Rover 5

Explorer kiT
The explorer kit provides the perfect interface between your Rover 5 chassis and your micro-controller with all the hardware you need so you can start programming right away.

PCB Features: 2x FET ! bridge motor drivers rated at "# with current sensing. $ervo power supply % &."' rated at (# assuming the use of ).2' battery. &' *+, regulator rated up to -.&# with suitable heatsinking. (.(' *+, regulator rated at &..m#. /uilt in trickle charge circuit for 0i1h or 0i2d batteries. "x 34 analog5digital sensors mounted on the corners. 2x individual power rails 6'-7 '28 that can be connected to any voltage. 1ounting holes for hardware including #rduino and #rduino 1ega 92/s. Additional Hardware: 2x $mall bread boards with mounting hardware. -x 9an 5 tilt kit with two miniature servos and mounting hardware. -x 34 compound eye. -x :umper wire pack.

Mounting your hardware /efore you mount the explorer 92/ onto the 4over & chassis7 mount any hardware you wish to use. The 92/ is supplied with 2x small bread boards and ;x -<mm7 hex brass spacers. This allows enough clearance for any custom circuitry you may wish to build on the prototype area under the breadboards. =se the mounting holes shown in pink. The pan 5 tilt assembly is mounted at the front using 2&mm brass hex spacers. =se the mounting holes shown in green. 0ote that the holes are slightly off-centre so that when correctly mounted the output shaft of the pan servo will be centre on the 92/.

The holes used to mount the 92/ to the 4over & chassis are marked in orange.

Mounting Arduino Boards The 92/ has mounting holes to suit popular #rduino 92/>s. =sing the 2&mm brass hex spacers provided #rduino =no7 +uemilanove7 +iecimila and older can be mounted using the holes marked in red.

?ou can also mount an #rduino 1ega -2;. 5 2&<. using the holes marked in yellow.

Arduino Nano, Basic Stamp, Propeller and Picaxe to name a ew! =sing the breadboards and supplied @umper wire kit a wide range of processors can be used with this 92/. The breadboards are a great way to interface experimental circuitry or even have multiple processors controlling your robot. 3f the breadboards are not reAuired then other hardware can be mounted using an expansion plate.

Connection to "o#er $ $tart by 3nstalling rechargeable 0i1h or 0i2d batteries in the 4over & chassis. They can be recharged overnight by the built in trickle charge circuitry. This eliminates the need to remove the 92/ to replace batteries. 9lug in your motors and if your chassis comes with encoders then plug them in as shown in the photo with the red wires 6B&'8 on the outer pins and the black wires 6C0+8 on the innermost pins. Each encoder has a white and a yellow signal wire. 3t is not too important which way these wires connect as this can be corrected in your program. $wapping the white and yellow wires of an encoder will reverse the encoders sense of direction. $crew the 92/ onto the 4over & chassis with the "x self tapping screws provided.

Battery Charging Dhen the power switch is in the ,ff! position the battery is internally connected to a simple trickle charge circuit. Dhen power is connected to the battery charging socket the orange *E+ will light up. The recharge circuit allows the batteries to be recharged overnight when a -2' power supply is connected to the recharge socket. 3f you want to recharge over a longer period of time such as the weekend then you should use a E' power supply to prevent overcharging your batteries. %A"N&N': This recharge circuit is designed for NiCd and NiMh (atteries only! +o not use with *ithium 6*i9o8 batteries which reAuire a specialiFed charging circuit.

Power The Explorer 92/ provides " different voltage levels for powering your robot. 1. Battery #oltage: ).2' when using 0i1h or 0i2d batteries is used to power the motors and can also be used to power other motors or circuits. 2. Ser#o Power: $ervo>s typically have a voltage rating of ".&' % <'. #s the battery voltage is too high we use (x diodes in series to drop the battery voltage to approximately &."'. The +iodes are rated at (# and may get hot when servos are working under heavy loads. 3. )$* +*cc,: This voltage is supplied by a *ow +rop ,ut 6*+,8 regulator which can provide up to -# even when the battery voltage gets as low as &.&'. #s many development 92/>s need at least ).&' for their built in regulator you may need to power your processor directly from this regulator. /y adding a larger heatsink you can increase the output of this regulator to -.&# maximum. 4. )-.-*: 1any newer processors and sensors reAuire a (.(' supply. De have included a low dropout regulator with a &..m# rating to support these devices. /ecause some devices such as the encoders reAuire B&' all 'cc connections on the 92/ are B&'. 1otor control and 34 *E+s can be driven by (.(' signals. $ignals from the encoders and corner sensors must go through a voltage divider. ?ou can build this circuit either on the breadboards or the prototype area.

