Rasptank - initial imperssions

1672044665

Hi all,

It's not necessary to say the kit is of high quality for the price.  Assembly went well, everything in bags (too many maybe!!!) clearly labelled.

I did not look at in detail before purchase, but was pleased to find it included camera and batteries.

Installing the software on an existing SD card was challenging - use the recommended folder, and then be prepared to google a fair amount, as with any OSS based software.

Issues:
1/ The camera came with cable already fitted - but the wrong way up.  I'd recommend checking ALL the electronics before assembly.
2/ once assembled, everything is very tight.  I'd love to see the pi mounted horizontally rather than vertically so another hat could be fitted in, and the connections readily available once complete.  I think I disssassembled four times to get hings right; whereas if the connections were available without dissassembling the robot...
The on/off switch is hard to get to too....
3/ I don't see the robot lasting that long - the front wheels bear on screwthreads, and the wheels are wearing already.  I'd like to see a solid from axel with a smooth surface (no reason one could not be fitted....).


Hints:
File/sand the inside of the wheel teeth so that the tracks run a bit more freely.
This does not run well on LONG pile carpet - the pile gets caught in the tracks.
This does not run well on solid floors - the tracks are hard plastic and slip.  Thinking about elastic bands around the tracks, or rubbery glue on the tracks for trackion?

Overall, very pleased, and excited about making a charging point and adding QR code scanning for location to the opencv.

It was a Happy Xmas,

btsimonh

1672044665

first (supplied!!!) battery recharge from pi stopping due to lack of power:
1775 mAh abosorbed by the batteries....  not bad for batteries rated at 2000mAh.

now building a charging circuit so hopefully it can find it's own charger and charge itself.

I've gone for a 5v input with boost charger (->8.4v) and a 2S battery protection circuit with balancing.
I will control EN on GS2678 from a RP Pico to power off the RPi3B during charge, and also monitor the battery voltage from the pico.
I hope to sleep the pico for minutes at a time between polling battery level whilst running.

A cheap mcu on the board would be nice - to perform these functions.
(p.s. for the charger, I'm going to put copper tape on the outside of the claw, and so when it finds the station, it just needs to position and open the claw to connect....)

1706090782

In order to safeguard my 2S batteries, I decided to use a balancing circuit that takes 5v input and converts it to 8.4v using a boost charger.
For the purpose of powering down the RPi3B during charging, I intend to use an RP Pico to manage EN on GS2678. The pico's battery voltage is something else I can check.
I desire to put the pico to sleep for brief periods of time in between monitoring the battery level when it is running. basketball stars

1708921368

To protect my 2S batteries, I opted to utilize a balancing circuit that converts 5v input to 8.4v via a boost charger. doodle jump