Using chassis kits and accessories to build robots

Chassis kits provide everything to build robots with most microcontroller boards. You'll use the following chassis kits to build projects.

Mini 3-Layer Round Robot Chassis Kit

The 3-Layer Mini Round Robot chassis Kit (Figure 1.12) includes the following things you need to build the shell of a two-wheel drive mobile platform robot:

Two drive motors
Two wheels
One plastic caster ball
Anodized aluminum frames and all mounting hardware for assembly

You can purchase a kit from Adafruit Industries (https://www.adafruit.com/product/3244) to work with projects that will be discussed in Chapter 2, Building a Mini Round Robot with Original ESP8266, Chapter 3, Using Encoders, and Chapter 4, Building a Mini Round Robot with the Feather HUZZAH ESP8266:

Figure 1.12: A Mini Round Robot Chassis Kit. Image courtesy of Adafruit Industries (https://www.adafruit.com)

Zumo chassis kit

The Zumo chassis kit (Figure 1.13) allows you to build tracked robots that run on continuous tracks instead of wheels. Tracked vehicles can be used for:

Construction vehicles
Military armored vehicles
Unmanned ground vehicles

The Zumo chassis kit includes the following things:

Zumo chassis main body
1/16" black acrylic mounting plate
Two drive sprockets
Two idler sprockets
Two 22-tooth silicone tracks
Two shoulder bolts with washers and M3 nuts
Four 1/4" #2-56 screws and nuts
Battery terminals

You can purchase a kit from Pololu (https://www.pololu.com/product/1418) to work with the project that will be discussed in Chapter 5, Line-Following Zumo Robot:

Figure 1.13: A Zumo chassis kit. Image courtesy of Pololu (https://www.pololu.com)

Romi chassis kit

The Romi chassis kit (Figure 1.14) includes the following things you need to build a two-wheel drive robot:

One black Romi chassis base plate
Two mini plastic gearmotors (120:1 HP with offset output and extended motor shaft)
A pair of black Romi chassis motor clips
A pair of white 70 × 8 mm Pololu Wheels
One black Romi chassis ball caster kit
One Romi chassis battery contact set

You can purchase a kit from Pololu (https://www.pololu.com/category/202/romi-chassis-and-accessories) to build the project that will be discussed in Chapter 6, Building an ESP8266 Robot Controller:

Figure 1.14: A Romi chassis kit - Black. Image courtesy of Pololu (https://www.pololu.com)

Mini robot rover chassis kit

The mini robot rover chassis kit (Figure 1.15) includes the following things needed to build the shell of a two-wheel drive robot:

Two wheels
Two DC motors in MicroServo shape
One support wheel
One metal chassis
One top metal plate with mounting hardware

Figure 1.15: A mini robot rover chassis kit. Image courtesy of Adafruit Industries (https://www.adafruit.com)

You can purchase a kit from Adafruit industries (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2939) to build the project that will be discussed in Chapter 7, Building a Gripper Robot.

Rover 5 robot platform

The Rover 5 robot platform (Figure 1.16) allows you to build a four-wheel drive tracked robot. The kit includes the following things:

Adjustable gearbox angles
4 independent DC motors
4 independent Hall-effect encoders
Thick rubber tank treads
6 x AA battery holder
10 Kg/cm stall torque per motor

Figure 1.16: A Rover 5 robot platform. Image courtesy of Pololu (https://www.pololu.com)

You can purchase a kit from Pololu (https://www.pololu.com/product/1551) to build a project that will be discussed in Chapter 8, Photo Rover Robot.

Wheel encoder kit

The wheel encoder kit (Figure 1.17) allows you to measure the speed or distance that the chassis travels. You'll learn how to connect the wheel encoder kit to any wheeled robot in Chapter 3, Using Encoders:

Figure 1.17: A wheel encoder kit. Image courtesy of SparkFun Electronics (https://www.sparkfun.com)

Parallel Gripper Kit A - Channel mount

A gripper can be connected to a robot to allow grip objects. Figure 1.18 shows a Parallel Gripper Kit assembled. You will need any standard size Hitec or Futaba servo to integrate with the gripper kit. You can purchase one from SparkFun Electronics (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13178):