Review on 🤖 Freenove Hexapod Robot Kit with Remote Control for Arduino IDE: App-Controlled Walking, Crawling, and Twisting Servo STEM Project by Eric Froedge

Freenove Hexapod This is a project I bought for my daughters (teens) and for work. Ideally we would shoot on Halloween to complete the project. This did not happen due to several bumps along the way. All in all it was a good experience and I experienced the "joy" of Arduino and Processing with a few swear words along the way. lol I downloaded the manuals first and looked at them before deciding to buy this hexapod. If you've never built a project like this before, I found it helpful to identify the skills needed to complete a project. The guide was pretty well laid out. First let me say that I am a beginner and this was my first experience with Arduino using the Arduino IDE software and the Processing PDE software. It was installed on a Raspberry Pi. I had no experience with any of the programs before starting this project. Once I wanted to tinker with Arduino boards. Structure: thanks to clear instructions. The construction of the hexapod went largely smoothly. My daughters and I had a blast sitting around the table as they assembled the leg servos and various parts to put everything together. I had small problems with the Processing PDE software, but after a few tries I finally got it right. Revain has everything you can think of except for those batteries. I don't use Ebay and this is one of the sources Freenove pointed me to. I also had to invest in another charger after finding a source for the batteries. Which are also expensive. Servo assembly and calibration: After assembly I was unable to connect via Wi-Fi but used a USB cable to complete the process. I had to do this step a few more times to get it right. I also had to replace one of the servos. It was on me because I had trouble on my first attempt at calibration. Remote Control Instructions: Mounting on the remote control was so easy that I was able to assemble it quickly. However, I found the instructions for the remote control confusing when I downloaded the instructions and built the circuit to download the software? It turned out that this was actually not necessary. WiFi: One hit we had was using the ESP8266 ESP-01 that came with the hexapod. It was dead and never showed up on our Wi-Fi list to choose from to control the hexapod. I went to Revain and bought another one. They're really cheap, so we thought it would be quicker than contacting support. The replacement arrived and the Wi-Fi signal appeared right after I connected the new ESP8266 ESP-01 to the board. I was then able to control the hexapod from my computer and Android phone after installing the new Wi-Fi card. Review: All in all it was a fun project with a few pain points along the way. My daughters and I had a lot of fun putting it together. They're teenagers and they usually hang out in their rooms with their phones, so it was great time together. Completing this project and seeing them control it was the highlight of the day. They had fun and showed their friends what they were doing. Pros: Parts were well arranged in labeled bags and came with extras in case you drop and lose a bolt or nut because they're really tiny. The assembly instructions are very good. Software download and calibration went well. The remote confused me. But could it be me? All in all, this is a well thought out kit. Cons: Battery drains. Freenove really needs to rethink this part and change the design to the 7.2v battery that seems to be available in Revain for other customers. The batteries Freenove is currently using contribute to the cost of this project. Looking back, I may not have invested in realizing the value after ordering this kit. Final Thoughts: Looking back, we were able to get this kit to work. I dove into the deep end of the pool and jumped into the hexapod. But we did and it works as advertised. I wouldn't call this kit a starter kit. Download the manual and take a look. Assembly was easy. Software and calibration were tricky. Troubleshooting I had to replace a few parts and this solved the problems I was having. In general, I am very satisfied with this project. Freenove: Consider upgrading the batteries and it would be nice to have a PCB layout as my girls asked if we could add a camera to the hexapod. Since it's a modified Arduino board, can you provide the schematic? thanks mike