I am helping with my friends first robot! He primaily wanted tractor treads and an Arduino "because he heard they were good" ( I didn't disagree with him. :-)
We decided on an inexpensive kit was a good starting point and then it can be expanded later.
Our choice was the BrutusBot and electronics package (looks like I get to solder 2 boards, lucky me...). It was fairly cheap.
He seems good in the programming and mechanical areas, he isn't so good with the electronics part (he does fine with some guidance).
Has anybody around built the Solarbotics ButusBot (basically a small treaded vehicle) and the electronics package???? Anything I should know? (I was told about using lots of grease in the gears)
Oh, by the way, did I tell you he was 95, sharp as a tack and loves the web and his (fairly nice) computer.