*/ and *0 9ower rails '- and '2 are typically connected to the servo power 6&."'8 allowing servos to plug directly into the 92/. These power rails can be disconnected from the &."' supply by removing the @umpers on :E and :-;. They can then be connected to the other voltages using :2- and :22.

The '- and '2 rails each provide power to "x ( pin servo compatible male connectors. Female connectors allow the servos or sensors to be easily connected to a breadboard or development board using the supplied @umper wires. Motor Control Circuitry The built in motor control circuitry consist of 2x FET ! bridges. Each motor control circuit can drive a motor forwards or backwards as well as controlling the speed of the motor using 9ulse Didth 1odulation 69D18. The motor control circuits each have a maximum continuous rating of ".&# and a current sensing circuit that gives an output of approximately -' per amp. This output can be monitored using a processors analog to digital 6#+28 inputs to determine how much load the motor is under and if the motor has stalled. Each motor is controlled by two digital pins. The 1irection pin changes the direction of the motor between forward and reverse. The P%M Speed pin controls the speed of the motor.

2ncoder Connectors 3f your 4over & chassis includes encoders then the encoder can be read from the encoder socket. The encoders are powered from the 92/ so you only need to read the outputs # and /. $wapping the connections to # and / will reverse the encoders sense of direction. The output of the encoders consist of 2 sAuare waves that are E. degrees out of phase. The pattern generated by these outputs can be used to measure speed7 direction and distance traveled. # tutorial on how to use these encoders can be found hereG httpG55letsmakerobots.com5node52".(-

&n rared Corner Sensors The explored 92/ includes " infrared 6348 sensors on the corners which can be used to detect ob@ects or edges depending on the orientation of the sensors.

These sensors are numbered - to " for easy identification. Each sensor consist of an 34 *E+ and an 34 phototransistor. /ecause you cannot see 34 with your eyes a small green *E+ is connected to each 34 *E+ so you can see when it is on. To get the maximum range from these sensors7 the 34 *E+ and 34 phototransistor must be parallel to each other. 3f you aim the 34 *E+ and phototransistor downward then they can be used to detect the edge of a table or the top of the stairs. #im the sensors outward for ob@ect detection.

These sensors can be used with analog or digital inputs but best results are achieved with analog inputs. To take a reading from a sensor first turn on the 34 *E+ for that corner 6--"8 by applying a high digital output to the appropriate pin on the left hand side of the board. 3n your code allow at least &.u$ for the phototransistor to respond.

0ow read the sensor using the appropriate pin 6--"8 on the right hand side of the board using either an analog or digital input. Dhen an ob@ect is detected then voltage on the sensor output will rise. The voltage level will depend on siFe7 colour and distance of the ob@ect being detected. # digital input will only recogniFe when the voltage exceeds a certain voltage 6usually between &.H and ).H8 of the processors supply voltage. Dhen using analog inputs7 $o that ambient light will not affect your readings it is recommended that you turn off the *E+7 wait &.u$ again and then take a second reading. This second reading with the *E+ off is your ambient light reading. /y subtracting this reading from the first reading you will get a result that represents only light from the *E+ reflected back by an ob@ect. N342: These sensors will not work in bright sunlight and are intended for indoor 5 night use only.

Pan 5 tilt 6it The pan 5 tilt kit is the perfect addition to your robot. Dith mounting holes to suit a wide range of 34 and ultrasonic range finders or cameras this assembly gives your robot personality as well as increasing the usefulness of your sensor.

&" compound eye This sensor is a perfect7 low cost companion to the pan 5 tilt assembly. #lthough only a short range sensor 6-&-2.cm depending on ambient 348 it allows tracking of moving ob@ects using simple code and low powered processors. 9erfect for beginnersI Sample Code To help you get started Auickly sample code can be downloaded from +#C=>s product support siteG httpsG55sites.google.com5site5daguproducts5 Cood luck and en@oyI