Agnirva Space Premier League - Expedition #31683: Teaching Robots to Defy Gravity: Sphero SPRK+ in Space
- Agnirva.com
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
What happens when you take a ground-based educational robot and launch it into microgravity? The NanoRacks-Sphero SPRK+ Robot Studies in Microgravity experiment tackled this question head-on by sending the SPRK+—a small, spherical robot used widely in STEM classrooms—into orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
This experiment was designed not just to test the robotic capabilities of the SPRK+ in zero gravity, but also to enhance STEM education on Earth. By observing the robot’s behavior in a microgravity environment, students and researchers could learn about physics, robotics, and software engineering in a new and exciting context.
In microgravity, the rules of motion change. There's no up or down, and friction and gravity play different roles than they do on Earth. For the SPRK+ robot, navigating the ISS posed a unique challenge. It could not rely on wheels for movement as it would on the ground. Instead, the robot's gyroscopic and motor-based functions were tested in the absence of gravity, allowing students to observe fundamental physics principles like inertia and momentum in real-time.
The educational impact was profound. Students programmed the SPRK+ with specific tasks before launch, and then observed its performance through video footage from the ISS. This not only enhanced understanding of coding and robotics but also gave students a tangible connection to space research.
This hands-on, inquiry-based experiment exemplified the role of the ISS as a laboratory not just for scientists, but also for the next generation of explorers and engineers.
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