Suggestions for a small ground rover that runs ROS?

asked 2012-06-12 11:17:56 -0600

PKG
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updated 2014-11-05 23:03:37 -0600

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I understand that this question might be somewhat out of scope here. But I hope that answers.ros.org is better than the mailing list. Please feel free to correct me otherwise.

Can you recommend a small ground rover which:

has max dimension of within 1 foot (somewhere between small toy rovers and a Clearpath Husky)
fairly light and easy to lift by hand (<6 kg)
fairly cheap either to buy or to build (maybe around USD 600)
is capable of navigating in fairly rough terrain (like rocks or swamp)
has a well-known slip model for its wheels
can either receive command velocities over a wireless link remotely or can physically support a netbook running ROS

I can't think of anything to tag this question with :-(

answered 2012-06-12 11:32:23 -0600

Stefan Kohlbrecher

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updated 2012-06-12 11:32:44 -0600

I think the lightweight UGV system we built for RoboCup Rescue fits quite nicely to your list of requirements (not perfectly, but pretty close). It's based on the "Wild Thumper" robot kit chassis. Two videos are available here and here. If everything goes well, a upgraded version incorporating a LIDAR and 5 DOF arm will be used at RoboCup 2012 next week ;).

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Could I know what controller you used and where you got the ROS drivers?

PKG ( 2012-06-12 11:53:30 -0600 )edit

It's using this Arduino based controller: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/11057 I did the communication myself, as rosserial didn't work with the resource-limited atmega168. The software is not in a public repository yet as it's not very polished, but I can change that, time permitting.

Stefan Kohlbrecher ( 2012-06-12 19:22:25 -0600 )edit

@StefanKohlbrecher Stefan, I realize your post is quite old, but may I ask, do you have any documentation from your build of the UGV robot based on the Wild Thumper still? I am attempting to build a similar robot using the Wild Thumper, and I'm looking for any docs I can find. Thanks!

tommytwoeyes ( 2015-12-21 16:17:46 -0600 )edit

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