Firstly Happy New year one and all!

So over the Christmas period i was able to find the time to complete my R2 droid, followed all the instructions extremely carefully regarding wiring up, handling of PCBs etc. Loaded the batteries in the pack (ensuring the master power switch was set to OFF), connected/disconnected the charger plug etc... then came the time. Hit the on button and BOOM, he jerked forward, rotated his head both ways, light flashed and he beeped as he should! HOORAY!!

Except this is where my problems seemed to start:

1. there is an error during the start up phase - it tries to close the linkage arms whilst it whistles at the end, everything else goes as it should (jolt forward, head rotate both ways, flash light and whistle). The light also remains purple and doesn't turn blue.

2. light saber does not work, it whistles to acknowledge it but no movement, its the same via the button and the app.

3. the projector does not work at all, there is sound but no image.

4. It also occasionally goes totally beserk (running off, shaking head, sometimes smacking head really fast side to side), even worse as soon as you connect the app, BUT go into the app settings and turn off voice control its fine.

5. try to record a video and it just smacks its head around randomly, making videos very difficult to record. This appears to be more a control issue with the app rather than a problem with the droid its self

So yeah a fair few problems. If anyone is able to help i would be very grateful.

It drives fine on both manual and video mode. All commands works as they should (apart from saber and projector issues as mentioned). Taking still pics is fine (but potato quality). Patrol mode also works really well in a large enough space - it avoids things really well. Tested in my kitchen its great, in my living room (that is a bit more cluttered with furniture, Christmas stuff etc) it gets confused quite easily, not a problem though as thats just my space not a problem with the droid. The projector and light saber issues appear to be re occurring problems that a lot of people are having.

Some info relating my droid that is important for trouble shooting:
- my batteries are Samsung 30Q purchased from 18650.co.uk.

- In the last few days since completing i have removed the light saber tube and re tested - it works as it should on test.

- I also removed the projector to test and that also works projecting the image as it should.

- Every socket has been checked for bent pins and all is good, all sockets are firmly pushed in until they 'click' in place the correct way around, yet the problems persist.

- App is connected via direct wi-fi (it wont recognize my phone in local mode as its 5gHz and im unsure how to switch to 2.4gHz) using samsung galaxy s8+ with the most up to date app version

Sorry for such a long post. If anyone is able to help i would be grateful.
p.s did anyone get the flash gordon reference?

thank you for your quick responses.

All the plugs/leads have been checked during my many times of stripping over the last couple of days (been troubleshooting following many of the suggestions from peoples problems noted on here first hoping i could solve the issues) and all seems fine - plugs all seem solid on the ends of the wires. if there is a bad lead its impossible for me to know which one as there are so many and i have no way to check them, plus i dont have x ray vision to see if the contacts make good connections inside the plugs.

as i mentioned, i removed the saber tube from the dome, connected to the test boards and it works fine moving up and down, stopping at each end. plug into the droid and it doesn't work, i get whistles from the droid that he received the command, but no power is going to the tube to do anything. this is exactly the same with the projector - remove and test all good, plug into droid and no image only sound. do it too many times he shakes his head as if to say no which is quite funny. i wonder if the small distribution board in the dome has a fault on mine?

as for background noise, there was none. tv turned off, house silent. the only noises are coming from all the motors in the droid its self. as soon as i switch off the voice control via the app its all fine. as though the mic is super sensitive to white noise from the motors. it ignores any commands shouted loudly at it (the neighbors must be wondering what on earth im shouting at) the yellow/green light on the rear flashes indicating it is in voice control mode until i de activate it and everything calms down.

i dont understand why i should need to use something with a larger screen considering this is a mobile phone app and i own one of the largest screen phones on today's market. if this is the case then the app is not fit for purpose. the only other device i have is an old (around 10yrs old) samsung tablet but it dosent run the correct OS version for the app - and i aint spending a couple of hundred more just to buy a tablet for this thing.

the issues with video recording start as soon as i hit the video record button. dont even touch any other control it just starts throwing its head around smacking the end stops at full speed.

ill try to upload some videos of everything in the near future. not easy to control the app on one device and hold another recording video.

as for the issue during startup where it goes through the sequence but also tries to retract the linkage arms on the front of the body whilst whistling at the end of the start up - what is this?

as mentioned, driving rc in both video and manual mode work beautifully along with every command (dance, shake head, make sounds etc...) and patrol mode works well too. just the saber and projector not doing anything. it seems odd too that when


ill try to upload some videos of everything in the near future. not easy to control the app on one device and hold another recording video. i shall also check all connections again to make sure. seems weird to be doing something extra in the start up sequence (most faults i have read here so far miss things instead)

Replacement mcu ordered.

Had another play today, and the issues whilst recording video seem to have subsided. I think it maybe got its knickers in a twist?

It still errors during the start up trying to move the linkage arms, saber refuses to work and the projector fails to do anything, so hopefully replacing the mcu will fix these issues. Other than that everything else works beautifully as mentioned.

Ill try to post a video link soon

just an update. after almost 3 weeks a replacement MCU and Dome Distribution board have arrived. i will update further progress when i have the time to dismantle and replace items. hope these fix my light saber/projector problems. still waiting for issue 37 to come into stock (the saber tube micro switches)