Hi, I am designing a new PCB for my Turbo Line Following robot (currently second fastest in the world with average speed of 3 meters per second and using the old QTR8A IR module and just an Arduino Nano and a Pixy2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhhQtYSF1-U).
In this new PCB design I am moving to the QTRX-MD-16A and Teensy.
I need a footprint for QTRX-MD-16A, as I can’t seem to find one online.
I don’t mind for which CAD software it is, I can use Autodesk Eagle, EasyEda, KiCad etc.etc.
We do not publish electrical design footprints for our products, but you could probably use the files available on the QTRX-MD-16A product page under the “Resources” tab to make your own. Specifically, the drill guides, dimension diagrams, or 3D models might be useful for that.
By the way, we would love to see a video of your new line follower when it is finished!
Hi @PatrickM, thank you for the reply. I have found the dxf files on the resources tab and I will probably make my own small library, just thought I’d ask first to save me some time. I will be very happy to share some photos and videos when the new robot is finished (I hope covid doesn’t delay everything, I live in a small island in the Mediterranean and post and courier services are almost at a halt again). In the meantime, there are a few photos and videos on my website www.roboticslab.eu showing my line follower robots in action if anyone is interested. There’s also a Facebook page that I update rarely, but there there are some more photos and videos there showing a bit more details on the designs, pcbs etc, or like these ones that show two of my first QTR8A based robots doing an average speed of 3.5 and 3.7 m/s on a simpler track https://www.facebook.com/roboticsIab/videos/820347608454779/ https://www.facebook.com/roboticsIab/videos/241837713610610
Thank you for sharing those links! It is sad to hear that COVID might once again slow shipping services down, but hopefully things will recover soon with everyone staying safe.
It’s been 5 months since I designed my new PCB and even though it took 3 months to receive all the parts (due to lockdowns etc etc) I come bearing good news! My QTRX-MD16A Line Follower is finally ready and I believe it might be the fastest QTRX Line Follower out there
Wow! That is impressive! I hope you will let us know how your next line following competition goes (and please let me know ahead of time if it is possible to place bets ).
Hi Patrick, thanks for the kind words. I wish the pandemic will be over soon (for all the obvious humanitarian reasons of course) but also so the competitions can resume and I can finally travel to showcase and compete. I will surely let you guys know of any progress and competition openings as they become available.
I would also love to experiment with higher output motor drivers (I see you have some interesting choices over there) and higher rpm motors and even a couple more QTRX configurations and I strongly believe I could make it go significantly faster and smoother, but the current situation with so many shipping delays and my very limited funding for this project (being so far away form the States means I have to pay for the more expensive shipping methods and then add imports taxes, handling fees and then local VAT on top of all of that), prohibits me from further advancing this project at the moment.
It still is a very good result, but making the fastest Line Following robot in the world is also a goal that I never want to give up, I just wish there was a way to have the opportunity to experiment more. I can put the work and I am stubborn, so I believe I could do it, had I have the chance.
In case you have not considered this already, it might be easier and less expensive for you to order our products from one of our several European distributors, so you might check if any of them carry the products you are interested in. Here is a link to a list of our distributors.
Hi Patrick, I do order most of your products from the distributors in Germany, France and Italy but they don’t always stock everything and I end up paying multiple shipping costs and have to wait for different packages to be delivered, usually with normal post services which take considerably longer to be delivered due to almost nonexistent flights atm. Thank you though for the interest in my posts:) I will probably take advantage of the 20 year anniversary sale Pololu has going on right now and place my new order.
Giannos
).