Try changing the min distance to 10 and see if that allows it to move forward. Most of these ping sensors don't have a standard for measurement. Also it may be a good idea to just try driving it with the Movement Panel without the obstacle avoidance on to check your servos are performing the way you wanted to.

changing the distance did not change its issue. it still goes in a circle and now keeps the arms locked behind it. Thinking it may need a larger place to roam.

It might be power related because those arm servos look like they're locked last the threshold. If servos are set to move to a position behind their limit, they will draw major current. Then when the modified servos are turned on, the distance sensor might not have enough power to work correctly. So what you're getting is that behavior.

Try disabling the arms and use only the modified servos.

It's common practice when trouble shooting to eliminate part by part to identify the problem source.

we made the changes as suggested and the robot still spins in a circle. With the arms disabled and in a outdoor setting the robot did move forward more often but kept turning to the right and would fall forward when stopped to change direction (we corrected this by adding counter-weights to the back). As the term is closing, we were told to take the robot apart and turn in the kits so we'll have to wait until next term to try again else.