Makeblock mBot Mega Robot Kit with Mecanum Wheels, Programmable Robotics Kit Compatible with Arduino IDE and Raspberry Pi for Teens & Adults, Robotics Gift for Learning Coding, Robotics, Electronics

Updated: the seller reached out and remedied the problem the way they could. From the "meh" customer experience they made it fantastic!---This was a gift for a friend with a PhD in electrical engineering. We were able to build the device quite easily by just following the instructions. Not that the Ikea-style instructions were perfect, but we made progress by using the most important tool in an engineer's arsenal: common sense.The iPhone and Android controller apps (and we've tried both) were fine. There was a bug in the iOS app, that prevented us from switching between the speed modes. Android app worked just fine.However, the main reason I got this bot is for it's supposed versatility in software. Oh, how much we were looking forward to get our code on it during the Xmas day. But alas, neither of us (a PhD in EE and me, with a masters in Computer Science) were able to get either Mac or Linux software kit working. Not only it would not connect to the device, but our attempts at building the simplest program would fail with compilation errors.The software distribution for this thing is huge: more than a 1GB in size. That is due to the fact, that it's fully self sufficient: there are no dependencies, all the libraries, even a C++ compiler and a Python interpreter are included. That notwithstanding, it all flat out doesn't work.Incredibly disappointing. I wish I could return the mBot Mega, but unfortunately it was a gift.

The robot parts are really well made, and I really liked the design and its customizability. However, after spending a long time building it with my son, it was a total disappointment for him because most of the functions don't work as expected or work very unreliably. The line follow doesn't work. Gesture control work sometimes but it moves only briefly. The sensors trigger - but the motor doesn't always respond to it. The remote feature was equally frustrating as it (apparently) keeps disconnecting because the robot will just move backwards suddenly (Even though the device is inches away). Sometimes will connect back after some time, and other times it needs to be power cycled.The instructions definitely can have improvement - my 11 years old would not be able to follow it correctly without help.**** Update after detail help from customer service ****Updated my rating after the customer service follow up. I have to commend the dedication of their service to get the issues resolved with detail instructions. They were also very receptive in taking the feedback on documentation/instructions. Very happy with their service and was able to resolve our issues. Ended up choosing the neo model instead based on their recommendation for my kid. It worked like a charm. Very quality build again and it was very easy to build for him. Would definitely recommend.

My 8-year-old son had a blast making it. It’s a great way to learn programming and robotics skills. After just a week, he’s already asking for a controller and another robot. I’m very happy with my purchase.

I like building things and getting to understand how they work. The instructions were a bit too much pictures and not enough explanations. I was very disappointed that the instructions did not include steps to attach and use a Raspberry Pi even though it was in the description in the Amazon listing.At 64 and being technical minded, I'm not exactly their target market. But you have to get started somewhere if you are interested in robotics as a hobby.

I am a retired IT specialist. I purchased the mBot Mega Robot Kit as a gift for my 12-year-old grandson.I assembled it ahead of giving it to him since assembly would have been well beyond the capabilities of a 12-year-old. What I liked about the mBot Mega Robot, and the reason I give it three stars instead of just one, was the physical quality of the device itself and the instructions for assembling it. Once assembled and powered on the robot executes three selectable routines: object avoidance, response to motion sensing, and line-following using a supplied template. The first two of these worked as described, but the line-following routine did not - the robot just rotated in circles. I partially disassembled the device to confirm that the line-following sensors were wired correctly. The next step was connecting the robot to a PC via a supplied USB serial cable, and this is where problems began - the robot would only intermittently make the connection without which programming it for advanced functions is impossible. When I did succeed in getting the robot connected, I was able to use the mBlock programming feature to create some simple control routines and load them into the robot, and these seemed to work as expected. However, I could not figure out how to save these programming blocks, and due to the persistent problem with connecting the robot to my PC I could not make any further progress with the robot. MakeBlock Customer Service is located in China (time zone UTC+8) so getting help with these problems was difficult and ultimately unsuccessful. I returned the device for a refund.

I would have liked it more if there were less problems programing and module board setup.

This is a great kit, but it only takes AA batteries. It would be much better if it had other options.

Got this for my 17yr old for Christmas. He absolutely loves it! He is big into electronics and robotics. He says it was fairly easy to assemble and works great. He is interested in more products from this brand.