Capsela is a construction toy consisting primarily of spherical plastic capsules which may be connected to form various toys that can be static or moving and suitable for land or water. The capsules usually have six hollow octagonal connectors pointing out, where an octagonal sleeve piece bridges between two capsules. The hollow connection pegs on a capsule can have electrical or rotary adapters inside, reaching into the next capsule. There are electric motor capsules, gear capsules, switch capsules, pontoon capsules, and others; there are also battery holders, wheels, propellers, impellers, lights, wires, and other miscellaneous supporting pieces.
Capsela products were originally sold in at least four ranges:
In January 1987, Access Software announced The Robotic Workshop, a kit designed for home computers that used a range of Capsela parts. The kit included over 50 Capsela parts, including two motors, gears, wheels, and sensors. The kit also included an electronic control unit that plugged into the user port of a Commodore 64, an instruction manual with 50 tutorial projects, and special programming software on a floppy disk. It was later released for Apple, Atari, and IBM computers.
Capsela products were originally manufactured by Mitsubishi Pencil Co of Japan. The series was then licensed out to Play Jour and has since been produced by VTech, Kidology and a number of other subsidiaries. The range seems to have been recently re-released in Japan by Bandai, adding new colours to the basic range of transparent spheres.
Capsela is used in school science technology classes[1], and to promote technical careers[2] in engineering, robotics[3]and mechatronics[4] to lower high school students, sometimes specifically targeting girls[5][6].
The Capsela line was later purchased by Educational Insights, a manufacturer of learning toys and educational materials for school classroom[7] which has since discontinued the line.
Capsela sets are now only available used.