Community favourite chassis?

Posted by r4space on May 15, 2018 at 4:02pm

Hi all,

I've built a bunch of quads and wanted to try a rover from a quad leftovers.  Only spec would be large enough for PixHawk1, Pi and some sensors.

From the docs it looks like I should find a RC truck and strip its hood and add a mounting plate.  I was wondering if their were any particular models that the community really likes (i.e there's lots of parts etc out eg available 3D printable/CNCable mounting plate say...)?

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Replies

  • Ray Quintana June 5, 2018 at 2:16pm

    I think it boils down to the code is all optimized to be used with RC components.  So 3 wire standard RC outputs from the Pix.  If you are using a robot with a motor driver I think the signals are not the same and you need to translate them somehow.

  • r4space May 21, 2018 at 8:51am

    Thanks, could you elaborate on why/what the difficulty would be?  Docs say Rover is implemented most commonly as 2WD, there's much more space available for mounting electronics on a robot chassis, and the system is easier to maintain (less parts) so that looked like the easier option...?

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson May 19, 2018 at 4:05pm

    I'd go with a basic RC car, which is much easier to integrate with Pixhawk than a robot chassis like the Adafruit one. Here's a list of cheap ones that we recommend at our DIY Robocars sister site

    Build a car. - Donkey Car
  • r4space May 19, 2018 at 12:37pm

    Hey thanks!

    The Traxxas just seems rather overpriced for a starting point?   I was thinking of starting with literally just something like a adafruit rover chassis (plus a motor driver) which given I already have the Pixhawk, receiver, PSU, cables, etc from old quads would only cost me ~$30... - but am I missing something glaringly obvious? :)


    Just joined the FB group too!

    Mini 3-Layer Round Robot Chassis Kit - 2WD with DC Motors
    Does this guy look familiar? Of course it does! It's our Black, 3-Layer Round Robot Chassis Kit from AdaBox002!This kit gives you everything you…
  • Ray Quintana May 19, 2018 at 11:35am

    A lot of people like the Traxxas ready to run trucks, they have plenty of power and are large enough to carry additional electronics.  Also ground clearance is better on trucks than it is on cars, it makes the rover a bit more forgiving to learn on if it wanders off path.  I used an Axial SCX-10 as my first rover.  I would recommend starting with a fully functional car with a minimum 3 channel radio, skid steer (tracks) takes more custom work in my experience.  If you start with something that works then it will be easier to diagnose it when it doesn't work, rather than trying to figure out if the issue is your car or your rover-izing of the car.  I'm in a good Facebook group dedicated to APM rovers if you are interested in meeting more fellow rover builders.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1757838071102717/?ref=bookmarks

    APM rover builders
    I decided to make a group for those of us building APM or Pixhawk powered ground rovers. For buying and selling please see the APM rover Trading Pos…
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