Part 5: Sphero Arena
You are getting a Sphero, a robot ball you drive from your phone. In Part 1 you learn to control it, design it for your country, and play in a World Cup soccer tournament. In Part 2 you choose your own challenge: keep playing soccer, build a battle bot, race the clock, or program a maze.
How do you control a robot precisely enough to win a game with it?
You and your partner share one Sphero. It is a little robot with a motor, a compass, and lights inside, and you drive it from the Sphero EDU app over Bluetooth. First job: make it go exactly where you want.
- 1 Sphero, shared with your partner
- 1 phone or tablet with the Sphero EDU app
Open the Sphero EDU app on your phone or tablet. Tap connect. Your Sphero wakes up and blinks. Only one phone connects to each Sphero, so decide who connects first.
Go to the Drive tab. The blue light marks the BACK of the Sphero. Spin the aim dial until the blue tail points at you. Now forward on your phone means forward in real life. Most driving problems are really calibration problems.
Spend a few minutes just driving. Start slow and find the limit before full speed. Try a circle, then a figure-8, then drive backward while looking only at your phone. Trade controls with your partner. When you can park it on a spot, you are ready.
One Sphero, two drivers. Swap every couple of minutes so you both get good before the games start.
Great soccer players do not just kick hard, they control where the ball goes. Watch how spin makes a ball curve, then think about how you will steer and push your ball today.
Your Sphero pushes a foosball, not a full-size ball. Hitting it dead-center sends it straight. Hitting it off-center makes it spin and curve. Angle and speed are your whole game.
This summer the 2026 FIFA World Cup is being played across the US, Mexico, and Canada. Pick a country to play as, your family's, your heritage, or just one you want to root for, then build your player in its colors.
1 paper cup, 2 to 4 straws, masking tape, markers
Color a paper cup in your country's flag colors. Add your team name, a number, a flag. Make it yours. This cup is your player.
Tape straws to the sides of the cup as legs so your player looks like it is running. Keep it light so your Sphero can still push the ball.
Set the decorated cup upside down over your Sphero. When it rolls, your player runs. Save this cup, you will use it again in Part 2.
Real players warm up before a match. Run these quick drills with your partner before the tournament.
Line your foosball up and push it in a straight line to your partner. Hit it dead-center. Do 5 clean pushes in a row.
Set a target or goal a few feet away. Drive the foosball into it. Then move to a wide angle and try again. The sharper the angle, the smaller the target.
Swap drivers and run both drills again. In the tournament you will take turns, so both of you need the touch.
Game time. Your staff will send teams to the arenas and run the schedule. Play hard, play clean, and watch the standings.
- Push the foosball into the other team's goal to score.
- Bumping an opponent's Sphero is a tackle, but no full-speed ramming. Spheros are tougher than they look, not invincible.
- The arena walls keep the ball in. If it escapes, restart from where it went out.
- Matches run about 5 minutes each, or as your staff calls it.
Just like the real World Cup: a group stage where every team plays a few matches, then the top teams move to a knockout round and a final. Lose your first match? You are still in, that is what the group stage is for.
You have the skills. Which challenge do you want to take on today?
Grab your Sphero, open the Sphero EDU app, connect, and recalibrate so the blue tail points at you. One quick test drive to shake off the rust, then choose your challenge. The stations are all set up, and you can switch when you are ready.
- Keep playing soccer, the arenas are still up
- Battle Bots, build a fighter and duel
- Speed Race, quick head to head, great while you wait
- Maze, build it, drive it, then code it
Loved Part 1? The soccer arenas are still set up. Run rematches, start a fresh tournament, or challenge a team you did not get to face. Same rules as before: push the foosball into the goal, no full-speed ramming.
Turn your Sphero into a fighter that carries a balloon to protect and a skewer to attack. Pop others, keep yours alive. Two arenas are set up, so there is plenty of room to duel.
your Part 1 cup (or a fresh one), 1 balloon, 1 bamboo skewer, masking tape
Set the cup upside down over your Sphero. Blow a balloon up all the way and tape it to the BACK of the cup. A fully stretched balloon pops easily, so that is your weak spot to defend. Tape the skewer to the FRONT, just the tip out. That is your popper. Test it: the cup should move when the Sphero rolls, and the skewer points where you drive.
The skewer stays taped to the cup at floor level, aimed at balloons, never at people. Do not pick it up, wave it, or point it at anyone. Drive from outside the arena. If your rig comes apart, stop and ask a staff member to fix it.
- Attack balloons only. Last balloon standing wins the round.
- Popped balloon means you are out for that round. Lift your Sphero out and cheer on the rest.
- Rounds run by arena. Your staff calls GO and STOP.
Keep your balloon away from the action and strike with your front. Circle, do not charge head on. Whoever turns fastest usually pops first.
Fast and simple, perfect to jump into while you wait for an arena. Line up next to another team and race.
- Start at the line. Drive straight down the stretch to the cone.
- Loop around the cone and race straight back.
- First Sphero across the start line wins, or run it solo and beat your own time.
- Knock the cone or leave your lane and you reset the turn.
The turn around the cone decides it. Slow down a hair going in, make a tight loop, and power out. A wide, fast turn loses every time.
Build a course, then beat it, first by hand, then by code. This one is the brain-bender.
Use masking tape on the floor, or cups and blocks, to lay out a path with turns and dead ends. Make it tricky, but make sure a Sphero fits through.
Steer your Sphero through by hand, start to finish, without touching the walls. Do a couple of clean runs and count your turns.
Now make it drive itself. In the Sphero EDU app, use the blocks, roll, turn, and wait, to program the whole path with no hands. Watch your driving from Step 2: how long you rolled and how many degrees you turned become your code. Tune it until it clears the maze on its own.
Film 15 to 30 seconds of your best moment, a goal, a pop, a race, or your self-driving maze run. Scan the code with your phone to open the workshop Padlet and post your clip.
You drove, designed, competed, and problem-solved your way through two big rounds. The same drive, build, and code loop you used here runs every robot at the harbor. Awesome work, crew. You are just getting started.
You drove, designed, coded, and iterated with a robot today. Those are the same skills behind the robots at the harbor and in every warehouse it feeds. Here is how to turn them into a real local job.
- Free local career centers help you at no cost. The Long Beach WorkPlace and Pacific Gateway serve Long Beach, Signal Hill, and the LA Harbor.
- Search CalJOBS, the state job board, plus the careers pages of the Port of LA, Port of Long Beach, and the terminals.
- Ask a teacher, counselor, or your TRIO advisor to connect you.
- Put this workshop on your resume. List real skills: driving and calibrating a robot, block-coding a path, and designing and iterating a build.
- Use a professional email with your name, and ask a teacher or Woven facilitator to be a reference.
- Apply even if you do not meet every preferred line. Entry level means they will train you.
- Get free help writing your resume at the local career centers listed below.
- Tell the story of a problem you fixed this week. That build, test, fix loop is the whole job.
- Show up early, look sharp, and bring one question about the team.
- Lead with reliability, safety, and eagerness to learn. That is what gets hired.
The Long Beach youth career center helps ages 14 to 30 with resumes, interviews, and training at no cost, and it even runs a Port of Long Beach internship. Ask a Woven facilitator how to get connected.