4Tronic Initio

It’s a rover available in a kit, made by plastic molding, and arrives in pieces. Our one is driven by a Raspberry Pi, but there is also an Arduino-based version available. It’s biggest advantage is its sensors:

• An ultrasound distance sensor movable on two axes, which the robot can use to find obstacles in front of itself
• 2 pcs infrared sensors, which it uses to detect corners when driving in parallel with a wall
• 2 pcs line sensors
• 2 pcs encoders which measure wheel rotation

It’s simple to program it in Scratch, and it can be directly connected to a TV or monitor, so it’s a good way of practicing for those who are in the beginning of familiarizing themselves with sensors and programming. However, it has two disadvantages:

• Its power source is 6 x AA batteries which deplete quite quickly when the robot moves a lot
• The wheels are not completely aligned with the motors, so it’s quite sensitive to the type of surface it is on (prefers smooth, lackered desktops), but even on the best surface it can’t turn in place, only while going forward or backward, hence maneuvering it is not easy.