1. Easy of use
You may purchase the best robot in the world, but without knowing how to use
it properly, you’ve likely wasted you money. Some robots come with extensive
manuals and support, whereas other come with just a manual describing the
functionality, without telling you how to use it. Now if you’re a robot
guru, or you know people that have experience in using it, this may not
matter, but if not then this should be a major consideration.
It’s not just the setting of the robots that’s important
here, it’s also putting the robot together in the first place, and taking it
apart (if required) that’s important, especially if you plan to move it
around a fair bit.
Generally the simpler the robot, the easier it is to use
or set up. For a single wheel robot, you can visually see what’s happening
so the settings are logical and easy to understand. Adding a second wheel
and things get a bit more complicated as you have to visualize how the
rotation of both wheels affect the spin and speed of the ball. You’d
probably require a decent manual or set of instructions to help you along.
Adding programmability to this makes it even more complicated, and a
detailed manual and/or set of instructions becomes vital, and if not
supplied may put you off buying this robot altogether!
2. Power
Surprisingly many of the robots currently on the market still do not have a
universal power supply (a supply that accepts virtually all
voltage/frequency setting of most countries). If you buy a robot locally,
then chances are it will come with the right adaptor and power supply,
suited to your country. If the robot you wish to get is either not available
in your country, or is much cheaper bought from another countries, you
should confirm if it comes with the appropriate power supply and adaptor.
Unless the robot has a universal power supply, you’ll generally need a power
supply as well as an adaptor, as just an adaptor generally won’t do. You
must ensure the power supply can handle the power required from the robot as
well.
The 220-240V/50Hz (most of Europe/Austrasia) and 110V/60Hz
(USA) seems to be the most common, but there are quite a number of countries
with other standards as well. A good list of common Voltage/Frequency
setting can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_power_systems
Continue on to:
Support (warrantee, maintenance,
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