Seven lucky winners descended on Sphero’s Boulder HQ Thursday to test their coding mettle after winning entry into a daylong hackathon.
As the robotics company enters the final stretch of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, backers were chosen from across the country to test Sphero’s new robot, the RVR.
The Sphero RVR is a programmable, all-terrain tank-like robot that allows users to drive and program a robot, while learning to code.
The Kickstarter campaign is approaching $800K with less than a week to go, smashing Sphero's initial goal of $150K.
“The support from Kickstarter, the backers, all of that has been phenomenal. It’s exactly what we wanted,” Sphero co-founder Adam Wilson said in an interview with Colorado Inno.
This is Sphero’s first foray into crowdfunding, a move that Wilson said was aimed at gathering feedback from customers.
“We said, ‘we’re going to make this, help us raise the funds to make sure we know how much to make and what do you want?’ You get to tell us what you want before we make it,” he said.
https://youtu.be/9-o5KdkitGs
In keeping with that theme of customer feedback, Sphero organized the hackathon to bring eight backers in to test out the RVR over a series of challenges. Due to the bomb cyclone that hit Colorado, one backer was unable to make the event.
Backers were paired with Sphero employees to code the RVR through a series of challenges that utilized Sphero’s technology portfolio. One challenge involved coding the RVR to navigate through a colored tile maze using the color sensing technology from Specdrums that allows the robot to sense and react to certain colors it rolls over.
In selecting the eight backers, Sphero opened an application process, complete with a series of questions. Overall, 661 people applied to the hackathon and the list was eventually whittled down to the final eight.
“We had a healthy diversity of people that applied for it, which is great for us,” said Sphero’s Quentin Michelet.
Backers chosen included teachers, programmers and engineers from across the country and even in Sphero’s backyard.
Monument’s Dana Glass and her daughter Mackenzie were chosen for the event, braving the storm to test out the RVR.
“I submitted the application because Mackenzie really wanted to come, but you had to be over 18. I used to be in the coding world, before I had children, but then I got to stay home with my kids,” Dana said.
Mackenzie, a sophomore in high school, is passionate about coding and was ecstatic to be chosen for the event.
“I love programming, we have a high school robotics club that I’m a part of. It’s just really fun and I enjoy it,” she said.
In a savvy move, she hopes to code her RVR to help with chores.
“I want it to unload the dishes, but it’s a bit ambitious,” she said with a laugh.
Wilson said other than gathering customer feedback, his primary goal of the day was to see inspiration among the backers.
“I’m excited to see someone have one of those eureka moments. That eureka moment, when it hits, is why Sphero exists,” he said.
The RVR will retail for $249 once it gets to stores, but Kickstarter backers can purchase the product for $199. Wilson expects the product to ship in the fall.
