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Writer's pictureraspibotics

OpenRedRover - Build your own mini mars Rover! (Introdction)

Updated: May 12, 2020

Welcome to the final version of my rocker bogie robot project. Since this is open source, you will be able to find all of the available resources on Github. (This blog post is the start of the documentation progress, everything is very much a work in progress!)


The Robot has a fully operational differential system which means that one wheel stays on the ground at all times, active steering controlled by six servos and is almost entirely 3D printed.

 

How the design evolved


The original design was made using acrylic plastic, and although this made for a great building material, the design was just too big and clunky. Plus, it couldn't steer!

So, I began experimenting with servos and opted for a more traditional mas inspired design.



The beginnings of a servo steering system.

The small SG90 micro 9g servos worked brilliantly and I was able to turn perfectly! The design was still a bit top heavy though...

Looks like it's on stilts!

So i had a bit of a rethink and decided to make the rockers more streamlined and shallower.

Perfect!

This design was the best out of all i had tested, Perfect! The SG90 servos combined with micro metal gearmotors and pimoroni moon buggy wheels gave me a nice look and good performance from the robot.



 

I want to build one!


This is just the start of the long documentation process and i hope to make a detailed build guide in the future. However, the raw STL files are available at https://github.com/raspibotics/OpenRedRover if you want to have a look and i will leave a parts list below.


  • Raspberry Pi

  • Piconzero HAT (Highly recommended to make controlling everything easy)

  • A couple of power banks (To power the Picon and the Pi)

  • 6x SG90 9g micro servos

  • 6x micro metal gearmotors (100:1 Recommended)

  • 6x Pimoroni Moon Buggy wheels

  • M4 nuts and bolts

  • Modesty block spacers (Or you can print the spacer file off)

  • Access to a 3D printer

  • 2x - 200x120mm sheets of acrylic/wood to make a chassis.


IN THE MEANTIME WHILE DOCUMENTATION IS A WORKING PROGRESS, DO NOT HESITATE TO DM ME ON TWITTER OR LEAVE A MESSAGE.



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