i-Sobot crash & burn

[GirLuffer]

I'm prolly going to get one, but I dont really want something like this to happen. Is it possible to fix it yourself? And if not, can you send it to the store and they can fix it for you maybe?

[kymhorsell]

These days the things are pretty cheap, so there's not much damage if the thing croaks.

But there's not much chance of fixing it yourself. The wiring makes it hard to disassemble and the servos are custom, anyway.

Finally, the maker apparently prohibits the store or third parties from getting into the repair act. At least, that's what my seller told me when I tried to get it fixed under the 30-day warranty.

The company (tried the US front) didn't answer any emails.

So it's still broken. :(

[GirLuffer]

Ok,thanks for helping out. ^^ Too bad that yours is broken... what happened to your's leg to make it that way?

[kymhorsell]

Nothing special. I played with it a bit for the first couple of weeks I had it, and it just locked up a servo. It happened over a couple of days, so I didn't notice it at first. As I say in the blurb "it started falling over a lot" when first switched on -- when it tries to do a little dance and bows at the end. I've heard from a couple of other people they've had similar problems, but sometimes it can be fixed by just adjusting a screw. Mine didn't.

[rfountai]

Sorry this happened to ya, man. Hope you can resolve it eventually. Still, thx for posting. It's good to see this so the rest of us can recognize if, heaven forbid, it happens to one of our I-Sobots.

[nogard888899]

lol he fell flat on his face

[kymhorsell]

Touch wood this is the only servo on about a dozen robots that's blown for the past 12 m.

The problem with the isobot is the servos are so small and unusual, and the wiring is integrated inside the limbs, it's almost impossible to repair yourself.

I've been able to hack other bots that have standard servos and "wiring on the outside" fine.

[trentfarmer]

Ok heres the story. I tried to use the hex driver to tighten up the leg joints but the hexoagonal wouldn't fit into the joint? This means that tomy didnt even put the right size screw into the leg joint. So i had to get a pair of clippers and tighten it using that. It totally wrecked the paint on the tiny screw and deformed the outside but the screw tightened and i was able to get the leg working again. All because tomy put in the wrong size screw!

[kymhorsell]

No, I didn't find any problem with the hex key. The screws don't fit very snugly with the key, but the key turns them OK. As far as I can tell, the key supplied is no worse than a standard (i.e. larger :) Allen wrench/bolt.

[trentfarmer]

Guys bit of advice here. I used the hexagonal driver to adjust the servo motor in the isobot's thigh leg and the servo unlocked itself and is now working. The small device is included with the isobot and looks like a small golf club. It works perfectly now. Its actually a lifesaver so make sure you try it. Pity they don't have a manual to tell people this included with the isobot.

[kymhorsell]

Good luck for you. But as I mentioned on the vid, that's the first thing I tried and it isn't the problem. The servo itself is intermittently stuck. Even when I back the screw off completely, I can feel the thigh servo is not always giving the full range of motion.

[lickedchrome]

Kymhorsell,

Is this something you've made up your self becuse the i-sobot is tilted in every camera shot so that the gyro stabilliser/s is upset so avasive action program kicks in ?,

this is guess work ,I was about to buy one.

You'd expect with that cost they'd design it with bigger servos in high strain areas (hips/shoulders,knees and toes what)

[kymhorsell]

The robot is shown standing and falling over in some shots, so your impression r.e. "every camera shot" is obviously not correct.

At some points in the vid the bot is held horizontally so you can see there is a diff between how the left side and right side move.

Obviously, one of the hip servos is defunct.

Your faith in what the manufacturer would do if they weren't trying to make money is touching. :)

[trentfarmer]

exact same thing happened to the isobot i got just 2 days ago. The servo motor on the bottom right leg joint just froze up. In my opinion isobot is just not worth the money.

[kymhorsell]

Good luck trying to claim on the limited warranty. :}

I kept getting the run-around from the American I-Tomy people. Their email never responded after the their first reply "go to the free call number". And the seller claimed they had been warned off getting involved with customer complaints.

[kymhorsell]

Interesting. I have the opposite experience. With the RS they *still* are running OK (maybe a button on a controller is broken, but the 'bots are good) but the i-Sobot broken pretty early. My problem was the non-response on the "limited warranty".

[Theleadzeppelin06]

thank you for the heads up,I was about to order an i-sobot soon, but I'll see how common these kinds of problems are.