Ive been playing with it a little bit, and if i move the board up about 3", everything works great... thats what makes me think its an interference problem instead of a "low voltage" thing... i would prefer to keep eveything as close as possible, so its not top heavy..

my sidekick still isnt working, so i have been spending most of my time on it, but when i get it going again, this robot should be driving around my house all the time...