ELEGOO Tumbller Self-Blancing Robot Car Kit Compatible with Arduino

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!

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 robot was a charm for my 10 yr old son to build (took him maybe 30-45 minutes), but we were initially disappointed since it did not operate correctly...after some extensive troubleshooting we assumed the nano board was dead. I ordered a random nano board (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NLAMS9C) loaded the Elegoo Tumbller code onto it (using the Arduino software downloaded from the Elegoo website) and now the robot works as expected. The robot is fun to interact with a lot of built-in preprogrammed functions.

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.

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

Fun for 10 year old