ELEGOO Self-balance Robot Car Kit

This project was done by an adult to learn the basic ways boards, sensors and chips to build art works. Well made and has some weight to it. Great hands on project. Children will love the project and learn how to add to it. My next step will be adding cameras. I bought the project for the board and for $20 more I got a full kit.

I purchased this robot kit for my grandson. I thought he would be interested in the tech. That was one and half years ago. So, last night he and I put it together. It was a great bonding with him. In the morning after charging the batteries all night. It turned out to a lot of fun and educational.

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 the accompanying phone app (Android or IOS) which works fine as a remote control over Bluetooth. If, however, you want to go further (much, much further) than just having a cool toy...: One very nice thing is that the entire product is effectively open-sourced. You’ll want to download the .zip from Elegoo’s download site which contains *everything* you’d ever want, including the source Sketch to the operating Arduino Nano’s firmware which compiled perfectly, (although it comes pre-loaded on the Nano so 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 and the 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 into very very deep detail on the PID algorithms, which here are used to effectuate self-balancing… There's even a section on how to configure Visual Studio Code for use in the Arduino context simply because that's what their engineers prefer to use over the Arduino IDE. Geek heaven. Obviously a lot of engineering went into this product, included for all to see. Overall, a great product and eminently hackable, if that’s your thing.

Works as advertised, very cool device. Assembly was easy, only requires beginner skills and the ability to follow instructions, if that. A screwdriver was even included. Could have used a small wrench for the pillars but any pliers will work. Only problem with my kit was the battery mounting plate did not have holes for the battery screws. Not a challenge for me to drill two holes and move on. If you have this problem just put some masking tape on the plate in the right area then draw the hole location on the tape with the battery in the right place. Drill hole and repeat. The apple app is not terribly intuitive but does work, I may go find my tablet and try that but I doubt it's much different. I have not modified any of the installed software yet but i will soon, maybe an update then. The Elegoo site has all the manuals and software available for download including 3D models of some of the parts. All the data sheets are there as well! Not paid for the review and have bought several of their products in the past. Edit:- I did contact the support email and they replied within a business day. An offer was made to send me a replacement motor mount plate, which i declined. Very good support team.

I've recently put together a couple different mobile robot kits and the Tumbller is easily the highest quality. The parts are clean and assembly is straightforward using nothing more than the included paper manual and screwdriver. In fact, it took longer to charge the battery than it did to assemble the Tumbller. When I finally turned it on, it stood upright as promised. Some of the screws and parts are quite small so manual dexterity is required and you should work carefully over a table or bench. Elegoo thoughtfully provides a small number of extras in case of loss during assembly. The one complaint I have is the difficulty of finding the software. The Elegoo website is largely devoted to their 3D printers with only the vaguest links to their robot cars. It required many start-over attempts plus some imaginative Google queries before I was finally able to track down what I *hope* is the github package, and I have no assurance that the sources thus obtained are what's actually running in the Arduino Nano. Getting the source code is important to me because I want to understand the self-balancing algorithm and I also hope to devise some sort of radio control other than the smartphone app provided. One possibility is replacing the Nano with a Raspberry Pi Pico W or some other microcontroller that is WiFi capable. This is certainly going to be $90 worth of fun! Update: I finally obtained the Arduino source code for the Tumbller but was unable to get it to work due to a certain section of code which caused the Nano to reset. As a last resort I sent an inquiry to Elegoo support. Rather to my surprise, I got a reply indicating the technical solution. Support like this speaks well of Elegoo as a vendor.

This kit is a good fit for kids who already like building and problem solving. Assembly and setup take some time, but the instructions are clear with a bit of adult help. Watching the robot balance itself is genuinely satisfying and introduces real robotics and coding concepts. Not a quick toy, but a worthwhile STEM project for the right age.

Very Good product. Instructions were easy to follow. I would recommend this product for kids and adults.

As others have indicated, the documentation is a dramatic improvement over every other China originated product I have ever purchased from electronics modules to machine tools. They aren't quite up to the old Heathkit standards, but they are pretty good as far as the hardware and assembly. The Youtube video is also helpful. Other information including source code can be dowloaded from the Elegoo site. Operation is a bit flaky. I have not had time to do a lot of troubleshooting, but the behavior of this device is more erratic than I would have expected. Whether this is a simply a deficient unit or a deficient product line remains to be determined. When I have time to get it on the bench I will know more, and I will try to remember to update this review accordingly. The Bluetooth connectivity isn't great. I tried it with both an iPhone 8 and an XS Max. Pairing is slow and unreliable. Once paired I found the user interface to be cumbersome and difficult to use. Commands often fail, and the "joystick" tends to vary between under and over control. I suggest that you use a non-permanent thread-locker when assembling this kit. During some of the aforementioned erratic behavior screws were being shaken loose (and vanishing), and indeed, the manufacturer mentions this problem with regard to one specific set of screws. I ended up disassembling the entire kit and rebuilding it with blue thread-locker on every screw. You can Blue Loctite here on Amazon in liquid form (although I actually used Permatex brand #24300 threadlocker) or in a "chapstick" tube format (I used Loctite #248). I used both, alternating based on screw location and circumstance. DO NOT use a "Red" permanent type thread-locker. If you do, I doubt that the low cost hardware in this kit will hold up during any future dis-assembly attempt. I made this purchase on impulse in response to a Lightning Deal. It seemed like a fun project to tinker with, and I felt sure our pets would enjoy having a new playmate. I probably would not buy it at the regular price, but my interest was very superficial. For someone who wants to use this as a basic platform upon which to build and experiment the regular price may seem more reasonable. Hope you find this helpful.