Sphero SPRK+ from Sphero

The Sphero SPRK+ is a fun educational robot that's popular in schools around the world. Slightly larger than a tennis ball, it requires no building and, once charged, is ready to go. To charge the SPRK+ robot, just sit it on top of the inductive charger and, when it's finished, you'll get 2 hours of fun.

The Sphero SPRK+ can be programmed in 3 ways - draw programming, block programming and text programming (JavaScript). There's lots of support available from within the 'Sphero edu' app as well - video tutorials & weekly programs from Sphero themselves as well as programs and activities from members of the Sphero community.

As a toy, the SPRK+ is lots of fun and you'll really enjoy the Sphero Play app which allows you to control the robot in a variety of fun ways. The Sphero Edu app is where you can code the SPRK+ and you'll be surprised at just how quickly you can get it whizzing round your classroom or at home, with a top speed of 2 metres per second. For more advanced users, you can analyse the data from the robot's onboard sensors.

The SPRK+ is waterproof, as shown in the video where it's seen swimming in circles round a sink. Although it's pre-built, you can have plenty of fun designing and building your own Sphero Chariot and you'll find plenty of models online that can be 3D printed as well.

Coming up - look out for my upcoming videos featuring the Sphero BOLT. It's the same size as the SPRK+ but includes additional sensors and an 8x8 colour LED matrix.