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Robots

Your Guide to the World of Robotics

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Thumbnail image of Sphero

Sphero

Details

Sphero is a robotic ball that you control by touching and tilting your smartphone or tablet. You can drive the robot around, play tabletop games with it, or hold it to use it as a gaming controller.

Creator
Sphero
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Year
2011
Type
Consumer
Creator
Sphero
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Year
2011
Type
Consumer

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Did You Know?

President Obama drove a Sphero during a visit to Boulder, when he said, "Give me some space to drive my ball!"
Sphero creators once shot one of their robotic balls with shotguns. The robot survived and drove after the incident.
To celebrate the holiday season, 28 Sphero balls performed a light show in New York City's Union Square in December 2012.

Specs

FEATURES
Cable-free induction charging cradle. Bluetooth with range of 15 m (50 ft). Compatible with iOS 4.0+ or greater or Android 2.2 or greater.
HEIGHT
7.3 cm | 2.8 in
LENGTH
7.3 cm | 2.9 in
WIDTH
7.3 cm | 2.9 in
WEIGHT
0.15 kg | 0.32 lb
SPEED
4 km/h | 2.5 mph

SENSORS
Three-axis MEMS accelerometer and three-axis MEMS gyro.
ACTUATORS
Two brushed DC motors with velocity feedback
POWER
Two lithium-polymer batteries, inductively recharged; 1 hour of operation.
COMPUTING
72-MHz ARM Cortex-M3. Bluetooth coprocessor for wireless connectivity.
SOFTWARE
Real-time architecture; custom bootloader for over-the-air firmware updates; full API and SDK for iOS and Android.
DEGREES OF FREEDOM (DOF)
N/A
MATERIALS
POM plastic chassis with polycarbonate shell.
COST
$130
STATUS
Ongoing
WEBSITE
http://www.gosphero.com