MECCANOErector – M.A.X Robotic Interactive Toy with Artificial Intelligence

So this kit was fun to assemble and easier to put together (fewer parts, less time) than the other, bigger sets.MAX's personality and the learning aspects of his programming show that the company is evolving an already great line of robot toys to be more interactive and fun for the kids it's designed for.A lot of of folks sound as if they are getting frustrated putting him together, and I admit sometimes it's easy to get screw lengths confused or parts stuck or broken. Here are a few tips:1. Sort all the different screws and nuts in something like an empty egg carton. Each instruction has a scale picture of the screw you need, so go find out what sizes each screw is and write it down. This saves hunting the bag or a pile of parts spread on a table2. I suggest this if you think your Max is broken (grinding noise and no movement): take out all the parts that have wires and hook them up like the diagram in blue section of the manual says to the brain. Max will do a self test and let you know if there are any electronic problems. If there are, do a memory wipe in the PC update software (it's a checkbox on the software page) and update again. If all the electronics work, double check your instructions (I bought a second, used set from Amazon, and it was partly assembled. The person had left the hub out of the wheels, so the wheels would freely spin and the motor would spin but not turn the wheel. I bet this happens a lot)3. Before returning, there is a great forum you can find with your favorite search engine. Join the forum with Tapatalk and then post your question or do a search. They've sold a lot of this guy, and your problems have already happened and been solved for other folks in that forum. (But please remember these people don't work for the company, they're just helpful people like me. :) )4. Contact SpinMaster Tech support if you think you have something broken or are stuck. The people are friendly and will send parts if they are missing.

Received this today and finished the build in about 7 hours (with a few short breaks). This is a fantastic robot. We are having a lot of fun with Max already. Really good voice recognition...a bit of a surprise how sophisticated he is in this price range. Here are some problems a lot of people are having that are not defects, but not understanding how to use the instruction booklet as well as some problems understanding the wiring. I see photos of wires too short , etc. Not so. First the criticism that manual is no help in assembly because of too many screws and no way to tell which goes where. On each page of the manual is a photo or illustration of the parts to be assembled and the screws used and where they are placed by size. If you notice in the illustrations there is a drawing of the screw to be used and it is 1 to 1 scale. Just measure each screw right on the drawing...can't go wrong. It helps to separate the screws when you start into groups that are alike (I used plastic throw away cups). Now as to the wiring...the servo for the 'claw' has 2 wires that come from it. You will only use the long one which connects to the head servo short wire. The other wire (short one) is not used. Also, the 2 motors used for the wheels ...both again have 2 wires. Only one of them uses both wires. Check the manual to make sure which one. It will plug into the other motor connector, while the extra wire (short) goes to nothing. Now as to the brain. Build the robot. Make sure and label your wires 1-4 to connect to the back 'brain' module. Makes it a lot easier later to reconnect. Go to the website and download the program for Mac or PC to you computer. Plug in the brain module to your computer via USB. When the program is downloaded, click on it to activate it (you will see a shortcut on your desktop). A screen will open to reveal a simple interface panel. Select the downloads you want on the right. To the center bottom is a down load button. Just push it and wait a couple of minutes as it downloads to the brain box. It shows progress and when completed. Just close the program and unplug Max's brain. Your ready to go.

Difficult to put together, it took my husband and 10 year old son about 8 hours to assemble only to find the power charger did not charge in Australia! Beware of power adaptor if purchasing from overseas, as I purchased online from USA and reside in Australia and the power charger did not work, Doh! My fault, I Should have thought it through more. Amazon promptly credited $50 to put towards an adaptor for us. Great customer service from Amazon! however it took 2 weeks to get USA->AUS adaptor shipped over from USA. A long wait for my son to play with his Christmas gift. Meccano Erector MAX now works well and is a great addition to our family.