Minibots

To address the high cost of FRC training platforms (the lowest cost fully FRC-compatible bot costs at least $1500), team 2537 has started developing a low cost training solution (aka MiniBot) that allows small, safe, inexpensive robots to be built that are still suitable for robotics training in Java using advanced capabilities such as machine vision and navigation. This is an ongoing project that is not yet ready for prime time.

• The ​Raspberry Pi performs the computing. It was chosen for its computing power (comparable to or better than a !RoboRIO), popularity, and low cost. Supported models include:
  • $5 ​RPiZero (no longer recommended) - requires Edimax EW-7811UN WiFi Dongle
  • $10 ​RPiZero W
  • $35 ​RPi3 (more powerful)
• A low-cost ($15-25) ​PiBotZero I/O board allows a raspberry Pi and robot sensors to operate from a wide range of battery voltages and allows the raspberry pi to connect to many common robotic sensors and actuators.
• Depending on budget, a wide range of robot chassis can be used including full-size FRC robots:
  • $12 ​2WD+caster Chassis
  • $17 ​4WD chassis ​another
    • $16 ​Mecanum wheels
    • 3D-printable coupler for mecanum wheels​
  • $32 ​Mecanum chassis
  • $50 ​Rover 5 tank chassis (has ​mecanum wheel option!) ​$60 option
  • $55 ​T100
  • $300 ​Peanut
• A wide range of sensors and actuators can be used; see Sensors and Other Components below.

Setup and Installation

PiBots connect via WiFi to your laptop or smartphone:

• Program a uSD card with the ​PiBot Image using ​Win32DiskImager. The PiBot Image contains the complete Raspbian (linux) OS, pre-configured for remote GUI access via VNC, with all of the ancillary packages and libraries required to make coding for the PiBot easy. A sample application is included.
• Install and boot the uSD card in the Raspberry Pi
• Connect to the WiFi hotspot created by the Pi using your PC or smartphone
• Install the ​RealVNC Viewer on your laptop or phone
• If you are using a windows laptop, install ​Bonjour
• Use the VNC Viewer app to access the Raspberry Pi (linux) desktop
• Connect the PiBotZero to the various sensors and motors or motor controllers needed to make your robot do its thing

Using VNC Viewer on your laptop, you can access the remote graphical linux desktop on the raspberry pi, from there, you can run programs which drive your robot using GUI controls like buttons, joysticks, sliders, etc. You can also download new programs from your PC or even develop code directly on the Raspberry Pi.

References

• ​Hardware Manual
• Hardware Specifications
• ​PiBot Image. Install image on uSD card using ​Win32DiskImager.
• Pi Zero/OS Configuration (how the PiBot Image is built)
• Dev Environment Configuration (how to code for the PiBot without using the PiBot Image libraries)
• ​PiBot Library Repository (source for the libraries and sample code on the PiBot Image)

Sensors and other Components

• Ultrasonic Range Sensor
• DC Motor Control
• Other Minibot Resources
• ​pre-built cable assemblies

Coding for the Mini Bot

• MiniRobo API?
• MiniWPI API?