Repository for documenting my 3pi+ 2040 experiments

20230314-12

I received my EARLY ADOPTER 3pi+ 2040 Robot Kit with 30:1 MP Motors (Standard Edition Kit) and assembled it today.

I created a repository on GitHub to document my experience with this cool new bot. As I start writing new code for this bot and/or build some compatible hardware, I will document it there.

Pololu, thanks for making this RP2040 based robot kit available to us early adopters. It should result in some fun projects.

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Is battery included in this kit? Or we gotta buy that separately?

The batteries are not included in the kit. You need to provide 4xAAA batteries. The 3pi+ 2040 User’s Guide recommends rechargeable NiMH batteries but indicates that it will work with Alkaline as well.

Debug header notch

Today, I added a notch in the bumper skirt to make room for the debug header that I soldered onto my control board during assembly.

Cool! I got one too. I’m working on adapting ROS2 to controlling it. Do you have any big plans for yours?

I saw your posting about ROS. That sounds very cool :+1: Are your plans to run the main ROS node on something like a RasperryPi SBC that’s sitting on top of the 3π+ or using some kind of remote connection like WiFi, BLE, etc to communicate between ROS nodes?

Right now I am experimenting with the MicroPython library/samples that Pololu has provided. My current plan is to develop some simple behavior based control code for the bot in MicroPython and then set it free in my house to see what kind of trouble it can get itself into :slight_smile:

After that I will probably switch to having some fun in C/C++ as those are my preferred languages. I don’t know if I will use the PicoSDK as Pololu does in their GitHub repository though. I might use Arduino’s RP2040 offerings instead.

I might work on a wireless programming/debugging solution after that.