This year's Pi Wars entry is a development of my 2022 entry for the UKSEDS Olympus Rover Trials. This student competition challenges university teams to build prototype Mars rovers to compete in a variety of tasks, analogous to real Mars missions. Backed by sponsors including Airbus and RAL space, and with the testing taking place at their facilities this is an excellent opportunity for students to get practical experience of robotics.
This was my 2022 ORT entry that also formed my Final Year Project at uni. It's 4 wheel drive, and with motors favouring torque over speed (although it still does a fairly nippy 60cm/s at top speed.) The arm needed for that competition was driven by servos and mounted to an interchangeable payload plate, and it was all controlled via a Pi Zero 2W.
Overall I came second in the competition and picked up the autonomy prize, but some issues were still encountered with the robot. Poor traction on sand led to the installation of extra paddle wheels, and highlighted the need for longer suspension arms (although neither of these will be needed for PiWars.) There was also issues with the GT2 timing belts slipping before motor stall torque was reached, limiting traction. There were packaging issues with the wirring looms, these could be better integrated. Also the rover was a 50:50 split between laser cut acrylic and 3D printed parts. As I only have access to a 3D printer now any modifications will have to be 100% 3D printed.
There's lots to do!
Related Posts
