Troubleshooting ...

First check the icon shown at the top right of your screen - it should show a blue 'connected' symbol like this:

If it shows in black as disconnected like the one below, a connection has not been made to your robot:

In this case, click on this same symbol and in a few seconds it should connect.

If it still doesn't connect, turn your robot off and on again and check that the light goes from red to green indicating it has reconnected to the WiFi and try connecting and running the code again.

If this doesn't work, try refreshing your browser and try again.

If it still doesn't work, click on the black 'Wifi' icon on the left side and check you are connecting to the right robot. The 6-character code shown in the 'Address:' box should match the 6 character code printed in bold on your robot's label.

If this problem occurs frequently, you may have an unreliable WiFi connection. For the robot to connect reliably it needs to have a strong WiFi signal. Try connecting to the same WiFi network with another device like a phone, and look at the signal strength indicator. It should show a strong signal, ideally with the full number of 'bars'. If the signal strength doesn't show as strong, try running your robot closer to the WiFi access point, relocating the access point, or installing a new access point.

Alternatively, you could consider running Invent! in 'access point mode'. This creates it's own Wifi access point that you can connect your computer to. Note however in this mode you won't have access to the internet, but you can still use the robot on the http://code.inventblocks.com site if you have pre-loaded the site in a browser, or you are running your own offline version of this web site (contact us if you require this and we will send you a copy). You can also download offline versions of the coding tutorials for your students to use.

There might also be some useful information displayed on the 'Console' as shown below. Normally when you connect successfully you should see the message 'WebREPL connected' as shown below. If this isn't happening or you are getting error messages shown in this window, please contact us for further support.
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The most likely issue is that your computer is not connected to the same WiFi point as the Invent! robot. This is needed to use the 6-digit code. If, for instance, you have a desktop computer connected to a wired 'ethernet' connection and your robot is connecting via WiFi, you may need to enter the 'IP address' of your robot instead of using it's 6-digit code.

To find this address, turn on your robot whilst holding the button down, and release the button when the 'STAT' light is red and the robot says 'Wifi'. After a few seconds, your light should turn green as it did before, but it will also announce the 'IP address' of the robot.
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Now when connecting to your robot, enter this IP address in the box instead. It should be a series of three numbers separated by dots like this one:
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Check you only have one 'block' of code. If you have multiple blocks of code that are not connected like the example below, your code will not run as expected, because Invent! won't know which code to run in which order.

Also check through the 'logic' of your code carefully. Almost always when Invent! doesn't do what you want it to do, it's because you've told it to do the wrong thing!
Try pretending your are the computer running the code and go through it step-by-step in your head. This often helps to see what the problem is.

If your code still isn't working and you suspect a hardware problem, check that the 'low battery' light (labelled 'LOW') isn't turned on. If it is, plug your robot in using the USB cable to recharge.

Finally, if you still think your code is perfect but the hardware might be faulty, try one of the 5 in-built demo modes (see the 'Demonstrations' instructions on the Get Started page).

Your robot is designed to work on clean, flat surfaces like a desk or the supplied activity mats. It doesn't work well on carpet or on flooring that is dirty. It will also struggle to move reliably if it has to move over a surface with obstructions such as the fold in piece of paper.
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If you don't think any of these things are the problem and it still isn't going straight, have a look at the tyres. Do they look dirty? If so give them a wipe with a soft cloth, or even your fingers to remove the dirt.