Parallax BOE-BOT Review

The BOE-BOT from Parallax is one of the first mass-produced mobile robotic platforms accepted by the growing hobby hobby community.

Overall, in my opinion the BOE-BOT robot base kit is the best beginner robot kit available. This is mainly true because of the simple construction of the robot, use and explaination of sensors, and easy programming. The included manual has many different examples of programming code included. One tip I found, was to avoid typing in the code, the manual can be accessed from Parallax's website in .PDF form. Open the .PDF manual and copy (ctrl + C) the section of code wanted and paste it (ctrl + v) into the programming window. The BOE BOT is very flexible because of its ability to program and ability to accept input on the microcontroller board. The robot can be set up in a variety of different ways, having different purposes.

Good:

Comprehensive manual with excellent programming examples available from Parallax. You will learn how each part works and how to program every aspect of the BOE-BOT as you assemble the robot.
Great introductory for using robot sensors
High quality aluminum robot chassis
You get a Basic Stamp II and a Board of Education with a BOE-BOT kit. These are useful for many different types of embedded projects, if you ever get board with the robot.
There are different ways to set up and program the BOE-BOT. This allows almost unlimited imagination and expansion using this robotic platform.

Not so good:

More parts and sensors are needed to accurately control the robot.
The BOE-BOT is currently fairly expensive, especially when comparing kits for the Arduino.
The Basic Stamp II has a ceiling for processing power. Too many add-ons will overwhelm this processor.
I like the continuous rotation servos, but DC motors offer more torque.
It uses standard AA batteries which do not last long when operating the servo motors for a period of time. The batteries can be upgraded to rechargable.