If you have ever worked in an ADST classroom, you might have seen a futuristic collection of plastic spheres resting on a charging dock. What you have seen is most likely a class set of Spheros. Sphero is a programmable ball that interacts with its environments through code. While it can get very intricate, Sphere’s charm comes from its ability to encourage K-12 students to learn by playing and challenging them to control their own robotic sphere.
Adam Wilson is the co-founder of Sphero. From various articles and interviews about his early life, it’s clear to see that he has a strong curiosity about machinery even when he was a child. Excerpts from his University’s interviews showed his passion as he rummaged through the dumpsters of his local office surplus store to find and take apart electronics. Another value that Adam has clearly shown is the ability to create. Instead of going to college, Adam opted to go into construction with the dream of building his own home. However, he disliked the heavy labor of the job and instead joined the University of Northern Colorado, where he helped design their first robotics course.
His early life definitely showed his open mindedness and his ability to go against the norm. With post secondary schooling becoming such a staple part of our society, the ability to follow your own dreams and passions is one of the key traits that I have identified in his success. Although he did not complete his dream of constructing his own home, his willingness to fail has demonstrated that he was not afraid to take a chance on a project. Sphero was a project that happened quickly. The idea came by in a flurry and it took days to build, and only months to finance and mass produce. This concept of working fearlessly to engage your passions is one that I would love to adopt into my professional life.
I have 2 of theses in my home which my kids program to race through obstacle courses! I would have loved to hear more about what he saw as the driving factor behind Sphero; what was the need to be filled? Were there any other projects he took a chance on? It’s pretty amazing how quickly this venture went from concept to reality!