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2. Chassis Setup

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Raf edited this page May 24, 2019 · 3 revisions

Preparing The Chassis

In this part you will learn how to assemble the Echo Rover chassis. Feel free to modify the chassis however you see fit at any step, I will go through what I did I will also offer suggestions for anyone building their own.

Chassis Setup

The first 3 items you will need for the initial chassis setup are:

  1. Wild Thumper 6WD 34:1 x1

    • Wild Thumper Top Platform x1

  2. 34:1 Gearmotor W/ Encoder x2

  3. Roboclaw 2x30a Motor Controller x1

Step One

These are the key components you need to assemble the base chassis, the first step is assembling the chassis with the Pololu motors with encoders. Follow Pololus Wild Thumper Modification guide for more information on how to properly put the motors into the base. The one note I would add is cute the end of the wires and don't attach a red and black thick wire, simply use the given small red and black wire they transfer the same voltage. Also keep in mind shrink tubes are good for this sort of thing and I switched to using those instead of electrical tape. IMPORTANT Make sure you put both motors in the middle slots.

Step Two

Once you have the encoders in and the chassis assembled you need to take the encoder wires and route them up to the top. Then follow this wiring diagram. A few things to keep in mind, at least one of the encoder transmission wires must be reversed to have both using positive values (you'll see on the diagram.) Roboclaw Connections

Step Three

Now that you have a the wiring done you'll need to 3d print the parts needed for the top portion of the chassis. This part is the easiest part and should only take you a few minutes after you have your wires and everything organized and tied. Rover3D

Above is the rendering of how the rover will look when it's finished. The process is straight forward, you first place the second plate above the main plate using x1 long stilt and x1 medium stilt but make sure you have your battery velcro in pace first. Then once you place the plate uptop you can mount the 3d printed parts. The lidar goes to the front of the chassis and its front holes line up with the front holes on the top plate. Then directly behind the lidar mount you mount the Xavier print (make sure the Xavier is already in the mount) and the Zed camera mount in the hole created for it (use a drill to put a screw in the small hole to hold the pole.).

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