ArcBotics Sparki Robot Reviews

See what teachers, parents, and the press are saying about Sparki.
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Sparki in the Classroom

Engaging and rewarding introduction to computer programming and robotics (posted Nov 6, 2016)

“All teachers, I believe it safe to say, value problem solving, and Sparki is an outstanding tool that helps students perform coding experiments and see the results almost immediately. And Sparki’s “minimal coverage” design teaches students that what machines do is not magic; it’s science.”
-Andrew Larson, Science and Language Arts Facilitator at Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School

Great choice for kids who are serious about robotics (posted Oct 3, 2016)

“Educational content is the thing that makes the difference between a robot that stays in a cupboard and one that kids stick with. A lot of effort has clearly gone into providing a curriculum for the Sparki robot. Sparki is very much an educational platform for learning about robotics and STEM rather than a toy with some coding added.”
-Dr. Tracy Gardner and Elbrie de Kock, Techage Kids

Sparki Sparks the Flame for Learning (posted May 13, 2016)

“We just received our unit a few days ago at my school. Our Director of Innovation, Nikolaos Chatzopoulos, has already used the robot with some of our students. The feedback we received from the students/users was overwhelmingly positive. First of all, the robot was ready to go, right out of the box. Initially, there was a little bit of confusion, as the unit was not shipped with a guide. However, we overcame that problem quickly by visiting Arcbotics’ website and reading through the well documented instructions. In addition, the website is a wealth of information on lessons, troubleshooting, general instructions, and in general, everything you need to know in order to interact with Sparki. One of the advantages of Sparki is that it can be programmed by students using visual programming (Ardublock) as well as a version of Arduino called SparkDuino. That is a great option to have, because it allows younger students, as well as older students who might be only now trying to code for the first time, to interact with the robot and program it successfully. The overall quality of Sparki is high. We would recommend Sparki to any teacher who would like to use a versatile and highly customizable robot in their classroom.”
-Tracy H, Superior Schools

Great fun and very educational (posted Dec 2, 2016)

“Sparki is a great value robot with an abundance of sensors. I have used this with children from six upwards with the drag and drop programming environment MiniBloq, and now use it in a college (UK) as a regular part of our IT and Software Development Course with students from 16+, programming in Arduino IDE. It can be completely reprogrammed and is a great way to introduce people to programming. Really fun and hugely interactive, ArcBotics Sparki is better than any other programmable robot on the market for the same price, and there is regular support from the Arcbotics forums and community.”
-Amazon Customer

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Sparki at Home

This is a full robotics program for free (posted Nov 2, 2016)

“What’s really fantastic about Sparki is all its lessons. This is a full robotics program for free. ArcBotics actually explains how everything works.””
-Dan Nessel, Dad Does

I can’t imagine a more wonderful first robot (posted Dec 11, 2016)

“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. ‘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.”
-Celena Marie, Mom and Writer at The Traveling Sisterhood

Amazing piece of equipment – brilliant teaching tool (posted Dec 27, 2016)

“My son is has been coding all morning… getting this was his dream for the last two months. He is delighted – even better than he had imagined! Thank you. Well done!”
-Andy

Great for young technically oriented explorers (posted Oct 29, 2015)

“Sparki fulfilled all my expectations and my son (9y) really likes it. It gives a touch to physical world, and thus exceeds smart phone applications limited to touch screen experience. Nicely prepared lessons on Sparki web site provide introduction to variety of on-board sensors and motors with C code examples and explanations. The best part is support for miniBloq graphical programming language, which is very intuitive also for children. I found Sparki as a great starting device for spending quality time together with my son and exploring the world of technology.”
-Rok

Platform Robotics is great – for Novice and Experienced programmers (posted Dec 18, 2016)

“This is 100% what a platform robot looks like. Sparki is one of the few. It’s cheap, easy to use, easy to learn, and again because it’s easy to use, programmers and roboticists/robotics-engineers will LOVE to bite on this. Platform robotics is revolutionary because it combines real language use into a full, complete robot kit. You could say the same about the pricey EZ-Robot, but robotics has never been easier. The platform robot Sparki also integrates its entire library and drivers into each IDE. Arcbotics added many tutorials and helpful information in a way that those of any age can comprehend.”
-David AH

The kids have learned so much – and I love supporting a small/medium sized business in the US (posted Nov 28, 2016)

“I just bought this robot for my nieces, ranging in age from 6 years to 16 years old. They absolutely love it, and have learned so much about coding and computer science. You get so much with this set compared to others (lessons, accessories, pre-assembled), and the customer support is great. The company is also family owned, which is a huge plus in my book – I love supporting a small/medium sized business in the US.”
-Francesco R

We love our Sparki! (posted Apr 27, 2015)

“Great product! I am using this to teach my 10 year old granddaughter basic programming and a little engineering. She loves it! We had one minor problem with the unit as received (the LCD screen would not work), and Arcbotics’ response was top-notch – they furnished an entire new board with instructions via YouTube on replacement, which provided my granddaughter a great hands-on learning experience in robot “brain” transplanting! This is a real bargain considering the various types of sensor, the 3 servo motors, the included blue-tooth module and the web based lessons, examples, and iconbased miniBlok and Sparkiduino (C++) programming IDEs.”
-Geekzer

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Sparki in the Press

Forbes 30 Under 30: Education (2017)

“‘We don’t want a kid to look at a Sparki and run out of things to do.’ Even for those who’ve never programmed before, the interface can get kids interacting with Sparki ‘in minutes’.” 

“Sparki is a top tech teaching toy for the little genius in your life.”

“Sparki’s ‘arms’ may be a mere inch long, but his reach is worldwide.” 

“Sparki isn’t just a toy. Its builders hope the small bot will inspire a new generation of robot makers­ and computer whizzes. ‘There aren’t many things out there that can engage kids like a robot’.” 


“This [high tech summer camp] gives young students the type of degrees you can get in this career field.” 

“Sparki’s quite an accomplishment—Arcbotics has selected some fantastic stepper motors for Sparki, and they’ve evolved their design to create a rugged enclosure that still manages to expose all the electronics you want to play with. ” 

“Sparki is an Arduino-based robot for people who don’t know how to build robots.” 

“For the person who wants an Arduino robot, but doesn’t know where to begin with programming, Sparki promises to offer an affordable, easy introduction to electronics and robot programming.” 

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