Elegoo Smart Robot Car · V4 · Session 3

Take Control: Remote & App

Today you are the driver! First you'll steer your car with the little handheld remote, then you'll drive it from a phone or tablet — and even peek through the car's own camera to see the world the way it does. 🤖📱

30 min Beginner Ages 8+

What we'll do today 🎮

You've met your car and built it — now let's take the wheel. There's no coding today (that's coming later!). Instead you'll use two ready-made remote controls that ELEGOO already put inside your car: the tiny IR remote from the kit, and a free phone app called ElegooKit.

The best part? Your car has a camera, and the app lets you watch a live video of whatever the car is looking at — like a little robot's-eye view. By the end of today you'll be zooming your car around the room from across the room. Let's drive!

Already done Sessions 1 & 2? Great — that means your car is built, charged, and switches on. If it doesn't turn on, pop back to Session 1 for charging and the power switch before you start here.

What you need

Let's take control! 🕹️

1

Drive with the IR remote

Your car already has a driving program loaded at the factory, so the remote works right out of the box. Switch the car ON, set it on the floor, then pick up the remote and point its front straight at the car. Press the arrow buttons to drive: Forward (up), Backward (down), Turn Left, and Turn Right. You're driving a robot! 🏎️

The IR remote with the arrow buttons labeled Forward, Turn Left, Backward and Turn Right, plus the mode keys for Line-tracking, Stop, Obstacle-avoidance, Auto-follow, and the number keys that change threshold and speed
What each remote button does — from the ELEGOO Smart Robot Car V4.0 User Manual, "Control the Smart Robot Car Using the IR Remote Control" (p.26).
Remote not working? Pull the tab! Brand-new remotes have a thin plastic tab sticking out of the back. Pull it all the way out so the battery can touch — the remote won't do a thing until you do.
The other buttons are "modes." The keys for Line-tracking, Stop, Obstacle-avoidance, and Auto-follow make the car drive by itself. Try the Obstacle-avoidance key, then wave your hand in front — but don't worry about those today. We'll dig into self-driving in a later session.
2

Get the app, then flip the switch to "cam"

Now for the phone! On your phone or tablet, open the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android), search for "ElegooKit", and install it — it's free. While that downloads, look at your car's top board (the IO expansion board) and find the little upload ⇄ cam slide switch. Slide it over to "cam". That tells the car to turn on its camera and Wi-Fi so your phone can find it.

The ElegooKit app icon with a robot on it, and a diagram of the upload-cam slide switch on the car's board toggled to the cam side
Install "ElegooKit" from the App Store / Google Play, then slide the upload-cam switch to "cam" — from the ELEGOO V4 User Manual, "Control the Car With App" (p.28).
Where's the switch? It's a tiny black slider on the top board with the words upload and cam printed next to it. For driving with the app it lives on "cam." (When we start coding later, it goes back to "upload" — but not today.)
3

Connect your phone to the car

With the car switched on and its switch on "cam," go to your phone's Wi-Fi settings. Look for a network named "ELEGOO-123" (your number will be different) and join it. Then open the ElegooKit app, choose "Smart Robot Car Kit V4.0", and tap the little Wi-Fi "connect" icon in the top-right corner. When it says "Device connected successfully!" — you're in! 🎉

Phone Wi-Fi screen showing the ELEGOO-123 network and the Smart Robot Car Kit V4.0 device, and the ElegooKit menu with Remote control, Programming, Build and DIY buttons
Join the car's "ELEGOO-123" Wi-Fi, then connect in ElegooKit and pick "Remote control" — from the ELEGOO V4 User Manual, "Control the Car With App" (p.29).
Every car has its own name. The "ELEGOO-123" number is unique to your car's camera — your neighbor's car will show a different number. Double-check you joined your car, not a classmate's!
Stay close — within about 10 m (30 feet). The car talks to your phone over its own little Wi-Fi. Wander too far and the connection drops and the video freezes. Keep your car in the same room and not too far away.
4

Drive from your phone

In ElegooKit, tap "Remote control." You'll see an on-screen joystick — push it in the direction you want the car to go, and the car follows! Push up to go forward, down to back up, left and right to turn. It's just like the handheld remote, but on your screen and with no need to point it at the car. 🕹️

Go gentle at first. Push the joystick just a little to start, so your car creeps instead of rockets across the room. You can always push harder once you've got the hang of steering.
5

See through its eyes 👀

Here's the magic part. Because you flipped the switch to "cam," the app shows a live video from the camera on the front of your car — this is called FPV (First-Person View). Drive around while watching the screen and you'll see exactly what your robot sees! You can also rotate the camera from the app to look up, down, and around without moving the car.

Fun mission: close your eyes to the room and drive using only the camera view on your phone. Can you steer your car to a toy on the floor just by looking through its "eyes"?
If the video gets choppy, you've probably drifted too far away or there's a wall in the way. Walk closer to your car and it should smooth back out.

If something's not working

The IR remote doesn't do anything

First, pull the thin plastic tab out of the back of the remote — new remotes ship with one blocking the battery. Then make sure the car is switched ON, point the front of the remote right at the car, and get a little closer. The remote uses invisible light, so it needs a clear line straight to the car.

No "ELEGOO-XXX" Wi-Fi shows up on my phone

This almost always means the camera isn't switched on. Check the upload ⇄ cam slide switch on the car's board is pushed all the way to "cam," and that the car is turned on. Still nothing? Find the tiny reset button on the camera module, press it once, wait a few seconds, and look in your Wi-Fi list again.

The app won't connect to the car

Make sure your phone is joined to the car's own "ELEGOO-XXX" Wi-Fi network first (in your phone's Wi-Fi settings), and that you picked your car's number — not a classmate's. Then, back in ElegooKit, tap the Wi-Fi "connect" icon in the top-right corner until it says "Device connected successfully!" If it's stuck, switch the car off and on and try once more.

The video is laggy or keeps freezing

You're probably too far from the car or there's a wall between you. Stay within about 10 m (30 feet) and in the same room. A low battery can also cause it — if the car's been driving a while, give it a charge.

Level up 🚀

You can drive your car by remote and by phone, and you've seen the world through its camera — awesome work! So here's what's next: your car can drive, but next you'll make it drive ITSELF and dodge things, all on its own with no one steering. Ready to build a robot that thinks for itself?