SparkFun® Electronics to Give Away 50 Sphero RVR™ Robots to Support STEM Education

SparkFun Electronics is giving away five sets of 10 Sphero RVRs to Assist Middle and High School STEM initiatives.


Boulder, Colorado, Oct. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SparkFun Electronics is giving away five sets of ten Sphero RVR Robots to schools across the continental United States. Earlier this year, SparkFun backed the Sphero Kickstarter for RVR with a “Get a Bot, Give a Bot” initiative - pledging to match the first 50 RVRs purchased with a donation of 50 RVRs to schools. This giveaway is the outcome of that pledge. 

The contest will be run in two parts. From October 15 - 29, 2019, educators can enter their school by sharing a Tweet answering the question “What would you do with RVRs in your school?” From these entries, 15 finalists will be chosen for a community vote that runs from November 5 - 12, 2019. The top five entries will be chosen as winners.

To enter the contest, educators must:

  • Tweet an answer to the question: “What would you do with RVRs in your classroom?”
  • Include #RVRgiveaway in the Tweet
  • Tag their school and another teacher in the Tweet
  • Be following @SparkFunEDU and @SpheroEDU
  • Have their Twitter profile set to “public”

“We are committed to supporting engineering and technology education in schools - our partnership with Sphero supports this commitment, “ said Jahnell Pereira, Chief Business Development Officer at SparkFun, “The importance of experiential STEM learning can not be overstated...and the RVR Robot provides endless opportunities for problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.”

Beyond the KickStarter campaign, SparkFun has also developed kits to extend the capabilities of RVR. These kits provide advanced project and lesson opportunities including global positioning, object avoidance, computer vision, and autonomous mobility. Supported by detailed documentation, these kits enable educators to teach advanced engineering concepts. 

Full contest rules and information can be found at

blog.sparkfuneducation.com/win-robotics-bundles-for-your-school

 

About SparkFun Electronics: Since 2003, SparkFun has been helping turn ideas into reality – whether you’re creating a smart weather station, exploring the frontier of machine learning, building a robot for school or prototyping your first (or tenth) product. No matter your vision or skill level, our open source components, curriculum and online tutorials are designed to make innovative technology more accessible and the road to a finished project shorter. We're here to help you start something.

ABOUT SPHERO: Sphero has been inspiring the creators of tomorrow through creative learning and play since 2010. Based in Boulder, CO, Sphero has become the #1 STEAM-based learning solutions company for educators, available in 40,000+ institutions globally. In August 2019, Sphero welcomed littleBits into the fold to become the EdTech market leader and accelerate play-based learning for kids worldwide. With new offerings coming out all the time to help kids start, grow, and graduate with Sphero, we truly teach kids to think #BeyondCode. Learn more at sphero.com.

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The Sphero RVR is a great way to bring robotics to the classroom. Fully capable out of the box, RVR (pronounced "Rover") can easily be expanded upon using popular development systems such as Arduino, micro:bit, Raspberry Pi and more to create a more advanced robot. With tank treads and powerful, durable motors, the RVR can travel over most surfaces and can communicate with other Sphero products through IR sensors. With the expandability of the RVR, adding the ability for inputs and sensing from things like cameras, distance sensors, and receiving GPS information creates the potential to build incredibly sophisticated autonomous vehicles.

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