6WD All Terrain Inspection Robot

Let's Make Robots Robots
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This time I decided to build remote controlled 6WD robot that can operate in rough terrain. Thanks to the image from the camera you can control the robot even if it is out of sight. This feature allows the robot operator to perform remote inspection tasks in areas that are difficult to access: tunnels and pipes or are dangerous for humans: chemically contaminated places, buildings threatening to collapse etc.

Robot parameters:

  • External dimensions (LxWxH): 405x340x220 mm - robot prepared for transport
  • Total weight: 6.5 kg
  • Ground clearance: 45 mm

Parts needed in this project:

  1. High Torque Gear Reducer DC Motor 12V 180RPM x6
  2. Motor Driver BTS7960B x2
  3. 6mm Hex DC Gear Motor Connector x6
  4. Emergency Stop Switch x1
  5. Stainless Steel Power Push Button Switch x2
  6. 11.1V 5500mAh 3S 45C Lipo Battery x2
  7. Arduino mega 2560 x1
  8. Wheel Rim & Tires HSP 1:10 Monster Truck x2
  9. Micro USB Board x1
  10. VL53L0X Laser ToF Sensor x1

Control and Preview:

Cameras:

Chassis of the robot is made entirely from aluminum and duralumin. In this project I used 6 Monster Truck wheels with a diameter of 125 mm which makes it easy to overcome small obstacles. The robot is driven by 6 high-power 12 V brushed DC motors (180 RPM, 27 kg-cm) with metal gears.

The main controller in this electronic system is Arduino Mega 2560. To be able to control six motors I used two BTS7960B Motor Drivers (H-Bridges). Three motors on each side are connected to one motor driver. Each of the Motor Driver can be loaded by the current up to 43A that gives a sufficient margin of power even for the mobile robot moving over rough terrain. The electronic system is equipped with two power sources (LiPo battery 11.1V, 5500 mAh x2).

More details about this project can be found on this blog.

Check out my other projects related to robotics, just visit:

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/6wd-all-terrain-inspection-robot
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Impressive work!

Thanks for sharing. The chassis is really nicely done, as it’s simple, probably not too expensive, but still sturdy and center of mass probably comes very low with that setup. It’s nice to see how well it does even on soft snow. Have you operated the hand through video feed? Do you feel like that’s a good spot for the camera?

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I stumbled on your robots on

I stumbled on your robots on youtube already. Great project, very professional. Thanks for the inspiration.

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Hi, I currently use 3

Hi, I currently use 3 cameras on the robot: 2 fpv and 1 WiFi. When gripping objects, the camera mounted on the gripper is the best for this task. I can easily pick up objects by looking only at the fpv monitor. The second fpv camera (5.8 GHz) is mounted on the back of the robot. The third WiFi camera is mounted on the boom for better visibility of the area in front of the robot. For the video preview I’m using Eachine LCD5802D FPV Monitor with DVR - https://goo.gl/s4yinJ

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Thx

I’m glad to hear that :slight_smile:

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Amazing project

Congrats Adam!

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When I was young and lived in Montana my uncle was fallowing a wheat field and found a big Indian ax head and he gave it to me. I have kept it for over 50 years now. This is leading somewhere. If I had a nice rover like this one I would outfit it with some software to identify Indian artifacts and let it loose on the fallow fields in Montana and see what it comes up with. You could also do the same with putting one in the Antarctica ice plains to look for meteorites (also using magnetic detection of some sort) or on the beach to look for loot or nice shells. My dream was always to be a treasure hunter but instead I became a computer programmer and English teacher - a different sort of treasure hunter I guess.
Another thought, advertising - it could hand out tracts on the street. I would take one.