Vitulus is 3D printable autonomous mobile robot platform, based on ROS. It's open source project and you can make it yourself too.
Find Out MoreAfter some time of development comes the time when the project is in a state in which it can be made available to the public. The original goal was to make an autonomous lawn mower, but over time the idea of a more universal platform
was born and the mower became its accessory, which expands the possibilities of the basic platform.
The chassis is based on the Turtlebot3 in terms of drive and control. RTAB-Map is used for mapping together with Intel T265 tracking camera and Intel D435 Depth camera. The main brain is the Intel NUC i7 and uses OpenCR for control.
You can see the hardware and software in detail in the specifications below.
By printing several components, you can easily change the overall dimensions of the chassis and adapt it to current needs. The robot has a removable main control unit and can therefore be easily moved to another chassis, such as a
vacuum cleaner or anything else. The control unit is one of the most expensive parts of the robot and this solution will bring greater benefits at lower costs. It always bothered me when I had to disassemble the old one because
of a new robot, because I needed a part of it.
VITULUS is now at the beginning of his journey and a great deal awaits him. I will be happy to help anyone who decides to build it or contribute to its development. In the future, as in the present, my goal is to maintain the ability
to make this robot using 3D printing and common components such as screws, nuts, bearings, etc. With a bit of exaggeration, I can say that it can be made at home in the bedroom with ordinary tools.
I plan to further develop VITULUS by adding accessories, new features and improving its capabilities. To see the nearest goals, see the "Next Steps" section below.
I would like to share with you my idea of where the next steps will go in terms of robot development. I will gradually add more goals here, depending on what seems necessary during development or it will be just a great feature.
Video documentation of the entire process of assembly, installation and use.
Four wheels are more than two. In various tests, it has been shown that they could be useful in overcoming obstacles.
The power module needs to reduce consumption, increase charging current, integrate the Arduino and change the design for better cooling.
It needs to change the design of the blade cover, speed control and the possibility of program control of the cutting height. Path planning for mowing.
Build a docking station with a power supply and teach the robot to park in it.
Make the battery easy to remove and increase its capacity.
All the files needed to build a robot are located on my Git-Lab. Here you will find components for printing, catkin_ws, mobile applications for Android and a disk image for NUC with a functional development environment to simplify the entire installation process. Simply everything you need. I'm gradually adding files here. If you want to start now and you are missing something, write to the contact email and we will do it somehow.
visit VITULUS Git-labReady to start your next project with Vitulus? That's great! Send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible! Vitulus is born in Czech republic, so you can write Czech or English.
vitulus@lacina.dev