Ok, I think that I can finally start to describe this tracked rover I’m working on since maybe March 2018… and it’s December 2018 now! And so, yes, the Ev3 Tracked Explorer Mark II is ready at last!
What is the Ev3 Tracked Explorer Mark II ?
The Ev3 Tracked Explorer Mark II is a tracked rover built with Lego Mindstorms Ev3 and Lego Technic parts. It features:
- Ev3 Brick with ev3dev firmware with Python bindings
- N.2 Ev3 Large Motors to drive the main threads
- N.1 Ev3 Medium Motor to rotate the head
- N.1 Ev3 Infrared Sensor mounted on the head
- N.1 Ev3 Gyro Sensor used to keep the route when moving straight path
- N.1 USB Webcam to stream the video of the surroundings
You can control this rover from a desktop Windows computer with a UWP App called Ev3 Remote Controller, using a PlayStation 4 Dual Shock controller. It’s pretty fun! Have a look at the video below
Building instructions
This model is a so called MOC (My Own Creation), so it’s my pleasure to share the instructions to build it. Have a look here to download the step by step building instructions.
Just please be aware that since I published the instructions I added:
- A USB webcam. I have tried with success the Logitech C270 Webcam HD.
- A USB WiFi dongle with a big antenna, namely the Ralink WiFi-Dongle Amiko
- And a USB hub to connect these two devices to the single USB port of the Lego Mindstorms Ev3 brick. I used the Digitus DA70220 Hub 4 Porte USB 2.0.
Source code
The Ev3 Tracked Explorer Mark II runs the ev3dev firmware with Python bindings; the Python scripts connect to a remote app so that you can control the rover from afar over a WiFi network.
The source code for the rover and for the Ev3 Remote Controller App is available for download on the Smallrobots GitHub repository.
I should be able soon to post a step by step guide to download and compile, and deploy both the rover app and remote app, so that you can find some help just in case you should need it.