Hardware

Introduction: This section explains the electrical components used in the “

RoboCar-TriClopes

.” While some explanations of “Hardware

” also include the “Mechanics

” (as described elsewhere), Old-School separates the physical mechanical components (Mechanics

) from the electrical components (Hardware

). You could also call it “Electronics

,” and there is even a term called “Mechatoronics

.”

Circuit Boards

　The functionality is determined by the circuit boards. Here, I’ll introduce the boards used inTriClops

. These boards increase integration density by stacking them. I’ll introduce them in order from the bottom up.

• **Groovy-Quatro

**

The circuit and PCB design for the were done by Old-timer himself, as was the control firmware. However, the firmware quality was extremely poor; I2C control for the IMU (BMX055) installed initially was not implemented.Amidst this, a FA pro implemented

it for me. Since then, features such as speed servos and BNO055 support have been added, bringing it to its current state.

|

|

| | Before Motor Driver Replacement | Reference Diagram | Mounted Upside Down |

　This board serves as the core of the Hardware

. Its main functions are as follows:

• 4-channel DC motor or BLDC (Nidec 24H) motor control
  

  　[Mechanics] As explained on the page(../mechanics/_index.md)

, this board allows independent 4-channel control of either DC motors or BLDC motors (Nidec

24H motors); mixed use is not supported.

• Encoder Reading
  

  　The encoders built into the motors can be read independently
  

• 9-Channel IMU
  

  　Attitude control is possible thanks to the built-in BOSCH BNO055.
  

• Drive Power Supply Monitoring via Resistor Voltage Divider + ADC
  

  　Voltage monitoring is possible for up to 4-cell LiPo batteries. This prevents over-discharge before it occurs.
  

• Motor Driver Replacement
  

|

|

| |TB6612 and L298N|Complicated Wiring|Upgraded from L298N to TB6612|

I replaced the motor driver from the L298N

with the TB6612

.This resulted in improved power efficiency and a significant increase in motor speed, so I replaced the motor to change the gear ratio. I removed theL298N

and attempted to make the pins compatible so I could swap them out directly—it turned out to be a much harder task than I expected…

• PiSugar 3 Plus
  

|

|

| |Logo|Aluminum foil protection to prevent solder drips|Installed at the absolute minimum height|

　A battery-powered board for the Raspberry Pi. The connector section was modified to allow for stacking. The included LiPo battery was also upgraded from 5000mAh to 10000mAh.