Cyclope

A little robot powered by a Raspberry Pi 3 A+, featuring a 8MPixel Raspberry Pi Camera V2 and a 360° lidar.
A fast WiFi connection allows to remote control the robot while displaying camera real-time full HD video stream.
A tailored Buildroot Linux distribution runs the software, controlled through WiFi by a Qt desktop application running on a computer.

Hardware

PCB has been designed using KiCad 5.1.5 and has been ported to KiCad 6. All manufacturing files are available from Release page.
A PDF version of the schematic is also provided.

Software

Robot's Raspberry Pi is powered by a tailored Buildroot Linux distribution.

Getting sources

Clone the repository and the submodules all in the row :

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/RICCIARDI-Adrien/Cyclope

Building

Enter repository directory, clean previous build (if needed) and generate image :

cd Cyclope/Software/Raspberry_Pi/buildroot
make distclean
make BR2_EXTERNAL=$(realpath ..)/cyclope cyclope_defconfig
make

Generated image to burn to a SD card is Cyclope/Software/Raspberry_Pi/buildroot/output/images/sdcard.img.

Mechanical

Chassis is made of two overlaid 3mm-thick steel plates.
See Mechanical_Dimensions.odg file for additional design information.
Provide the Chassis.dxf file from Release page to a metal laser cutting service.

Supply parts

See Bill_Of_Material.csv file from Release page for PCB parts. All other needed mechanical and electrical parts are listed below.

Electrical

• 2x servomotor : Feetech FS5113R
• 40-pin flat cable : Amphenol FC40150-0
• Battery holder : EM8, isolate apparent contacts but battery holder ones with adhesive tape to prevent them from touching chassis spacers

Mechanical

• Front castor wheel : Guitel 55031100.
• 2x servomotor support : ASB01.
• 2x servomotor wheel : FS5103R-W.
• 2x front board flat angle bracket : NFLE2012-20.
• 21x chassis plates M4x40 hex female spacer : Ettinger 05.04.401.
• 4x M2x20 screw to attach camera to front board (use three nuts per screw). Using such long screws allow to further protect the camera.
• 12x M2 nut.
• 4x M2.5x25 screws to attach Raspberry Pi to chassis bottom plate (use three nets per screw).
• 12x M2.5 nut.
• 18x M3x10 screw :
  • 8x to attach both servomotors to their support.
  • 4x to attach the two supports to chassis bottom plate.
  • 4x to attach front board flat angle brackets to chassis bottom plate.
  • 2x to attach front board to flat angle brackets.
• 4x M3x15 screw to attach motherboard to chassis bottom plate (use three nuts per screw).
• 30x M3 nut.
• 47x M4x10 screw :
  • 21x to attach female spacers to chassis bottom plate.
  • 4x to attach castor wheel to chassis bottom plate.
  • 1x to prevent battery pack from escaping from robot bottom.
  • 21x to attach chassis top plate to chassis.
• 5x M4 nut.
• Use flat washers of appropriate dimensions if desired.

Photo gallery

Castor wheel

Servomotor, wheel and support

Chassis

PCB

Motherboard

PCB has been soldered by hands (resistors array part was missing, I used normal 0805 resistors) :

A big capacitor has been added to keep battery voltage stable when a lot of current is required :

Front board

With Raspberry Pi Camera V2 mounted :

Assembled electronic boards

Assembled robot

Update for version 1.1 adding a 360° lidar

Chassis top plate with lidar holes :

Lidar assembled on chassis top plate :

Motherboard PCB with lidar support :