BPR Electronics FAQ
Table of Contents
Getting Started
What are BPR Electronics?
BPR Electronics are the electronic components — motors and sensors — that plug into your drive unit's ports to add functionality to a build. Combine them with the mechanical parts in your kit to build anything from a Rapid Robot to your own custom design.
Components don't store settings or run code on their own — they're inputs and outputs for whatever program is running on your drive unit, so think of them as controlled live by your program rather than "remembering" anything between uses.
What BPR Electronics come with my kit?
⚠ NEEDS SME REVIEW
- Beam Break Sensor — tells you yes/no whether an object has broken a beam within a set range
- Distance Sensor — tells you the actual distance (in mm) to the nearest object in front of it
- High-Speed Motor+ — geared for fast mechanisms like shooters and intakes
- High-Torque Motor+ — geared for lifting, placing, or climbing mechanisms
- Magnetic Switch (sometimes called a limit switch) — tells you yes/no whether a magnet is close by or touching it
Note: Component names above are working/internal names from the product spec, not yet confirmed as final by Product/Marketing — confirm before publishing. Also confirm how many of each ship in a standard Kit vs. Class Pack. (This list also does not match an older bullet list in the Controller spec, which names an "on-board IMU" and treats the battery as a component — that list looks stale and should be reconciled with whoever owns both documents.)
How many BPR Electronics can I connect to my drive unit at once?
Up to 8 — your drive unit has 8 available ports for BPR Electronics components.
How do I know which BPR Electronics are connected, and to which port?
Check your controller or drive-unit screen — it'll show you that a component is connected and which one it is, port by port. Each component also has its own small LED that lights up to confirm it's properly connected.
Using BPR Electronics
What's the difference between the two Motor+ components?
High-Speed Motor+ spins faster (1–500 rpm) and is geared for mechanisms like shooters and intakes. High-Torque Motor+ spins slower but with more force (1–90 rpm), geared for lifting, placing, or climbing mechanisms. Otherwise, they're the same part — same motor, encoder, and electronics, just different gearing for different jobs.
Can I configure how a Motor+ component behaves?
- Position mode — drive it to a specific angle, like a servo
- Velocity mode, or raw power/duty-cycle control
- Polarity — which direction counts as "forward"
- Torque limit, as a percentage of max
- How it stops — Brake, Coast, or Hold
- Which controller button drives it
Configure any of this from Blueprint Studio, the Controller screen, or the drive-unit screen.
Can I use a Motor+ component for something other than driving or steering?
Yes — Motor+ is designed for exactly this. Common custom mechanisms include flywheel or roller shooters, chain conveyors, catapults, single-joint or 4-bar arms, elevators (rated to lift about 1kg), and wrist joints. A High-Torque Motor+ can even lift an entire drive unit off the ground.
What can the Beam Break Sensor and Distance Sensor tell me?
Beam Break gives you a simple yes/no: is something breaking the beam within your chosen range (75–500mm, or a matching pitch-based preset)? Distance Sensor instead reports the actual distance to the nearest object, in millimeters, up to about 1 meter away.
Both work best on larger, lighter-colored, non-reflective-adjacent objects at moderate range — very small or very dark/non-reflective objects, and (for Distance Sensor) mirrors at certain angles, can be harder for them to detect reliably.
What does the Magnetic Switch do?
It gives you a yes/no reading for whether a magnet is close to, or touching, its face — handy as a limit or end-stop switch in a mechanism. It ships with two magnet accessories (a stronger and a weaker one) so you can choose how close the magnet needs to get before it triggers.
Can I see live data from my BPR Electronics components?
- Your controller/drive-unit screen can display basic data reported by connected components (text and simple values, not video or custom graphics).
- For richer data — multiple streams, history, CSV export — use the Blueprint Studio dashboard on a computer. See the Blueprint Robotics Controller FAQ for more on the dashboard.
Can I trigger or actuate a BPR Electronics component, not just read data from it?
Depends on the component. Motor+ is the only component you can actuate directly. The Beam Break Sensor, Distance Sensor, and Magnetic Switch are read-only inputs — they report data back to you, but there's nothing to trigger on them.
Can I connect BPR Electronics components to each other, or do they all connect straight to the drive unit?
Straight to the drive unit only, over a BPR Wire — each component gets its own dedicated connection back to the drive unit's control panel. Components don't chain to one another.
