First prototype components research by Tim - ImmersiveSystems/net-robo GitHub Wiki

Chassis:

Option 1: Dagu Wild Thumper chassis $249

  • Independent suspension,
  • differential drive,
  • 6-wheel drive,
  • lots of torque, perfect for uneven terrain,
  • 7.2 V,
  • 7 or 3 km/h,
  • 16.5" × 12" × 5",
  • 11 lb load. chassis

Option 2: Lynxmotion Aluminum A4WD1 Rover Kit $219

  • The A4WD1 aluminum robot includes 4 gear head motors 12vdc 30:1 200rpm (6mm shaft) (GHM-01 - RB-Lyn-45)
  • A powerful development platform (no electronics)
  • Chassis measures 8" wide, 9" 9.75" long and 4" high (approx)
  • Overall dimensions including wheels are 12" x 13.5" x 4.75"
  • The robots are capable of carrying 5lbs of payload
  • 4-wheel drive, 12" x 13.5" x 4.75", 5 lb load

chassis 2

Option 3: 4WD Aluminium Mobile Platform – Silver $72

  • No-load speed:220rpm
  • Wheel diameter:65mm
  • Wheel width:26mm
  • Platform length:206mm
  • Platform width:200mm
  • Platform height:65mm
  • Weight:620g
  • Chassis clearance:13mm

In my opinion option 1 is preferred because of its independent suspension and its reliability. Disadvantages are power consumption, size and price. Maybe Dagu 4-wheel drive? It’s a $214

Processor Board:

Option 1: Raspberry Pi A lot of computational power, integrated videocore graphics processor, a lot of add-ons (including a camera) and most importantly a lot of tutorials, projects and documentation. For example:

WebIOPi is a fully integrated Internet of Things framework for the Raspberry Pi: Control, debug, and use your Pi's GPIO locally or remotely, from a browser or any app https://code.google.com/p/webiopi/

Option 2: BeagleBone Black Even more computational power, more modern architecture (ARMv7), can serve as a controller as well because of the amount of interfaces (92 connection points). Open hardware. Less add ons, less community and projects. Supported add-ons: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBone_Black_Capes

comparison

It’s a tough decision to make, but I think RPi is more promising mainly because of the community and amount of tutorials, manuals and peripherals (http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals). For either board we will need a monitor with HDMI port or HDMI to VGA adaptor.

Comprehensive comparison: http://makezine.com/magazine/how-to-choose-the-right-platform-raspberry-pi-or-beaglebone-black/

Motor Controller:

Depending on chassis and processer.

T'Rex Motor Controller $74 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12075 • 6V -30V operation with built in solid state power switch • Programmable with the Arduino IDE (ATMega328P, 5V @ 16MHz) • Dual FET "H" bridge rated 18A with self resetting PTC fuses • Electronic braking and current monitoring for each motor • 3-axis accelerometer provides angle and impact detection • Auto-detects RC, BlueTooth, or I2C control • Voltage translation on I2C interface • 6x Servo Outputs

Pololu Simple High-Power Motor Controller 18v15 (Fully Assembled) http://www.pololu.com/product/1376

Camera:

Raspberry Pi camera. Angle of View: 54 x 41 degrees. Possible to put cheap wide-angle lens on top http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2013/06/cheap-interchangeable-lenses-for-the-raspberry-pi-camera-module/

  • 5 megapixel
  • fixed focus lens onboard
  • 2592 x 1944 pixel static images,
  • 1080p30, 720p60 and 640x480p60/90 video

rpi camera

For wide angle we can try conference web-cams: Genius WideCam 320 /100 Degrees Ultra Wide Angle/Video Conference Webcam $22 Unknown compatibility with RPi.

  • 100 degrees ultra wide angle
  • 8MP vibrant photos
  • 3X digital zoom
  • Built-in sensitive microphone
  • Manual focus
  • Universal clip stand

wide angle camera

Pan and tilt platform for camera $30 http://www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-pan-and-tilt-kit-aluminium2.html?___store=us_en

pan and tilt

Also, an IR camera for night vision would be very cool.

Also, an overview, or 3rd person view camera would be useful and cool. In some video games you can chose to see 1st person view or 3rd person view, also an overview camera might serve as a map of the area. Plus anyone controlling a real robot would really want to see how the robot actually looks like in action.

Batteries:

Depends a lot on the motors/processor/controller we use. LiPo: light weight, high discharge rates and relatively good capacity, except the voltages increase in increments of 3.7V NiMh (nickel-metal hydride cell): rechargeable and their value (price / capacity / weight) is almost the best

OpenROV (one of the coolest BeagleBone projects) uses LiPo batteries

A battery monitoring would be useful. An article about choosing batteries: http://www.robotshop.com/blog/en/how-do-i-choose-a-battery-8-3585

Software:

Install ROS on Pi http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-and-ROS-Robotic-Operating-System/#intro http://wiki.ros.org/ROSberryPi/Setting%20up%20ROS%20on%20RaspberryPi http://www.willowgarage.com/blog/2013/06/27/getting-groovy-raspberry-pi

ROS on BeagleBone Black http://wiki.ros.org/BeagleBone

WebIOPi is a fully integrated Internet of Things framework for the Raspberry Pi: Control, debug, and use your Pi's GPIO locally or remotely, from a browser or any app https://code.google.com/p/webiopi/

Setting up a web server on RPi http://opensourcesoftwarepractice.org/Raspberry-Pi-Web-Server-With-Python/#/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Web-Server/