This Smart Ball Soccerbot isn’t very smart after all

This is what football-mad boys and girls have been dreaming of – a training gadget for the home designed to improve dribbling skills. And the parents are happy because finally, on rainy days or in winter, the entire home will no longer be turned on it’s head.

The Smart Ball Soccerbot from Smarter consists of two parts – a green ball and a green and black robot on wheels. Once the game has started, it tirelessly pursues the ball in three selectable levels of difficulty and tries to touch it. You dribble your way around the robot on a marked-out playing field and try to delay it as long as possible. After the robot and the ball have come into contact three times, the game’s over and a score is shown on the display.

First yellow card: zero game intelligence

The manufacturer calls the football gadget «smart». At best, however, the marketing is intelligent – the ball itself is technically very simple. The robot has a built-in infrared sensor at the front and the ball has an infrared light. As the ball moves, it flashes repeatedly, showing the robot the way.

The Soccerbot registers contact in the same way the first vacuum robots did ten years ago. There’s a small bar that’s pressed in when it contacts the ball, a foot or wall and this triggers the sensor.

Anyone hoping for some kind of artificial intelligence, calculations of running routes or the simulation of an opponent when they hear the term «smart» will be disappointed. The robot races back and forth rather chaotically and sometimes loses connection if the distance is too great or there’s too little ball movement.

The three difficulty levels are also a farce. In the higher levels the Soccerbot simply moves faster – that’s the only effect.

The trainer is me

Nevertheless, the gadget can be fun. I just have to put the exercises together myself. So instead of just dribbling away from the bot with my outstanding sprinting ability in order to score the most points, I pass it in the tightest of spaces. This is the best way to create the feeling of being one on one.

I have to be very active in the game to make the football gadget fun. And I work up quite a sweat, because my robot opponent may be very stupid, but it’s also very persistent in its pursuit and doesn’t give me a break.

Second yellow card: poor quality

Nevertheless, I kick the ball into the corner after a few minutes – if that’s even allowed. Because the game is frustratingly badly made. The green thing isn’t anything like a ball.

It’s inflatable, but made of thick plastic. It’s also not completely round because one hexagon has a massive opening which you have to screw the infrared light and battery box into. The design protrudes slightly and doesn’t have a neat finish.

The biggest problem, however, is that this additional weight means the ball’s centre of gravity is no longer in the middle. It really wobbles when it rolls on the floor. So strongly that it gets on my nerves when I’m playing. If you look closely, you can even see the bad design in the product promos. It doesn’t help that they try to conceal it with clever editing.

The transfer fee’s far too high

The Smart Ball Soccerbot costs around 100 francs or euros. Not only is that way too much when you consider the technical shortcomings, but the fact this simple construction’s made of plastic doesn’t justify its price.

Plus, with this kind of price tag, I’d also expect integrated rechargeable batteries. Instead, you have to insert four additional batteries into the Soccerbot and three more into the ball. Of course, these aren’t included.

The accessories are also extremely cheaply made: instead of four small cones to mark out a playing field, the manufacturer provides four green plastic chips that you can place on the floor. They must be joking.