mBot is a robot set powered by an Arduino, but, different from most Arduino sets this one comes with dedicated software based on Scratch like blocks. It is a really lovely set (see my video review here) but, putting it together can be a bit tricky. So this post has some tips to make it easier.
Contents
Everything you need including screws and a screw driver are included in the box, except for batteries. The set looks nice when you open the box (especially when you have the pink set like I do!) but it does look ‘technical’, because of the Arduino. There are sets, like the Cubetto for example, in which the electronics are hidden making them more beginner friendly.
Building the set
Building the mBot is not very hard if you have done these type of things before, but the instructions are hard to read. If you are building the set, follow this section for some extra tips, tricks & pics.
One big downside is that the items in the box do not have labels on their little plastic sacks or paper boxes, explaining what they are, which makes building the set a bit harder then necessary. For example, some of the screws look quite a bit similar on the instructions and would benefit from being labeled with numbers or letters on their packs.
Similarly, the motors are labeled motor (left) and motor (right) in the instruction booklet, while they are identical, which will confuse novice robot builders.
A second reason the instructions are hard to read is that they are a bit terse. For example, on this page in picture 8, suddenly the wires are in the sensors, we even get a tip about it, but there was never an instruction to connect them and how.
Or here, the wire coming from the battery pack is not pictured to it is hard to know which way it goes.
Here is how it should look like on the robot:
On the same page (picture 18) there is an inset trying to be helpful, but that is in reverse, for me only adding to the confusion so I am not adding it here 🙂
Finally, some knowledge or a least dexterity with electronics is assumed. For example, you have to connect the bluetooth module to the Arduino base yourself, which can be tricky if you have never done it before.
