coding the wires. The circuits and base plate have letters and numbers but the manual doesn't make use of these. It took us a while to get the thing to work first time, it took only 20 minutes to get everything assembled. The pre-soldered circuits have rotational knobs for adjusting circuit sensitivity and you will need to adjust these to pick up remote signals.

Once the motor is triggered the worm drive engages a gear on the axle and the head sets off!! We have had a lot of discussion about cybernetics and electronics today so quite a bit of learning has taken place - and partly because this is not the smoothest of kits to assemble - we had a lot of discussion about what was supposed to happen and why. We had a multimeter and wire insulator trimmer so we could test circuits and trim the insulation on one or two of the wires - you don't need a multimeter but it was good to see how the the thing was wired. I think a wire trimmer is necessary though.

ISSUES: 1) the worm drive on the motor goes through a hole in the base plate to connect to the gear on the wheel axle. You may need to adjust the angle of the motor shaft that turns the worm drive to make sure it connects with the gear. Otherwise the motor will turn but the head won't move! So, don't just plonk the motor in and tighten the screw. 2) Be aware that the sensitivity adjustor on the sensor circuit actually moves the circuit board away from the base plate when you turn it. These two things can cause trouble - the base plate could be a bit better quality; the head itself and sensor circuits are good; the base plate is cheapo, cheapo.

The manual could have been a lot more interesting too - an educational opportunity to talk more about control circuits, cybernetics and whatnot. It could also have mentioned all the things I've noted above!

Overall, as a Dr Who toy it is really good for getting the science back into TV, the cyber head I thought was good though the kids thought the whole mechanism should go into a Cybermat rather than a head; I guess it is a bit weird to having a head move about on its own, I was told it had something to do with Stonehenge, but I lost the plot. As an electronic kit it is fiddly for young hands and I would say 11+ for unsupervised kids. It has stimulated a lot of interest and the result is I have one kid now wanting to look more at electronics; and I will be catching up with Dr Who..

really like this product. its not something you buy for a kid who just wants a quick thrill and fast moving r/c type of toy. this is for a dr who enthusiast who understands that its all about the science of it. pretty easy to put together, but will still need help of an adult, its for 8 yr olds really, who will get a kick out of building something that works. liked the realism of the finished item, as it really looks like the cyberman head!

Waste of money. My son did nothing but talk about this for months before Christmas, saving up money so he could buy it. He is 6 so we knew it would be beyond his skills to assemble. My husband helped him put it together after 15- 20 mins it went around the room at snails pace my son lost interest because is was so slow and he went to do something else. My husband played with it for a while decided it was a waste of money ,then it went back in it's box and my son has never asked for again. That was 3 months ago!! Absolute waste of money.