1. Getting Started Overview
TortoiseBot is an extremely learner-friendly and cost-efficient ROS based Open-Sourced mobile robot that is capable of doing Manual as well as Autonomous Mapping, Navigation, Simulation and a lot more thanks to the creativity and support of the Open-Source ROS Community!
TortoiseBot is out-of-the-box the simplest, and most cost-efficient ROS-based robot that has Mapping and Navigation capabilities. The core of TortoiseBot is a Raspberry Pi 4 running Raspberry Pi OS with pre-installed ROS. So the user can simply assemble the robot with included assembly guide in just 30 minutes and start working on the robot immediately without any additional setup. The robot also has support for Gazebo Physics Simulator where you can simulate your robot algorithms without actually risking the robot and also visualize the sensor data in RViz. TortoiseBot is based on a simple principle of - “ Everything that you need, Nothing that you don’t! “ Adhering to this motto, we have tried to minimize the components and eliminate expensive and difficult-to-use elements like encoders & IMU, instead replaced it with our cutting-edge & reliable software that uses relational reasoning to give precise odometry values thus reducing the cost by almost 40%. TortoiseBot is modular with various other sensors that work with Raspberry Pi which makes it the best pick for research in Robotics & AI.
- DIY Assembly Kit
- AI-Enabled Robot
- FPV Live Camera
- Python/C++ Programming
- 2 wheel-drive
- Sensor fusion capabilities
- ROS based
- Open-Source
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Teleoperation and LIVE Camera View
- Included with the TortoiseBot software is the code to control the robot through your computer’s keyboard or any joystick along with a live camera feed
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Perception and Mapping
- TortoiseBot comes equipped with all required sensors for localizing itself in an unknown environment and also make a map of the surroundings aka SLAM
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Exploration and Navigation
- TortoiseBot can Autonomously Navigate in known & unknown environments using Exploration and Navigation Stack offered by ROS
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Computer Vision & AI Applications
- Using an onboard camera, the computer vision and AI applications that you can build with TortoiseBot is limitless with a streaming speed of up to 60fps at 720p
If you have bought the TortoiseBot Kit from RigBetel Labs, here is what you will get with the Kit.
Or in case you wish to make your own TortoiseBot, here are all the things you will require with specific details about what we use in TortiseBot.
- TortoiseBot comes with YDLiDAR S2
- YDLiDAR X2 / X2L / X4
- RPLiDAR A1
- Testing more LiDAR as we go... Let us know if you want us to test any specific LiDAR with TortoiseBot
- TortoiseBot comes with Raspberry Pi 4 Computer Model B with 2GB RAM
- Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 1GB / 4GB RAM
- Jetson Nano
- TortoiseBot comes with L298N Motor Driver
- Any H-bridge-based motor driver will work as far as it provides enough current to your motors.
L298N Motor driver provides 2 Amp current to both of your motors individually which gives them enough torque to move around and lift some additional payload of 1.1 KG along with the robot's own weight. Also, make sure the input from controller to the motor driver should be in ENA, IN1, IN2, IN3, IN4, ENB format where IN1 & IN2 are the input of direction for motor 1, ENA is PWM signal for motor1 IN3 & IN4 are the input of direction for motor 2 and ENB is PWM signal for motor2.
- TortoiseBot comes with 2 x 60 RPM BO Motors.
- Any DC Motor should work as long as their RMP is known.
- Also make sure you have appropriate mounting brackets to mount the motors to the chassis
TortoiseBot uses 60 RPM Motor as it provides a good balance between speed and torque without losing any accuracy in odometry which is important while doing Localization of the robot
- TortoiseBot comes with 2 x BO Motor Wheels with a diameter of 65mm and a thickness of 25 mm.
- TortoiseBot also comes with a 1 x Caster Wheel of appropriate height to keep the robot in level.
- TortoiseBot comes with an 11.1 V 2200 mAh Li-ion Battery which provides an idle time of around 4+ hours and run-time of 1+ hour. This power supply is directly provided to the motor driver.
- Additionally, to provide stabilized power supply to the Raspberry Pi without any fluctuation, TortoiseBot comes with a Voltage Divider and Stabilizer Circuit which connects to the battery and provides 12 V to the Motors and Motor Driver whereas reducing the voltage to 5V which is appropriate for the Raspberry Pi.
- The voltage stabilizer circuit is connected to the Raspberry Pi using a USB C Cable
- TortoiseBot also comes with a 12V Charger for your battery
- And a voltage checker for your battery so that you don't run out of juice and charge it from time to time for a longer health of the battery.
- 2mm Acrylic sheet to make the chassis of the robot
- Metal Spacers of 45 mm
- A bunch of Screws, Nuts & Bolts
- Couple of jumper wires
- As an additional sensor, TortoiseBot comes with a Raspberry Pi Camera which you can use to get Live Feed from the robot and control it, or else can be used for computer vision-related tasks.
You will also need an additional computer running ubuntu 18.04 which will work as a server to process, visualize and simulate all the data sent by the raspberry pi over the server. You can either do it by:
- Dual Booting your existing computer with Ubuntu alongside Windows (Recommended)
- Use it through a Virtual Machine on Windows (Only if you have an above-average PC)
Follow this tutorial to know how to dual boot your PC with Ubuntu or simply download this VM ware image file and load it on a virtual machine in your PC. More details on how to set up these will be posted soon here.
1.3 Notices
recent news
collaborations
1.4 Events
Competitions
Community usage
So you have everything you need? Then let's get started by assembling our robot.