SmartDragon99 Beta Test

Beta Testing
1

ZROne Beta Feedback Form

:bust_in_silhouette: Basic Information

  • What is your username?

    • YodaMaster

  • Which robot/build are you using?

    • Tank? I am not sure what the different builds are.. Name on it is SmartDragon99

  • Approximately how long did you spend testing?

    • 3+ hours

:rocket: Setup Experience

1. How difficult was each step?

Rate from:

  • 1 = Very Easy

  • 2 = Easy

  • 3 = Moderate

  • 4 = Difficult

  • 5 = Very Difficult

Task Rating (1–5)
Turning the robot on 1
Connecting to the robot access point 1
Opening the setup webpage 1
Connecting the robot to WiFi 1
Provisioning the robot to the cloud 2
Logging into your account 1
Connecting to your robot remotely 3
Creating a control layout 3
Driving the robot 1 in tank, couldn’t get it to move in car
Using the programming system 3

2. Which step was the MOST difficult?

  • Turning the robot on

  • Connecting as an access point

  • Setup webpage

  • Connecting to WiFi

  • Cloud provisioning - This was a little difficult/unclear Did I need to switch back to wifi to login and get the code and then switch back to the robot’s local network?.. I got a success message but never saw in in the device list on my account.

  • Creating controls

  • Driving the robot

  • Programming features

  • Other: ___________

3. Did you have to repeat any step multiple times?

  • Yes, I did

  • No

If yes:

  • Which step? I couldn’t remember how to get back into the bot after my first attempt at playing with it so I followed the factory reset on the esp32 and started from the beginning

  • What happened? Didn’t have time the first time i set down with it to go through the process. But the factory reset instructions from the link on the quickstart guide were easy to follow. Picture/diagram was great to know how to do it and were the button i needed to press was. there was enough landmarks in the picture to find the button and I had some tweezers that i use for SMD soldering that fit perfect in the slot and were strong enough to click on hold the button. Thanks to the light pattern instructions I knew when I could release and what was going on.

4. Were any instructions confusing or unclear?

  • Yes

If yes:

  • Which instruction?

    • 5. Open the control surface

      From your dashboard, click “Open robot control” to launch the live robot control. From here you can copy your provision code to connect your bot to the cloud service, either by using the “setup guide” and skipping to step 7 or clicking link on the main page of your bot’s local website.

  • How would you reword it?

    • Not sure… I was kind of lost and exactly what to do after getting the provision code. I switched back to the robot’s network and pasted it in and submitted it. Was i expected to use a different device to get the provision code? Which step 7… the one in the quickstart guide or the robot’s guided setup? I am still not sure I did it right as I can connect to the bot on my home wifi and it says it is connected to the cloud but, I do not see any devices on my dashboard.

:video_game: Using the Robot

5. Were you able to successfully:

Task Yes / No
Drive the robot yes
View the camera feed yes
Control camera tilt yes
Modify controls yes
Create a simple program yes

6. What was the MOST enjoyable part?

  • Driving

  • Building/modifying

  • Creating controls

  • Programming

  • Remote access

  • Camera/video

  • Other: _All?__

I had fun making some loops in the programming and making different LED light shows/patterns. It was also fun to go into tank mode and drive it around the house using only the camera view to guide me.

7. What was the MOST frustrating part?

On the Dpad control for the tank it was frustrating that you had to set the time instead of just going while pressed and stopping when released. However, after fiddling with it for 10-20 minutes I finally noticed the little joystick button… That was awesome and works pretty well.

Semi related during the setup when testing the camera, servo and motors, I couldn’t get the controls to work right. If I had left and right working, forward and back were reveresed (unless I am looking at the robot wrong, I thought the drive wheels looked like the back and end with the power switch as the front.) I stumbled upon the pin config when connecting the robot to the tank view and figured the invert F/R was forward/reverse and that did the trick. (although it wasn’t really clear in the interface what I was doing… I just couldn’t think what else that would be.)

