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About two years ago, Sphero – the back of the adorable 2016 BB-8 robot – announced Sprk +, a programmable robotic ball that is compatible with the application that learns coding. In the following months, the company collaborated with Disney on licensed products such as Ultimate Lightning McQueen, R2D2, BB-9E and Spider-Man, and launched a less expensive Sprk + companion – Sphero Mini – less focused on Education Activities.
Today, the Denver, Colorado, startup has emerged from its Skunkworks Labs with Spark Bolt, an improved Sprk + with some new options.
According to Adam Wilson, co-founder and chief architect, Sphero reiterated his commitment to education. More than 20,000 schools have incorporated the company's products into their curriculum.
"In the last two years we have learned to build a character," Wilson told VentureBeat during a phone interview, "[and] There has always been a programming aspect for our products. You do not have to program if you do not want to – we encourage you to play with the products – but there is more programming. [component] to bolt. "
Bolt has a clear transparent, UV-coated, waterproof and "very durable" plastic shell, and sensors including a magnetometer, accelerometer, ambient light sensors, motor encoders and a gyroscope to track its speed, acceleration and direction. A Bluetooth smart chip connects it to smartphones and tablets up to 100 feet, which serve as controllers.
"We have received a lot of feedback from educators," Wilson said. "We put it all together with what we thought was the coolest thing to do."
A recurrent theme was battery life – teachers wanted a robot that would last all day, not just the length of two or three classes. Sphero engineers have therefore filled Bolt with a power supply that lasts more than two hours with a load, which is about twice the life of the Sprk + battery.
But the highlight of Bolt could be its display: a multicolored LED matrix 8 × 8 that comes alive in real time. It can be programmed to show just about anything, games with cool designs that react to the Bolt's sensor data. A preloaded demo – Snake – allows users to maneuver a line by tilting the lock on its axes.
"It's almost like a full screen," said Wilson. "This expands the amount of content you can do for Bolt … [like] colors and shapes and different display elements. "
Another notable improvement is a new infrared sensor that allows multiple bolts to communicate with each other. It's especially useful when used with the LED array, Wilson said. Sphero's team used it to program a real Pac-Man game, where a Bolt acts as a player character and four others as ghosts.
Other hardware additions include an ambient light sensor capable of reading the brightness of a room and a magnetometer, which serves as a compass.
"[These sensors] let yourself build a real program with inputs and outputs … It's a much deeper learning experience, "Wilson said.
The Sphero application for education – Sphero Edu – has also been upgraded. On tablets, Macs, Chromebooks and large-screen Windows machines, a toggle button allows users to split the programming interface into two, one containing the Visual Scratch programming language and the other the Java equivalent.
"Before, you had to change [betwee them] a lot, "Wilson said.
The Sphero Bolt costs $ 149 ($ 20 more than Sprk +) and comes with an inductive charging dock, stickers and a protractor with cardinal indications. It is also available in a pack of 15 for educators, starting at $ 1,950. On the accessories side, there is a new Power Pack carrying case compatible with the airline that stores up to 15 units and that is supplied with a labyrinth tape and other peripherals.
As for what comes next for Sphero, Wilson refused to spill the beans, but said the brand new toys are not in the immediate pipeline.
"We will probably not do [licensed] some products [in the near future], "Adam Wilson, founder and chief architect of Sphero, told VentureBeat during a phone interview,"[unless] the good thing happens. "
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