Review of Keyestudio Smart Robot Arm Kit: ESP32 (FKS003)

Review by Dr Jennifer Martay
The Keyestudio Smart Robot Arm Kit has 4 servos to allow the robot arm to rotate along its base and the end effector to move up/down, extend/retract, and open/shut. These motions can be controlled via a remote control, a phone, a laptop, or a joystick (my personal favorite way to control the robot arm). The robot arm can either be interactively used (ie, it immediately does each action you request as you request it) or you can pre-program up to 10 locations and then have the robot arm cycle through those 10 positions in a loop (similar to pick-and-place in manufacturing).
This kit is similar to but a huge improvement over Keyestudio's previous Robot Arm kit ( • Review of Keyestudio 4... . The kit can now use AA batteries in addition to 18650 batteries. The connections at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist have bearings and are now smoother to move. Both sides of the end effector gripper also line up - although sometimes there is still a gap between the sides, which ideally would be improved in any future versions.
Uses Arduino IDE code provided free online.
Highly recommend for anyone interested in robotics, manufacturing, electronic kits, or mechatronics!
A more detailed review including the code will be posted here soon.