:brick: Hardware Feedback

8. How would you rate the physical build quality?

  • 1 = Poor

  • 2 = Fair

  • 3 = Good

  • 4 = Very Good

  • 5 = Excellent

3-4 The board looks solid, I would have opted for through hole mounts for the headers… If the target market it is beginners and younger kids, I can see pads getting ripped off the board fairly easy. I also find it easier to self repair the headers if they get bent and broken. If through hole gets broken often the pad/via is still in tact and you can desolder and clean out the hole and solder new headers in.

9. Did anything feel fragile, awkward, or unfinished?

Motor headers were not quite flat on the board so they were a little angled… it felt like I should straighten them but looking at the board the pins were straight and it just wasn’t mounted flat. I left them as is because moving them would probably pull the pads up and I didn’t want to mess with trying to pull the battery out (and didn’t want to try to reflow the header with the battery in)

The 3D printed cover for the board make the robot feel more finished/polished than leaving it exposed however, the screw holes were really close to the edge so the corners all looked broken. But the cover seemed solid so maybe it isn’t a big deal.

10. Did you modify or add anything to the robot?

  • No

If yes:

  • I did solder another board as I was curious as the layout and all the components. I notice the 4 LED’s on the main board lit on my robot eventhough the 2 of the LEDs were soldered on backwards from the silkscreen marking. I haven’t tested the board I soldered to see if they work but, would expect 2 of them to fail since they are opposite of the robot I tested.

:globe_with_meridians: Website / Community Feedback

11. Did you visit the website/community?

  • Yes – not much there yet but, I did poke around a little

  • No

12. Did you post a picture or information about your build?

  • No

If no:

  • What prevented you from posting? I hadn’t done anything new or amazing other than take it out of the box and play with it. So I felt I didn’t really having anything to add to the community. If I came up with some cool program that I thought others would benefit from or modified it with some sensors or something I would probably post on that if I didn’t see any posts like my new idea.

:light_bulb: Suggestions

13. If you could improve ONE thing, what would it be?

Maybe re-orient or recalibrate the servo so 0degrees was straight forward and -45 went down positive 45 went up etc. and have the default for the camera setting flipped vertically as it was upside down. However, the setting seemed to hold so after I flipped it the first time it was the right way (same with inverting the F/R, I only had to do that once and the robot held the setting the next time I connected.

14. What feature would you most like to see added?

I thought the component list on the robots info page were buttons/dropdowns but tapping on them on the phone or clicking on them from the laptop didn’t do anything. Having it drop down and show details like what pins control those components or something would have been nice. I battery meter would also be nice or at least a battery voltage in the stats with all the other things like ping and uptime. That way I would know whether it needed a charge and thats why it was slowing down or if it was the difference from carpet and tile. (I would reccomend %/meter as most people probably don’t know the voltage range for an 18650)

15. Would you continue using or building with ZROne?

  • Definitely

  • Probably

  • Maybe - right now I am really busy and don’t have a ton of extra space at home but, we are planning on moving in a few months and I can think of a few projects that would be fun to do at the new house (if we get it)

  • Probably Not

  • No

:brain: Final Thoughts

16. Anything else you would like to share?

Definitely still feels beta but there are also a lot of things that feel polished. I am not a UI/UX expert but there was a lot of things I felt should be buttons and were not and there was a lot of settings (like the invert F/R) that I stumbled upon rather then then feeling like it was were or how I expected to find it.
Tool tips or syntax example for the programming to know how to set things up… I used the RGB setting and figured out the -1 == all, and then 0,1,2 for the addresses but, I never did figure out what the RGB fill did or how to use it. (and many of the other things in the left menu) I also found myself wanting to drag the commands around to move them but instead had to do it one slot at a time or move it to the top or bottom.

Overall it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting to play with it a little and would look forward to doing more with it when my schedule opens up more and the product gets more finished.

Ohh I also ran the online update after getting it connected and that seemed to go smooth. I was impressed with that.

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