Britons keen to get their kids interested in coding will be well aware that people across the world are looking to do likewise, and it may be little surprise to see a robot at the heart of the action in the far east.

Korean robot startup Goldrabbit has developed a customised modular coding robot called MAUNZI, which is designed to get kids interested in coding through a mixture of motion implementation modes and unlimited expandability, Aving News reports.

The device, which is being developed using crowdfunding from Kickstarter in the US, is designed with a series of cubes. Each has a different characteristic. Some are in charge of movement, some act as sensors that can detect features of their surroundings, some are used to control robots with particular movements and some can link up blocks and deliver commands.

It works as an internet of things robot and it has blocks that link together without any connecting wires.

Of course, the Far East is one of the world’s leading regions for cutting-edge robot technology, so perhaps it is not surprising that this should be the form of high-tech being used to get kids from the region involved in coding.

This should also be a reminder of the value of having coding classes for kids here in the UK, as the increasing use of this technology means the next generation will need to know how to use it to avoid Britain becoming a technological backwater with all the economic consequences that would have.

Happily, such classes and initiatives are being launched all over this country. For example, in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth, a new coding studio called Code Ninjas was recently opened by the town’s mayor, the Bournemouth Echo reports.

Among the activities young coders - nicknamed ninjas - are able to do is building robots, piloting drones and devising video games.