I have been trying to upgrade the original Sunfounder PiCrawler robot. I have been able to put in a Pi5 16gb, a POE hat for programming, a Hailo AI hat for AI object detection, a louder speaker, a usb wifi 6 module, and a i2c OLED screen to displey “eye” motions like Eva from Wall-e. I have the code if anyone wants, but I’m at a roadblock. My code will let you FPV from the picrawler, controlling it manually from the WSAD keys while streaming video via VNC. The usb Wifi gives me a range of about 30 meters.
My problem is, weight. I have no idea how to beef up the legs to use 25kg servos so it can use a larger battery pack. If I can get more load weight available, This could make the PiCrawler able to do a lot more.
Anybody out there any good with 3-d rendering? I have no idea how to use a 3-d printer.
Our PiCrawler is not compatible with 25 kg-class servo motors.Our expansion board cannot provide sufficient power for this model of servo to operate.
If you want to replace it with a higher capacity battery, there are also requirements. Due to hardware limitations of our expansion board, you can only connect a maximum of two 3.7V 18650 lithium batteries in series (the total voltage of two fully charged batteries cannot exceed 8.4V). If you connect more than two batteries in series, our expansion board will not be able to handle the high voltage input.
Power isn’t an issue, I made a distributed power grid. And when not being a robot, it runs a full Desktop OS. Mods definatly void the warranty though. Using a level shifter and relay to supply power to the servos from a larger battery. Pi zero with sense hat gives gyro,accel,etc. and has it’s own battery too. So the robot has 3 separate power sources. Gets a little hot, so the pi zero also controls 2x 40mm fans.
A 3rd custom power distro pcb powers spotlights and fans.
I like the chassis, and that’s my only limit. Is there a way Sunfounder can sell a super-sized aluminum crawler frame? Also, do you know when the robot hat v5 will be available in the US? I can’t find one anywhere.
Thank you for sharing your project ideas with us! We think your project is incredibly cool and innovative.
Sorry it currently only come in one standard size. We do not offer anouther options at this time.
The Robot HAT V5 is not sold separately; it is only available as part of the complete PiDog V2 kit.
We strongly encourage you to document and share your development process on our community forum! Your creativity would be a great inspiration to others.
Github
I was working on a web UI, I am a begginner at coding so this project is going to take a while!
Thank you very much for sharing your project with us. Wishing you smooth progress on your project!
