OWI Rhino-Beetle robot kit
I bought this guy from the folks at Amazon. I paid about $35 for the kit.
Assembling it was fun, although OWI’s instructions are mostly pictographs that look close to the parts they depict. But like many other kids aged 8 or more, I found no issues getting him properly assembled and working. I have yet to be able to say that abut the more expensive robot kits I’ve bought from robotics parts dealers.
It’s pretty intrepid; in low gear it traverses my bed, even climbing up pillow mountains I put in his way. He manages to take them all in stride, albeit at a snail’s pace. In high gear it zooms across the floor like a commuter late for work, and the middle gear I rarely use. That’s right, he has a 3 speed gearbox and those treads are definitely posi-traction.
He is controlled by an infrared remote control which you have to assemble, just like to robot. He’s a nifty looking thing too. His claw, one of the most compelling visual aspects of the robot is actually a bit lame. Built essentially of lower quality parts copied from their EDGE Arm, it is neither strong nor protected. You can exert it to high or low and damage its servo gears. You can do the same damage opening or closing the claw too far. But he makes a nifty looking thing and responds well to the remote. Plus that, like other OWI robots, it taught some things as it was assembled.