Blogs

Quick and Easy Rover

Posted by John Hestness on April 4, 2012 at 8:21pm

3689451612?profile=originalIn between aircraft I built this rover.  It is a Traxxas Slash frame with a piece of 1/8" aircraft plywood on top for an electronics platform.  The plywood measures 16.5" x 6.5".  It was super easy to build.  In the next few days I will finish configuring the electronics, update and confirgure the software and test it out.  If anybody has any related tips or experiences they would like to share I would be happy to hear them.  I will post updates when I have it running.3689451723?profile=original

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  • Adam Scriven April 7, 2012 at 5:41pm

    I'm glad to see I'm not the only one thinking about the rovers. I'm currently stuck wanting an APM1 &| 2, but being unable to fully justify either yet. :))

    Some fantastic ideas on here, holy cow!

    @John Arne Birkeland: got any new video of your FPV Adventures? Have you figured out a dog-poo-detection system yet? ;)

  • Steve Warren April 7, 2012 at 5:33pm

    That is so cool.

  • Duc Phuc Tran April 7, 2012 at 3:19pm

    I game for the rover project.  I have my APM 2 ordered and waiting. :)  I am finishing up a senior capstone project using APM 1.4 and the ArudoRover code base on a Traxxas Slash.  The rover is a target drone that uses a Kinect to track and avoid projectiles. The Kinect processing uses an ATOM board that relays commands to the APM. My project team is getting the collateral together to publish.  The project ends later this month.  I had to do updates to the current ArduRover code to get it working the way I needed it.  I am willing to contribute my changes and do future development work.

    Here are some pictures of the ArduRover drone.3692390217?profile=original3692390345?profile=original3692390238?profile=original

  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland April 7, 2012 at 10:39am

    Autopilot based rovers are fun, but my advise is that everyone building a rover should try to pilot it manually using R/C and a live video link (FPV) at least once. It is great fun and also very educational as to what types of obstacle challenges the automated rover will have to face later on. It is amazing how different everything seems when looking up from a ground view. The neighborhood where you though you knew every inch becomes totally different, and you can explore for hours without getting bored.

  • John Hestness April 6, 2012 at 5:02pm
    Here is what I would like to happen with the Rover Project.
    Phase 1
    It becomes fully functional outdoors, like the planes and coptors it can navigate with GPS or dead reckoning or video and telemetry feedback.  This will require tweaking but not rewriting code.  It should also be brought up to current platform standards.  There is a possibility of starting to add some obstacle avoidance behavior or rudimentary manipulators.  All of this could be done with the currently used on board processors.
    Phase 2
    It becomes functional indoors, this means no GPS signal and the accuracy to navigate in a complicated changing environment, it probably means using SLAM techniques and additional processors, although still easily in the DIY realm, I think.
    Phase 3
    Add telepresence (modify the GCS to work over the Internet with video or add a web cam), and build a self recharging station.  Now you can log on to the rover at home while you are somewhere else and check to see if the window is open, stove is on, etc.  It could go inside or outside almost anywhere if you tie it into your home control system.
    In summary I want a truly useful domestic robot for the price of a typical DIYdrone.   I am sure this would be just the beginning. 
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 5, 2012 at 2:30pm

    Dave, none really in terms of performance, but it's cheaper, smaller easier to use and more physically reliable. Also someday APM 1 will be retired. 

  • Dave April 5, 2012 at 2:25pm

    What would be the benefits to using APM2 over the original in a rover?

  • Rob_Lefebvre April 5, 2012 at 12:25pm

    Yeah, I'm also really interested in helping, but I fear what the project needs (integration with the latest advanced code) is beyond my skills.

    I am starting to run out of ideas for features that I am capable of implementing in Arducopter, so maybe I'll have a look at this.  Porting features from arducopter to ardurover might be something I could handle.

  • Anish April 5, 2012 at 12:22pm
    @chris I am yet to get in touch with James about errors from last attemp at compilation. Btw I have some interest but not keen on taking ownership :(
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 5, 2012 at 11:16am

    I chatted with James Goppert, who created the ArduRover code. He's swamped with other projects and would love a team to take this over and update it for APM 2 and the current Mission Planner. Any takers? I'm sure he can give repository access to anybody who's up for picking this up. 

    arktools/ardupilotone
    A universal autopilot system for ArduPilotMega. Contribute to arktools/ardupilotone development by creating an account on GitHub.
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