Yes, my Sparki has a few issues with the servo and orienting the ultrasonic sensor (more likely some sort of a software issue), and not having the original example file that the unit shipped with to load back on (which worked) put a damper on the Sunday I was going to work with my son on it. I won’t really be able to dive into it until some of these things get addressed somehow.
BUT… it needs to be said that I can totally see the potential in this thing. All of the sensors, the durable packaging, the easy and obvious expandability, and the way you can totally tell that, someday soon, it will lead to an incredible array of creative play.
There are just some issues that need to be ironed out.
I saw some pretty nasty fighting on our customer end (not from Arcbotics - they’ve been completely professional in their responses), and just wanted to put in my two cents that there hasn’t been enough of a chance given to Arcbotics to iron out the issues. The product has only been out a few days, and Arcbotics is not a huge company.
I have no problem in investing in potential. Sure - it’s not ready to sell at Walmart, but this is so much easier than most of the newbie kits out there - it is a huge step in the right direction. Even for someone like me who can’t really code… I would so much rather have a Sparki, than some neutered idiot proof little bot that only does what it was designed to do, or the opposite extreme - a box full of parts you need a soldering iron and 9 months of research and iterative design for before it does anything.
Thank you Arcbotics, for giving people a tool we can make useful and educational. For my 10 year old son and I, it is our first step into robotics. I’m looking forward to what you made possible for such a reasonable price. It’s risky that you don’t have a huge staff to do the inevitable tech support marketing to this specific audience will bring, but it was worth doing. Your business model will work.
