This wasn't easy to assemble but my son and I had fun working on this project together. This is his second STEM kit and this only encourages him to want to assemble more of these. This is a great gift and not too difficult to assemble.

This is a really fun and somewhat difficult build. Lots of different parts, and a wide array of hardware. This is definitely not a snap-together build, so be prepared to sort through different nuts, screws, standoffs and other tiny parts. The acrylic is good quality, and the components are par for the course. The instructions are really great, though it takes a minute or two to figure out where to start exactly. I've done quite a few builds of my own, and these build instructions are super descriptive, and very clear. The kit comes with everything you "need" including tools, which are pretty good. The included phillips-head is a little narrow and you could strip out screw heads if you're not careful.

The one and only thing that I don't like about this kit, and many others like it, is that it is meant to be used to learn coding, yet very little coding is actually taught. You learn how to use the coding interface (Thonny in this case), but 90% of the coding is copy and paste, or just loading the already-prepared code into the Pi. This is fine if you intend to focus on the hardware, and aren't really looking to walk away from this experience knowing a great deal about Python, but I would've liked to see more explanation for what is going on in the coding sequence.

Overall, this is a really fun build. There is a lot you can tinker with once you've completed the tutorial, and in the end, you have a Raspberry Pi Pico that you can pop off and use in a different project if you so choose. If you take it upon yourself to play around with Python, you can really get creative with the parts and components in this kit. Definitely recommend it.

This is a great little kit for the robot curious. It took me a couple of hours to put it together. The instructions were really good and really clear. In the whole thing, I think I only found one discrepancy, which in a kit this large, a kit this complicated, is kind of hard to believe. The discrepancy I found was in how the servo motor bracket was attached to the sonar mount. In the instructions, it shows four holes on each side and you insert two screws on either side. In the kit, there are 6 holes on each side, and you have two extra screws. I still just installed 2 on each side, because they were really really small and my old eyes and fat finger were having hard time with those screws. The sonar assembly was the hardest part of the whole thing, because of the little teeny tiny parts.

When assembling I recommend you find a smooth (non carpeted) surface, low to the ground, aka not on a table, or have some sort of damper to keep little tiny parts that you will drop from bouncing off to who knows where.

I was really surprised by the detail and the quality of the installation instructions.

Then upon completing it and going into the setup, and seeing all the little great lessons about Micro Python and programming. They all looked to be very useful too. That is another thing about this kit. A lot of kits like this, you are going to find come with an Arduino and you program them with C/C++. This comes with a Pi Pico and you program it with Micro Python. So, if you are looking for something to transition, or if you have already done something with Arduino and might be looking for something else to try, this could be a great place to start.

As for the components, they are all pretty standard components. But if you went out and sourced them all yourself, which you could do, when all is said and done, you probably would have spent as much as this kit. Just the wheels would be $30. Just the motors would be $10. Just the Pi would be $10.

So to get all the parts already sourced for you, and put in a nice kit, and a nice, well designed laser cut chassis to assemble it all, accompanied by good instructions, and lessons. I think it is a nice little kit. Even little details, like using brass standoffs instead of plastic. Little things like that impressed me. They didn't seem to go cheap in places where they could have easily chosen to do so.

It is also a great introduction to mecanum wheels. Some similarly priced mecanum wheel robot kits on Amazon don't even include the electronics. They are a lot more do it yourself. This is more we will do it all for you and hold your hand as you go.

I would recommend it. This would be great for a parent to work on with their younger kid, at the end of which the kid has a really cool toy, that they actually put together themselves, or to hand off to a high schooler, or even a middle schooler to tackle on their own.