Only released in EOL distros:
Package Summary
Diverse Packages associated with the Stingbot and Traxbot Robot, from the ISR, University of Coimbra.
- Author: Maintained by David Portugal and André Araújo
- License: BSD
- Source: svn http://isr-uc-ros-pkg.googlecode.com/svn/stacks/mrl_robots/trunk
Contents
MRL Robots
The MRL Robots are a family of Arduino-based differential robots developed in the Mobile Robotics Laboratory (MRL) at the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR) in the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
These robots follow a low-cost and open source philosophy by incorporating an Arduino Uno board as the main control unit together with a OMNI-3MD motor driver, which are placed inside the robots' chassis.
They also include 3 ultrasonic range sonars and an Arduino compatible Xbee Shield which enables an easy-to-use Zigbee-based communication interface, enabling easy data exchange between multiple robots or between the robot and a remote unit when no Network infra-structure (i.e., Wifi) exists. These robots also include a flat acrylic structure on top of the platform to support a 10” notebook, dedicated to run ROS.
Stingbot
The Stingbot platform is a differential drive system built upon the Stinger Robot educational Kit composed of a light and robust aluminum chassis, foam tires and 2 DC gearhead motors with quadrature wheel encoders. Two packs of 12V 2300mAh Ni-MH batteries are placed between the chassis and the acrylic support to ensure good energetic autonomy to the robot.
Traxbot
The Traxbot platform is a differential drive system built upon the Traxster II Robot educational Kit composed of a light and robust aluminum chassis, locomotion tracks and 2 DC gearhead motors with quadrature wheel encoders. Two packs of 12V 2300mAh Ni-MH batteries are placed under the chassis to ensure good energetic autonomy to the robot. The platform also includes RGD LEDs on top of the acrylic support.
Hardware
In terms of components, both platforms are equivalent. They share the same sensors, actuators, communication and processing units.
Sensors
3 Ultrasonic Range Sonars Maxbotix MB1300;
Actuators
- Left and right wheel encoders;
Processing
Arduino Uno with ATmega 328p μC;
Communication
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n.
Included packages
mrl_robots_drivers: Drivers to control the MRL robots in ROS.
mrl_robots_teleop: Keyboard and wiimote teleoperation for the MRL robots.
mrl_robots_2dnav: Allows the MRL robots to navigate autonomously with pre-specified static maps.
mrl_robots_description: MRL robots 3D models for rviz and gazebo visualization.
Publications
* ROSint - Integration of a mobile robot in ROS architecture:
André Araújo, MSc Thesis, University of Coimbra, July, 2012.
* Integrating Arduino-based Educational Mobile Robots in ROS:
A. Araújo, D. Portugal, M. S. Couceiro and R. P. Rocha, in Proceedings of IEEE 13th International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions (Robotica 2013), pp. 8-13, Lisbon, Portugal, 2013.
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