T-Quad

Multi-activity robot shield for Arduino


Before T-Quad, you had one different robot for each application: one 4 wheels robot, one 2 wheels robot, one self-balancing robot,...
With T-Quad
, you can do all this with a unique robot.


T-Quad with Mecanum Wheels

T-Quad with 4 x Mecanum wheels

T-Quad can be used in different configurations.

On the left, we uses 4 x Mecanum wheels. With these wheels, the robot can not only go forward, backward and turn, it can also translate right or left ! In fact, depending on the combination of rotation speed of the four Mecanum wheels, any kind of motion is possible.

On the right, a Raspberry Pi is added to the robot. You can use it to add high performance communication features (Wifi communication, real-time video streaming) or high level control (obstacle avoidance, object recognition,...) with different languages (Python for example).
You can use almost any kind of mini-computer (not only a Raspberry Pi ; it can be also, for example, a BeagleBone Black, a pcDuino, a C.H.I.P., an Odroid,...) provided that it has an i2c link, whatever the voltage level (3.3V or 5V).


T-Quad with Raspberry Pi

T-Quad with 4 x Mecanum wheels and Raspberry Pi

T-Quad with Ballcaster

T-Quad with 2 x normal wheels and ballcaster

T-Quad can also be used with standard wheels.

On the left, it works in a classical way with a ballcaster.

On the right, you can see the self-balancing configuration. T-Quad integrates various sensors (see below) in order to perform this kind of advanced control.
We also added a nice feature: the ultrasonic sensor is mounted on an manually adjustable angle bracket. Whatever the orientation of T-Quad (horizontal or vertical), you can use this distance sensor (and also the optional Webcam, mounted on the same bracket) !

T-Quad in self-balancing mode

T-Quad in self-balancing mode

T-Quad is a robot Shield for Arduino Mega 2560 with a lot of features:

  • 4 x DC Motors 6V with incremental encoders
  • Current measurement on the 4 motors (or physical parameters identification)
  • MPU9250 (3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis magnetometer)
  • HC-SR04 (ultrasonic sensor for distance measurement) with adjustable angle mounting bracket
  • 3 x infrared sensors for line-following applications
  • Various wheels configurations:
    • 4 x mecanum wheels (holonomic wheels allowing translation in any direction)
    • 2 x standard wheels + ballcaster
    • 2 x standard wheels (self-balancing)
  • OLED screen for advanced display of messages
  • 2 x switches for managing easily 4 different working modes
  • 7.4V LiPo or 7.2V NiMH battery
  • Battery voltage sensing
  • XBee socket for simple Wifi and/or Bluetooth communication
  • 2 x i2c socket (3.3V and 5V)
  • Powerful 5V / 1A DC-DC converter for optional external devices
  • Optional advanced communication features with additional mini-computer
    • Transparent acrylic mounting plate
    • Webcam

Various activities are possible (open-source Arduino sketches and mini-computer programs):

  • Identification of DC Motor parameters (from open-loop current and speed measurements)
  • DC Motor speed control
  • DC Motor positiion control
  • Remote control of robot in "mecanum wheels" configuration
  • Remote control of robot in classic configuration
  • Remote control of robot in self-balancing configuration
  • Automatic switch of control mode between classic and self-balancing configuration (verticality detected by accelerometer)
  • Line following (using infrared sensors)
  • Lateral translation with front wall distance following (using ultrasonic sensor)
  • Obstacle avoidance (using ultrasonic sensor)
  • Uphill following (using accelerometer)
  • Following of magnetic orientation (using magnetometer)
  • OLED screen management (display of various kind of messages depending on sensors values)
  • i2c communication with IMU (MPU9250), an (optional) mini-computer or any kind of external device
  • Real-time video streaming from (optional) Webcam through (optional) mini-computer
  • Simple use or creation of custom control and data display dashboards using MyViz
  • ... (non exhaustive list)

 

Some videos:

Voltage control of motors :

 

Speed control of motors :

 

Color following :

 

Self-balancing mode :

 

Finite state machine programming :

 

Python API programming

 

Python API programming