Before we build our real robot we need to prototype (try out) some of the ideas for parts and strategies we will use in the real bot. Fortunately we have an existing robot that has a chassis pretty much perfect for trying out ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The test robot has a 3d-printed chassis with grid holes on its front and lid that make it easy to attach test parts for various projects. It has 4 brushed motors driving Mecanum<\/a> (omnidirectional) wheels, and is controlled from a ps4 controller (using Approximate Engineering’s<\/a> software drivers on a Raspberry Pi Zero). Though not relevant to this particular test, it has a TFT display and a NeoPixel ring on its back end that provide a lot of operational information on commands and battery \/ system status. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because we want to eventually try to make this work autonomously, we also included mounts for some sensors we want to try out. They’re shown in the video, but we left them out of the OpenSCAD design code we show below, because they are really fodder (pun intended…) for another story. And because we haven’t actually done anything with them yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, on to the good news. It works. Mostly. A little bit. Sort of… The prototype did its job and pointed out the flaws in our concept. As a proof-of-concept, it was a success. We’ll fix the oops-es and carry on with this as the strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n