Sparki, the Awesomest Programmable Robot for Christmas!

"Once there was a robot named Sparki and every morning he brought a little girl her apple." Or so goes the story my little girl told one morning after programming Sparki to do just that. Not only can you get Sparki to fetch things for you, but you can program him in endless ways, He's got a cute personality the way he moves his little head around and rolls on his wheels, spins when you press the button you'd programmed to make him do so, and comes with access to a website with hundreds of fun and user-friendly lessons to get you learning more and more about robotics and electronics... without even realize you're doing so even if you're only 11 years old! And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Sparki works out of the box with his remote control. To write your own programs, you just plug him in via USB, install the custom-enhanced Arduino software and try any of the dozens of example programs. They have programs for every sensor and actuator on Sparki: distance, pick-up, fall, climbing, light following, dark seeking, mazes, line follow, sumo, beeping, booping, and musical tones. He's got a marker holder for drawing and works with Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Pretty incredible, right?! I'm not kidding you, ArcBotics thought of everything when they came up with Sparki!

Sparki is an affordable, easy to use, and fun intro to electronics and robotics for all ages! He's recommended for 11 and up, but my just-turned 10 year old son is able to program him and direct his steps... er, wheels. And even my 37 year old husband really gets into programming him. Sparki's simple enough for beginners, while being feature-packed enough to be a must-have for pro-users. I can't imagine a more wonderful first robot! A gift the child in your life can grow up with, be challenged by, and never grow bored of. Check out our video below. These are the things you can do with Sparki right out of the box, even before programming him.

 

You can buy Sparki at ArcBotics on-line shop for $149 with free shipping. Who will you be buying him for? Let me know in the comments and have a very merry Christmas!

Special thanks to the wonderful people at ArcBotics for providing us with this robot to review. All opinions are honest and our own. Post includes affiliate links.