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Rating: 
Summary: Great Bot
Review: A great, fun, and easy bot to build. Good customer service.I would recommend it for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Great Bot
Review: A great, fun, and easy bot to build. Good customer service. I would recommend it for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: The best hobby robot out there!
Review: I bought the first robot for my teenage nephew and he LOVED it (after being highly disappointed with others that are out there), so I have been super anxious to get him this robot. He loves this one even more--he has been going through all of the robot building tips and tricks on the CD-ROM and learning a lot more about robotics. He especially likes the tracks on this one and how the robot can maneuver over more stuff. He's looking forward to his friends (or maybe uncles) getting this robot for Christmas so they can start some Sumo competitions! HIGHLY recommended!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Hobby Robot You Can Buy!
Review: I have had the original build your own robot kit for a year now and I thought it was pretty good. The concept and price was great, but there were a few rough edges in the original execution. The original wheels [were poor] (and for some reason say "FORD" on them) and it got pretty expensive buying the BS2 to go with it. Using an "acorn nut" as a front "caster" was pretty innovative, unfortunately it didn't work that well on rough surfaces. The good points about the robot were the remote control and how easily a BS2 could be added to the robot so that I could write my own programs and try them out. Even with the [poor] wheels and "caster" it was probably the best experimenter's robot out there. The information on the CD-ROM was great, although I wish it was available on paper (costs a lot to print out all the information). Myke seemed to have learned from the first robot and the Sumo Bot is fantastic. It now has a very solid sheet metal chassis (with a front scoop), it runs by 4 "AA" batteries and has a caterpiller bulldozer like track that allows it to run over just about any surface. The robot is really built like a bulldozer, it will last a long time. Best of all, the optional pieces from the original kit, the BS2 and AppMod are built into the robot. All you have to do is put the CD-ROM into your PC, download the programs and BS2 programming software, conenct the robot to the PC using a serial cable and you can start writing your own programs or adding your own hardware. This review probably reads like a sales pitch, but I've had my Sumo Bot for a week now and I LOVE IT! It's very robust, easy to use and program and best of all, it's fun. Brad
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Kids, maybe. For adult hobbyists it comes up short.
Review: I should start off by saying that I'm not a kid, nor did I buy this and give it to a kid. I am 22 and I'm working on a completely hand-built robot. Since nobody else has written a review from this perspective - the adult hobbyist - I thought I would
First, however, for the sake of parents and uncles and aunts who read this. I think this is a good kit for 12-16 year olds, provided they are really computer savvy and have a long attention span. If your kid is fixing your computer more often than you, he might like this. If already knows how to program, this kit is for him. In any case, you probably need a knowledgable adult to get past the basics with this kit. The kit itself is a little on the cheap side, I'm not sure its worth the price above. (I found it on sale for less than half , but I've seen it advertised for 3 times as much too.) It took me 30 minutes to build it, but I was doing it real carefully. Any kid can probably do it in the same amount of time, although some of the instructions are probably going to be confusing for a kid. (How many 12 year olds know the difference between a worm gear and a spur gear?) Luckily, there are plenty of photos, which make the instructions pretty "kid-friendly". It does require an abnormally small flathead screwdriver that I don't think most houses have lying around. (An eyeglass repair kit would be perfect for assembling this.)
Once you build it and put in the batteries, it starts working right away and you can use the included remote control to play around with it. There's lots of online documenation included on CD. While the documentation is noble in its intent to teach, it covers way more material than a book could practically teach to an early adolescent, and therefore moves a little too fast at times: basic electronics and semiconductors, programming, etc. You might want to supplement this kit with extra books if the child shows interest. The extra project ideas seem like they would be engaging, but except for the most simple they're going to require an adult to help design the circuits unless your child is a whiz kid at electronics.
Okay, now I want to address the "Big Kids", like me, who are interested in intermediate/advanced robotics and buy kits like this to get experience and to later take apart and hack onto other projects. For me, this seemed like a good deal because it includes a BasicStamp 2, which costs more new (~$34)than what I paid for the whole kit. Sadly, its not the same BasicStamp 2. It operates the same electronically, but has a different physical form. This means when you're done with Mr. Sumo, you can't pull his brains out and plug them in to your own breadboard.
Okay, moving along, the engineering uses a smart architecture, where the low level such as PWM for the motors, A/D for the sensors, etc. are handled by their own, dedicated chip, a PIC16C505. Sadly, however, this is an OTP (one-time programmable) chip. This means you can't rewrite any of the low level functions without buying a pin-compatible, surface-mount PIC, reprogramming it, and then surface-mounting it to the PCB. In short, it's a lot of trouble.
The BS2 communicates to this PIC using two I/O lines and sending very basic, 8-bit commands. This is where the robot really limits itself. The control over certain crucial aspects, such as the motor speed, is handled solely by the low-level PIC16C505 and from the BS2 you don't get much access...you can't set the motors to different speeds, for instance, nor redefine what each speed means. (It has speeds 1-4, with 0 being "stopped"). Why would you want to? Because the DC motors weren't matched well when the kit was manufactured, and one overpowers the other, resulting in my robot continually dragging to the right. (Your robot will of course differ.) There's no easy way to fix this, without low-level access to the PWM code.
This is the bad, however. There are a lot of good things about this kit. The software is pretty amazing. The IDE is real easy to use, and it even includes a downloader that is way faster than others I've used (6811 and JStamp downloaders, eg). Plus, it has a "visual" memory map that helps you understand how much of the EEPROM your code is using up...that's a neat feature. Also, the little breadboard, while tiny, has convenient access to 11 I/O lines, as well as +3V from the BS2, +6V from the batteries, and ground.
Communication with the PIC16C505 is easy too, because the author include two convenient serial transmission routines in the program template that you use to build each new program. The sensors and conditioning circuitry and software are designed to eliminate "flutter" that often frustrates me on other projects. There is a bright IR LED, two decent IR sensors, and two CDS light sensors. The motors are small and fast, although geared down to add some much needed torque. With fresh batteries and a little bit of grease on the axles, I would guess this thing can go 60 feet per minute. The machining of the kit is good; everything fits snugly. The bread board has mounting holes for standoffs in case you want to add another deck on top, and the belly has tabs machined for mounting an RC servo. (Although, its a mount I've never seen, and none of my servos fit it.)
Well, this review is so long I ought to bind it and sell it on this site..the long and short: probably good for kids...with the right adult mentor. For adult hobbyists it's arbitrarily limited (as opposed to RoboSapien which is designed to be hacked), but still could be used as a test bed for small circuits. For the price I payed, I'm happy, but I wouldn't have gone much higher. (Then again, I'm a poor college student...)
Rating:
Summary: great bot!!!!
Review: This is a great bot. I recommend it for everyone. Easy to put together and lots of fun.
Rating:
Summary: great bot!!!!
Review: This is a great bot. I recommend it for everyone. Easy to put together and lots of fun.
Rating:
Summary: awsome soooooo cool
Review: this was an awsome robot i got it two weeks ago and im 13this robot has a cool way to be able to be progrmaed i already tried life simulation and many others this is the best robot with the most features its unbelievable i recommened it for beginners and those who love robotics it will be the envey of your block
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