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3D Robotics

Let's start an official ArduRover project

Posted by Chris Anderson on January 29, 2011 at 11:00am

3689386931?profile=originalInspired by John Arne's post, I got a Redcat Rockslide, which is totally cool and a great robotics platform. As you can see, it's really easy to add a mounting platform for electronics (that's APM with GPS and Xbee mounted above) and there's LOADS of room. You could even have it carry a laptop if you wanted. BTW, that's the 1/8 size Redcat shown above, which is $236. I think the 1/10 size Redcat would probably be just as good for most uses, and it's just $159. [Update: the 1:10 isn't big enough. See this comparison]

I've registered the ArduRover name, and am now just looking for the best starting point to modify the APM code for ground rovers. Since James Goppert is part of the APM dev team, we'll probably start with his rover code, which you can see at work here. But if others have code or sensor additions to the basic APM set that would be good to add to a rover, this is the place to discuss and share.

 

Ideally, we'll get this done in time for the Sparkfun AVC contest, on the hope that APM can have a decent chance of placing in all of the categories--ground, plane and quad. Which would be awesome.

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  • Stefan Barlow January 31, 2011 at 9:32am

    I was thinking about doing as well, I found these to be a good low-cost platform to start with but they might be too fast.  I cannot find video of them going at a slow speed.  They are about $129. 

     

    http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=ECX1100

    http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=ECX2000

     

  • Mike January 31, 2011 at 9:04am
    Speed & navigation suggestion: replace motor with spur gearhead motor with digital encoders for mapping. Not saying the following is the actual suggested motor replacement but as an example of what is possible. Also, the link has nice image of the digital encoder installed and gives idea of approximate vehicle speed by wheel diameter. Other motor options are available. To assist further, here is vehicle speed / RPM / wheel diameter calculator from Lynxmotion.
    Lynxmotion - Gear Head Motor - 7.2vdc 50:1 175rpm (6mm shaft)
    Gear Head Motor - 7.2vdc 50:1 175rpm (6mm shaft)
  • Knuckles904 January 30, 2011 at 5:29pm
    Kinect's a great idea, no need for a laptop tho. Lots of embedded systems can use the kinect now. Anything that can run ROS can as a drop in sensor. I'd see something like a beagleboard being a good place to go if a kinect is desired
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson January 30, 2011 at 9:44am
    Johann, please give us a mini review when it shows up. The rock crawlers are great for off-road robotics, given how stable they are and they run at the right speed for full environmental sensing. But on an asphalt course like Sparkfun, where there are few obstacle, something like a faster monster truck could be a better answer.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland January 30, 2011 at 9:04am
    Johann: The low geared crawler setup draws almost nothing. Less then 200w at full throttle and much, much less at cruising/exploring speed. I power the entire crawler system using a single 3S 5000mah lipo and would estimate at least 2h of operation with room to spare.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland January 30, 2011 at 8:40am

    I just spent over an hour exploring my neighborhood. It is fascinating to see everything anew from a low to the ground perspective. Discovering nooks and corners I never bothered having a proper look at before.

     

    The trip ended with a proper roll over with three complete turns breaking the UHF pcb antenna mount. My bad, the hill did not look that steep from the camera wide angle. But it shows that we need to look into how to best mount and protect the equipment. Some kind of flexible spring mount for the antennas etc.

  • Developer
    Jani Hirvinen January 30, 2011 at 6:37am

    Mounting plates, sonar brackets etc will be made with cnc routers and laser cut. If people have few other good frame candidates on their mind. We could acquire few of them and make different mounting plates for those. 

     

    Both redcat frames will be supported at least.

     

    @Johan, that frame is a beauty too ..

  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland January 30, 2011 at 6:17am
    Chris: I am using a 3S lipo on mine. Not been a problem so far, except for the noisy fan.
  • John Hutchinson January 30, 2011 at 2:25am
    I'm trying to get a better idea of scale. How long is it overall? Do you think it could climb stairs? And I can't find anyone who sells them in the UK :-(
  • Mathias January 30, 2011 at 1:58am

    thats awesome!!

     

    a hybrid where you control the wheel steering and yaw of the copter with the left stick left/right and with the right stick you control the cars accelerator/brake and the copter front/back/sideways. left stick front/back stays for copter up/down. would be great!

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