Forget about getting a dog. This Sparki will fetch and play ball, and it never barks.

Sparki is a small, boxy robot that with a bit of programming know-how will even play a game of chase-the-flashlight-beam.

The brain behind Sparki is a tiny Cambridge start-up called ArcBotics, whose founders have turned to the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to finance their mechanical companion for kids. So far, they have raised more than $17,000, about a quarter of the way to their goal.

But Sparki isn’t just a toy. Its builders hope the small bot will inspire a new generation of robot makers and computer whizzes.

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