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Arrow Smart-Kart gives parents iPhone-controlled speed limiting & geofencing for their boy/girl racers [Video]

Ok, I officially want to be a kid again. Actev is this weekend launching the Arrow Smart-Kart. For kids aged 5-9, the message is that it looks and sounds like a race kart (thanks to speakers with artificially-generated V12 engine sounds), has GPS and WiFi – and it can do donuts.

For parents, the message is all about safety. The Smart-Kart has automatic collision avoidance, and a companion app allows them to set a speed limiter (anything up to the maximum 12mph) and a geofence. If their child tries to drive outside the geofenced area, the motor automatically switches off. If kids get too carried away, parents can perform a remote emergency stop and then put the kart gear into Park. Spoilsports.

It’s currently available on pre-order at $600 for the kart, plus $100 for the race-style body kit – and $50 for the drift kit that wraps around the rear tyres to reduce grip enough to do those donuts. So not cheap, but not outrageously more expensive than non-smart competitors. The free companion app is available for both iPhone and Android.

Sure beats the Anki Drive – though that is admittedly rather cheaper.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/154869778]

Via The Verge

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Comments

  1. patthecarnut - 8 years ago

    Better to get your kids on a kart track, not on a street where this will end badly. What neighborhood is gonna shut down their whole street for a kid to race safely? And in what world does an 8 year old go to the main switch panel to reset a breaker? LOL!

  2. rahhbriley - 8 years ago

    Think this is pretty cool…buuuuut what about the kid that is in an unsafe spot and needs to continue driving to avoid it, but the geofence disables the motor and then the kid is a pancake? I mean, ya it’s funny now, but probably not when it actually happens.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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