What length wire do I need, and can I connect two together to make a longer one?
Wires come in a range of lengths from 100mm up to 2000mm, sold in 4-packs. You can't join two wires together or request a custom length — pick the closest length that fits your build.
Will new kinds of BPR Electronics components be added over time?
Yes. Blueprint Robotics is built so that new components released down the road will work with the same identification, data, and (where applicable) actuation features you already use.
Compatibility
Can I use Blueprint Engineering Kit (BPE) components with BPR?
Not directly — BPE and BPR components use different connectors and electronics by design, so a BPE component won't plug into a BPR drive unit or vice versa.
Can I move a BPR Electronics component from one drive unit to another?
⚠ NEEDS SME REVIEW
We don't have a documented answer for this yet.
Note: needs an answer from the product/hardware team.
Are BPR Electronic components compatible with Sphero EDU or Sphero Play?
No, not at launch — same as the rest of Blueprint Robotics.
What's the difference between a “BPR Electronics component” and a “Rapid Robot”?
A BPR Electronics component is a single electronic component — a motor or a sensor. A Rapid Robot is one of the six pre-designed builds in your kit that combines several components with mechanical parts into a complete, ready-to-drive robot.
Troubleshooting
My drive unit says a component is missing, or isn't detecting one I plugged in.
- Double check the component is fully seated in its port, and look for the small LED on the component itself — lit means the connection is good.
- A missing expected component is one of the events your drive unit actively watches for and will flag to you.
My sensor component's data looks off, delayed, or isn't updating on the dashboard.
⚠ NEEDS SME REVIEW
We're still building out full troubleshooting steps for this one — check back soon, or reach out to support if you're stuck.
Tip: use Blueprint Studio's Dashboard to check a sensor's live reading directly — a good first step before assuming something's broken.
My BPR Electronics component's firmware update didn't finish — is it broken?
No. If an update is interrupted, your component picks back up from the last completed step rather than starting over. If a firmware update is ever incomplete or corrupted, the component will simply wait to receive new firmware — you'll see its status on the drive unit, controller, or Blueprint Studio.
I keep mixing up my Beam Break Sensor and Distance Sensor — how do I tell them apart?
They're intentionally designed to look different from each other, so check the part markings or the Robopedia if you're not sure which is which.
My wire snapped, or came loose during a match — is that normal?
Wires are designed to disconnect (or break) before the BPR Electronics component's own connector gets damaged if something yanks on it — so a wire coming loose or breaking under stress is protecting your component, not a sign something's wrong with it. Grab a replacement wire and you're back in action.
Care & Availability
Where can I learn more about each individual BPR Electronics component?
Check the Robopedia on Sphero Central — it has a description of every part that comes with your kit, components included.
Can I buy additional or replacement BPR Electronics component separately?
Yes, components are planned to be available as after-market/spare parts. The one exception is Wires — those are only sold in 4-packs, not individually.
Are BPR Electronics components waterproof or drop-resistant?
Drop-resistant, not waterproof. Components are built to survive a drop from about desk height (~36 inches) onto a classroom floor, and to withstand a standard step on them (~150 lbs), without losing function — though cosmetic damage can happen either way. There's no water or dust rating, so keep components away from liquids.
Is it normal for a Motor+ component or a wire to feel warm during use?
A little warmth during use is normal. Motor+ is built to run continuously for about 30 minutes without overheating, and wires for about 60 minutes with a load attached — if you're pushing either one harder or longer than that, give it a break to cool down.
How long will my BPR Electronics components last?
BPR Electronics components come with Sphero's standard 1-year warranty for functional failures, and are generally designed to hold up for 3–5 years of typical classroom use (up to about 15 uses a month, 20 minutes each).
Note: Components aren't user-serviceable — if one breaks, replacement rather than repair is the path, through Sphero Support.
What ages or classes are BPR Electronics components designed for?
Primarily ages 14+ (roughly 7th–12th grade) — think Introduction to Robotics, Robotics 1 & 2, Introduction to and Advanced Computer Science, CTE courses, and after-school robotics clubs.
Privacy & Data
Does data from my BPR Electronics components get stored or shared anywhere?
Component data displays on your controller/drive-unit screen and in the Blueprint Studio dashboard, where you can also download it as a CSV.
See our Privacy and Security in Blueprint Studio page for full details on data collected through Blueprint Studio.