So, you wish to construct a robotic — the place do you begin? Reinventing the wheel isn’t an incredible concept till you will have expertise, which implies you’ll wish to search for an current equipment or design. However there are such a lot of to select from and it may be onerous to know what to pick. As a result of we’re followers of DIY builds and studying by way of hands-on expertise, we expect Mark Makies’s Roverling Mk II is an choice price .
Mark constructed the unique Roverling utilizing largely elements salvaged from an outdated 3D printer. That could be a neat option to upcycle outdated elements, however the Roverling wasn’t very sensible and it will have been troublesome for different to breed. The Roverling Mk II will be constructed utilizing 3D-printed elements and off-the-shelf {hardware}, and Mark designed it to discover his massive bush property in Australia.
The Roverling Mk II isn’t polished by any means. In reality, it’s fairly tough: only a body and a few wheels, with a bunch of elements bolted on. However that’s a part of the allure, as a result of it is a platform to experiment with and construct upon. And that isn’t to say that it isn’t effectively geared up. As outfitted in line with Mark’s weblog submit, it accommodates numerous nice {hardware}:
A GNSS receiver, an IMU, a 2.4GHz six-channel RC receiver, two drive motors (every with quadrature encoders and present sensors), a sonar rangefinder, a LoRa module (communicates with LoRa base station), and a Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B paired with three Waveshare RP2040-Zero growth boards to manage all of it.
The body is a 3D-printed affair, designed in FreeCAD for utility over magnificence with a bunch of mounting holes for the {hardware} and wheels. These wheels have a really rudimentary spring suspension system and massive knobby tires. Mixed with the substantial “elevate,” that is nice for driving over tough terrain. And it has a servo-actuated steering rack (versus differential steering), which is extra dependable on free surfaces.
Roverling Mk II’s software program and firmware are a bit obscure, as there are quite a lot of totally different elements speaking to one another. Check out Mark’s block diagram to get a way of that:
However all the code is obtainable and anybody constructing a Roverling Mk II can decide and select what they wish to swimsuit their utility. Mark even programmed a reasonably nifty GUI with every kind of performance, like mapping, digital camera views, compass headings, pitch and roll gauges, positional coordinate recording, and extra.
