Built from some COTS items, as well as custom-built items. The drive train needs to be re-worked as well as a lot of final work. The first pic is after assembly of some COTS parts mated with the custom drive train.
Everything currently has its own independent power source making the unit heavy and some what clunky.
Communication and control is via an Ethernet cross-over cable to my laptop running Parallels/Win7 and a custom-built VB.Net application that drives the rover. (Pictured)
Contents:
- Custom-built (from COTS parts) twin-motor track chassis
- ArduinoMEGA
- 8 motor controllers
- 2 color CCD board cameras (one at arm's end - not pictured)
- RTC/temp/accelerometers/bump sensors/etc
- Primary camera is mounted up high on pan-tilt mount with 4 10mm ultra-bright LEDs for illumination and also is surrounded with IR LEDs for use in dark locations
-Primary camera has added laser pointer for 2nd camera coordinated viewing
V2 in progress
Details
Rework will contain the following:
- Rock-crawler chassis w/ ESC (from RC car/truck)
- Updated roverOS
- Updated GROVER control application
- GPS location/logging to be added
- First attempt at autopilot
Components
2×
DFRobot MiniQ Motor Set
MiniQ motor, gearbox set, with wheels and tires
2×
DFRobot Tank Upper Platform
Chassis parts
1×
Arduino MEGA 2560
1×
Misc. Lexan
Fabricated parts all made from Lexan
Wow, time flies when we have to worry about other things other than our hack projects!
Stay tuned... I am in the design phase of the next two generations of the rover. Gen2 suffered from some chassis-based mechanical issues. The new chassis platform will arrive tomorrow, so the modding can begin.
Gen 3 - ArduinoMEGA and Arduino UNO working in master/slave mode - Upgraded chassis based on R/C vehicle - More completely coded than Gen2
Gen 4 - Potential items of interest - Raspberry PI running the host OS, providing navigation, communication - Network of arduinos controlling sensors and drive functionality
I am currently looking for individuals that can assist with some power calculations and power-related schematics. Here's what I have: several devices that all require separate battery power. As of right now, nothing on the ROV will require anything above 6v to power. I would be interested to see if someone could assist me in designing a circuit that would allow me to use one rechargeable battery pack instead of multiple iterations of the 4xAA battery holders. Please contact me if you are interested in helping, or have a ready-made solution in mind!
Updated version of this project coming shortly!!