ELEGOOTumbller Self-Balancing Robot Kit for Arduino Robotics for Kids Ages 8-12 12-14 Gifts for 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Year Old Boys Girls Teens Toys for Ages 8-10 8-13 10-12 14-16 STEM Building

I bought this kit for my grandson for Christmas. We just built it today. I have to say I am really, really impressed with the quality of the design and the components. Everything went together very easily, and the directions were top notch. It turned on and performed well! This is an excellent kit, with lots of possibilities. The technology available today never ceases to amaze me (I've built about two dozen Arduino projects from scratch over the last few years, but this kit is really good). I haven't even tried the remote control functions with a phone yet. Well done Elegoo!

Kit arrived on time, just as described. Worked the first time after assembly.Code was preloaded, app worked flawlessly.The physical assembly was not challenging at all for a 6th grader that can use a phillip's head screwdriver.

I bought two of these for the purpose of modifying them into differential drive robots with caster wheels. Here is my assessment:1. The robots work out of the box for its designed purpose. 5 stars for that.2. Hardware quality is superb. 5 stars.3. Tutorial/doc is OK. 4 stars.4. Example code quality is not great. 2 stars.Flaws:1. Motor encoders have A/B phases, but phase B is not hooked up to any pin. As a result, you cannot tell the motor’s rotation direction, making position PID control impossible. Remedy: I cut the traces for the IR LEDs and wired phase B signals to these pins. Now position PID works. I should not have to do that though.2. Only one free pin left on the Arduino Nano used. This would be a much more expandable robot if they had used Arduino Mega2560 instead.

Parts were very high quality and well organized. Instructions very clear. Functions exactly as promised. iPhone interface worked flawlessly.

Elegoo makes several robot/car/tank-like kits,and Amazon seems to lump all the reviews together, so:This review is about the:“Elegoo Tumbler Self-Balancing Robot Car Kit”which is their only 2-wheeled self-balancing kit.I received V1.1, current as of this date.This kit is beginner-friendly, and only involves mechanical assembly.It even includes the single small Philips screwdriver needed.No soldering. Just connect three connector cables once built.Mine worked perfectly first time.Found one small inconsequential typo in the online assembly manual,but corrected in the included printed manual.Took about an hour to build.Not strictly necessary, but you’ll want to download theaccompanying phone app (Android or IOS) which works fineas a remote control over Bluetooth.If, however, you want to go further(much, much further) than just having acool toy...:One very nice thing is that the entire product is effectivelyopen-sourced.You’ll want to download the .zip from Elegoo’s download sitewhich contains *everything* you’d ever want,including the source Sketch to the operatingArduino Nano’s firmware which compiled perfectly,(although it comes pre-loaded on the Nanoso a PC or Mac is not necessary to simply play with it.)Also in the .zip are pretty comprehensive design files,including tutorials on how each sensor works andthe overall theory of operation.There’s also sample code for operating each section(ie. Motors, ultrasonic, LEDs, etc, etc)complete with code walkthroughs.Lesson 2 (of 7) (“Balance Control”) goes intovery very deep detail on the PID algorithms,which here are used to effectuate self-balancing…There's even a section on how to configureVisual Studio Code for use in the Arduino contextsimply because that's what their engineers prefer to useover the Arduino IDE. Geek heaven.Obviously a lot of engineering went into this product,included for all to see.Overall, a great product andeminently hackable, if that’s your thing.