Elegoo Smart Car Platform Review

Introduction

Elegoo produces several kits that are very easy to assemble and modify. One of these kits is the Smart Car Kit V3, which features 4 independently-controlled motors, a line tracker module, a Bluetooth module, an IR receiver, and an ultrasonic distance sensor.

They sent me this kit to build and review. Everything is very well labelled and documented, making creating programs for it a breeze.

Building the Car

To start, I downloaded the assembly manual and sample programs at https://www.elegoo.com/tutorial/Elegoo%20Smart%20Robot%20Car%20Kit%20V3.0.2019.03.19.zip. Then I unzipped the folder and went to the English/Lesson 0 folder for the assembly instructions. It comes in an easily viewable PDF file, which features full-color illustrations from multiple angles. The kit contains labelled bags for each section, which are also referenced in the manual.

Now that the kit was assembled, it was time to upload a program.

Uploading Programs

Since the Smart Car V3 Kit uses a standard Arduino Uno as the brain, creating and uploading programs to it is very simple. I decided to test the line tracker module first, but the downloaded folder contains programs that use the IR receiver, Bluetooth, and the distance sensor. Each lesson has a descriptive PDF that describes the process of using that specific module, along with a sample code file.

Possible Uses and Changes

This car kit is extremely versatile due to its wide array of sensors and modules. New programs and add-ons can be added easily due all the GPIO pins being exposed.

This could include adding a GPS module, an accelerometer, or even a basic camera sensor. To summarize, this kit is great for anyone who wants to get into programming their own robots and cars. The instructions are easily to follow and each component is well thought out and documented.