One of my favorite educational toys, one of my most fascinating hobbies, a source of endless ideas for games, programs, tutorials and lessons for my online teacher store (here is a link if you are curious – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Technology-Realm-Resources), and great fun for my soul – that’s what Sphero is to me. As someone who has repeatedly researched every technical feature of the robot, used all the sensors countless times, and is in love with this little robot, I decided after several years of using it and running a Robotics club, to finally write a short but informative article describing the sensors of this wonderful educational and programmable robot. Let’s start.

Accelerometer

Every Sphero robot has this sensor
An accelerometer is a device that measures the acceleration of a moving object. With Sphero, and not only, this acceleration is measured in Gs (roughly speaking, 1 G = 10 m/s^2 – one GI is equal to about 10 meters per second squared, the same as Earth’s gravity)
Often in the programs I write for Sphero, I include the accelerometer as a way to know when the user shakes the robot, or more specifically, as a way to provoke or invoke an event. Example – we pick up the robot and shake it hard / shake it in our hand, whereupon the accelerometer reads an acceleration above 3G and triggers some block of code, say – to change the color of the robot’s light
In addition to the general case where we are simply looking for some acceleration from the accelerometer (total), the robot also provides an opportunity to check in which axis everything happens – x, y or z

Gyroscope

All Sphero robots have this sensor
A gyroscope is a symmetrical solid body, most often a disk, that rotates with a large angular velocity about its axis of symmetry. Its main property is that its axis tends to maintain its original direction in space. Therefore, it is most often used for navigation
With the Sphero, with the gyroscope, we measure the rate of rotation around its axis, measured from -2,000° to 2,000° per second.

Distance

All Sphero robots have this sensor
This sensor measures the distance traveled from the start point (when the program is started) to the end point where the robot stops moving
It is measured in centimeters

Direction

All Sphero robots have this sensor
The target heading angle of the robot, in degrees. Assuming we point the robot with the blue rear light (AIM function) facing us, then 0° direction means forward, 90° is right, 180° is back and 270° is left

Duration of the program

Every Sphero robot has this sensor
This sensor measures the elapsed time from the start of the program to its end, measured in seconds

Sensors that only Sphero BOLT has

Luminosity / Light

My favorite sensor of all time ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I have written and done so many lessons, activities and games with it. Extremely fun to use!

This sensor measures the amount of light that falls on the robot’s LED matrix. A little known and unpopular fact is that LED lights can not only emit light, but also absorb light through which they can generate small amounts of current. This is exactly how the amount of light reaching the LED matrix of the robot is measured, measured in lux (LUX)
Links to videos on my YouTube channel that relate to the light sensor (filmed during Robotics Club) – Measuring LIGHT with SPHERO ; SPHERO’s LIGHT sensor and INFRARED activity – The search for a new habitable planet
Here is one of my best seller products, including 4 (a whole month’s worth! you save a lot of time with it) different and very interesting light sensor lessons / activities for the Sphero BOLT robot – Sphero® robot LIGHT sensor BUNDLE one MONTH worth of lessons and activities

Others:

Compass – of course, only available for Sphero BOLT