Robotic Rover with Visual Assistance

The system was controlled with the help of an Arduino Mega board, which communicated with an Android smartphone over Bluetooth. We used a LiPo battery to provide the required current for the servos and stepper motors. We designed a PCB on Altium, and fabricated it ourselves, using a photo etching method.

For the rover, we decided to use stepper motors along with mecanum wheels, as they would allow for enhanced maneuverability.

Two types of servomotors were used for the robotic arm: the bottom 3 joints had heavier, more robust servos, while the last 3 joints had lightweight, lower torque servos.

We designed the physical model of the robotic rover on Solidworks, with 3D printing being the desired manufacturing method. The rover had slots for ventilation and cooling for the stepper motors, and to reduce the weight of the skeleton. The internal volume was carefully configured to house all the required electronic components, and the top had a facility to mount a 6 DoF Robotic Arm.

The end effector of the robotic arm was designed to be modular, so it could be modified with different appendages, such as a drill, screwdriver, etc...