TurtleBot Project
Overview
TurtleBot 4 is the next-generation of the world’s most popular open source robotics platform for education and research. The chassis and base mechanical aspects of the robot are based on the iRobot/Roomba robotic household vacuum cleaner. The TurtleBot 4 is obtained by adding an application computer (a Raspberry Pi 4) and a collection of common robot sensors. Specifically, the TurtleBot 4 has a iRobot Create3 mobile base, a powerful Raspberry Pi 4 running ROS 2, 2D LiDAR, OAK-D-PRO 4K RGB autofocus camera, and more. All components have been seamlessly integrated to deliver an out-of-the-box development and learning platform. It comes with a top mounting plate, which makes it easy to integrate third-party hardware.
Project Concept
The specific goals for a project based on the TurtleBot have not been identified yet. The general goal would be to use the different locomotion and sensing capabilities of the robot, along with navigation and planning ROS2 packages. These could be taken in a number of directions, for example, experimenting with new planning capabilities or algorithms, using the robot camera for ag-related sensing, experimenting with adding a new form of sensor to the base, etc.