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ATR Mechanical Description
1st Generation
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| General Description |
This is a robot that utilizes four super swamper tires, standard tires, or omni-wheels to to drive over just about any terrain. It works on any indoor surface and most outdoor surfaces (check out the hill climbing video and curb climbing videos on our main ATR page. Below are the links to different parts you can add onto the robot platform to customize it to your needs.
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| Typical All Terrain Robot Robot |
Custom ATR made to explore mines. Contact us if you want us to build a custom Robot for your application! |
Keep in mind when building this kit, that the wheels protrude past the front part of the chassis and with enough power, the robot will climb a wall. This gives it he ability to climb curbs and rough terrain, however if the obstacle is high enough the robot will likely flip over. So you want to make sure you have all your components on the top protected and secured for such an event.
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| Platform |
The platform can be either aluminum or acrylic. Two sizes are available for the quad-wheeled robot. You can stack the platforms to yield additional room. The platforms are laser cut to accept a huge array of sensors, controllers, motors, etc. Click on the links to learn more.
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Standard Rectangular Platform (Aluminum) |
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Standard Rectangular Platform (Acrylic) |
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Large Rectangular Platform (Aluminum) |
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Large Rectangular Platform (Acrylic) |
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All-Thread hardware kit (used to support/space out the platforms if multiple platforms are used. |
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| Motors and Motor Mounts |
Three different motor sizes are available for this kit. The middle sized motor is recommended for most applications and will drive the robot over any indoor surface and most outdoor surfaces. The smaller motor will work fine too depending on how much weight you plan on stacking on the robot (if >10 lbs the medium or larger motors should be used). The largest motor is overkill for indoor stuff, but can be used if you want ultimate power. If you want to climb hills and curbs you should use the large motor.
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(Click on image for a larger view)
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The motor housing connects the motor to the base platform via pre-drilled holes. There are two sizes of motor housings, the larger one only fits on the large rectangular platform (discussed above). The standard housing fits on both the large and standard platforms (discussed above). A typical assembly will require 4 motors and 4 housings to mount the Platform discussed above. |
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| Wheels and Drive Shafts |
The ATR wheels and shafts are sold together as one unit. The wheels are also sold in sets of 2 since the tread is matched for the large wheels. The shaft comes with a bearing and lock collars that fit right into/onto the motors and motor mounts. The ATR wheels are 6.75 inches in diameters. The wheels yield about 2 5/8" clearance under no load. Since all 4 wheels are driven and steering is done by controlling the speed/direction of the motors (AKA skid steering) the wheels need to slip to turn, so on indoor surfaces this is sometimes not he best option. If smaller motors are used sometimes tuning is very difficult (i.e. the wheels get good traction and load up the motors). Slow turns are not so much an issue as turning one side forward and turning the other side reverse to get a pivot turn. To overcome this the omni wheels are a better choice for flat high traction indoor surfaces. If you are ordering ATR wheels, you only
need 2 sets (for a total of 4 wheels and shafts) for a typical assembly.
The Omni wheels and shafts are also sold together as one unit. The shaft comes with a bearing and lock collar that fit right into/onto the motors and motor mounts. The wheels are 4" in diameter. The traction wheels are made of durable urethane to help grip the floor. These wheels also work outdoors. The wheels are either single row wheels or double row wheels. The double row wheels provide a little smoother operation, but both work great. One thing to note with the omni wheels is if you run sideways to a hill, the wheels will side slip down the hill, but if the robot angles up the hill slightly it can overcome this. If you are ordering omni wheels, you will need 4 individual shaft and wheel sets.
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ATR wheel and shaft set combo |
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Omni-Wheel shaft combo (single row) |
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Omni-Wheel shaft combo (double row) |
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| Hardware |
The final item you need to make you kit complete is a hardware package.
It includes nuts, bolts washers, nylon spacers (for isolating your electronics and controller boards), cable ties, and cable hold downs.
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Hardware Package (mounts most components to the base robot base). |
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All-Thread hardware kit (used to support/space out the platforms if multiple platforms are used. |
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Servo Standoff Hardware Package (used to mount servos onto the base of the robot). |
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