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1. Good kit, poor instructions

   Posted by Simon Birrell on 6th Dec 2014

   This kit is great value for money and comes with some useful software, but don't expect to assemble this in an hour.
   
   The principal problem is that the instructions are unclear and scattered across multiple pieces of paper and blog posts. You'll find yourself scratching your head trying to find the paragraph that works for your model of the Pi, with your battery pack. You'll squint at the photos on the blog trying to figure out how on earth this was fitted together. Some instructions come with paper "updates". There is no single, consolidated guide to building your bot. Even worse, the instructions are simply wrong on occasion.
   
   Example 1: Pan & Tilt assembly
   If you follow carefully the paper instructions for the pan & tilt assembly then you'll waste at least half an hour. The assembly has two similar but different plastic pieces, one of which will be the base, the other of which will hold the camera. If you use the combination in the paper instructions, then when you come to affix the camera you'll find the holes don't fit. You then look at the photos on the blog and see that the pieces have been used the other way round. Sure enough, you disassemble everything, reassemble and it works. What would it have cost to make that clear?
   
   Example 2: Battery Pack
   The battery pack is great but as the chassis stands, it scrapes along the back of the bot's wheels. I've tried looking at the photos on the blog and it appears that the battery pack has been lifted off the bottom layer in some way. No guide how to do that and no way to tell from the photos.
   
   I also had problems with the mounting screws on the B+ (too tight for holes). Now some of this may well be my incompetence (now I remember why I went into software) but this kit would have been so much better with a good set of instructions, or even better, a video like this one:
   
   http://hdmipi.com/instructions/
   
   As it stands, this is less a kit than an investigative integration project. It's a shame, because I really, really wanted to like this (and I do like the finished product).
   
   If anyone has figured out how to fit the battery pack without scraping the wheels, I'd be grateful.
   
   Response from Dawn Robotics:
   Thank you for your review. I'm sorry that the instructions were a bit tricky to follow in places. The instructions have been added to repeatedly over time, as we've developed and enhanced the kit, and we are in the process of producing an enhanced and consolidated set of instructions which should improve things. The suggestion of a video guide in particular is excellent and we will aim to provide one in the future.
   
   With regards to your specific problems. The pan/tilt head can be a bit tricky so I'll add another photo and a bit of explanatory text to clear that section up. For the battery pack, it should sit on the top of the acrylic tabs that hold the wheel motors in place. I'll check on our test kit, and try to post photos to clarify. Also as an alternative, some of our customers have installed the USB battery pack by removing the central M3 support (the chassis is still quite strong without it) and then sliding the battery pack in from the back.
   
   Thank you for sticking with the build process and providing a review. Hopefully things should be easier as you proceed with programming the robot and adding on sensors. :) If you encounter any issues, then please drop us a line via our 'contact us' page, or we can offer support via our forum at forum.dawnrobotics.co.uk.
   
   Regards
   
   Alan

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2. Great base for future projects.

   Posted by Blackrook on 2nd Dec 2014

   Chassis and motor kit, solid and fit together well. Instructions on site good and straight forward to follow. We had a little trouble lining up some holes mounting a PI but that was mainly because we were changing the layout a bit heading towards a different project.
   
   Software that comes with this worked fine,
   and gives us a firm basis to see bow the motors and Pi work together but we had to downloaded the disc image, as the set up instructions from scratch were beyond us.
   
   All in all a good purchase.
   

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3. Great Stuff!

   Posted by Bastiaan on 1st Dec 2014

   My sincere compliments for the content, the quality of the materials and the shipment. I received everything in good order. Installation instruction are open for some improvements (e.g. assembling the motors with the right motion direction), but with some patience and perseverance everything fits in well. I’m pleased. Already spend a lot of fun hours in programming the robot.
   Some more detailed explanation on the software in the Dawn image would be very welcome, since the way the robot is configured, including the Arduino, is quite different from the example sources one can find on the internet (e.g. the Imagine publishing’s). For an absolute beginner a lot of the possibilities stay hidden now.
   

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4. great for testing

   Posted by Francesco on 28th Nov 2014

   Good product, the front wheel has been improved and works fine.
   The procedure to have the software on the SD is clear.
   
   Thanks

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5. Great kit to get up and running quickly

   Posted by skisy on 13th Oct 2014

   Bought this chassis and followed the manual on assembling the camera bot as I needed a functioning robot to do research and development with assisted living technologies and didn't want to spend lots of time creating a bespoke platform first. The suggested build includes almost everything I need and a little bit of guidance into adding more components.
   
   Made my own SD from the downloadable image provided on the website and had the whole thing up and running within a couple of hours. Very quick, very easy, ideal for my purposes. Now I can make a quick start on changing the code to suit my needs.

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6. It works!

   Posted by Jeremy Flooks on 10th Sep 2014

   Great value and worked first time.
   A couple of extras would be the icing on the cake.
   1 A 200mm Raspberry Pi Camera Board Cable. Takes the strain out of the cable when using pan and tilt.
   2 A extension cable for the tilt servo. Stops it fowling the camera cable.
   
   Also a bit disappointed with the coding documentation, this might be that i haven't found it yet.

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7. The best!

   Posted by Unknown on 21st Aug 2014

   It's a great robot for beginners.
   Also the support you get for buying the robot is great.
   Also the international sending is good.
   Explanation of the code is could be helpful

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8. Not for a beginner....

   Posted by Mick F on 18th Aug 2014

   If you are a beginner. Read very carefully here Instructions: http://blog.dawnrobotics.co.uk/2014/01/using-dagu-mini-driver-build-raspberry-pi-camera-robot/
   as instructions with the kit are scarce/ non existent. Interesting how other say they are "clear", they must be referring to the link as no instructions are included, even the link!
   If you are capable, this kit is brilliant and is better now that the power is better described using the BEC. (confusing before)
   To try and modify the programming of this takes some real knowledge... I am trying to find out now.
   I would recommend buying the SD card, the extra cost is worth it.
   The project is amazing, the blog pages seem to answer most questions.
   
   Response from Dawn Robotics:
   Thank you for your review. We've now updated the component list that comes with the kit to include a link to the instructions at http://www.dawnrobotics.co.uk/build-camera-robot/. That was a bit of a silly omission on our part... :P With these in place this robot should be a good starting point for beginners (aged 12 and upwards) and more advanced hobbyists alike.

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9. Great kit for learning.

   Posted by Rico Harper on 17th Jul 2014

   Bought this kit to challenge my self and learn a about robotics. Love the kit and the instructions are very clear. Works great. Thanks a lot for this kit.

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10. Great Robotics Bundle

    Posted by Paul Klintworth on 7th Jul 2014

    This is a great intro into robotics, with clear instructions and good support. Works well, and highly recommended. Well packaged and speedy international service.

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Previous | Showing reviews 11-20 of 23 | Next

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