RAPOSA-NG

RAPOSA-NG at the signature of a Protocol between MAI, IST and AIP

RAPOSA logo, by Filipe Jesus

IdMind designed a new version of RAPOSA for commercial purposes, named RAPOSA NG (Next Generation). ISR has acquired a unit of this new version for project and investigation purposes, aiming for depth notion, user-friendly visual control, 3D mapping, localization and augmented reality.

Specifications

• Length: 84 cm;
• Width: 47cm;
• Height: 18cm;

• Wheel radius: 9.5cm;

• Weight (without extra hardware equipped): 17kg;
• Weight (with extra hardware equipped): 22kg.

Components

Internal Devices

From origin:

• 2 Maxon 150W DC motors (for differential drive);
• Firgelli Automation DC motor (to tilt the front body);
• 2 electronic boards:
  • Motors board (for encoding);
  • Relay board (to manage and redirect power supplies);

Internal computer:

• Commell LV-679: A Mini-ITX Motherboard with:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6Ghz 4Mo 800Mhz Processor;
  • 2x Kingston 1GB 667Mhz DDR2 RAM;
  • Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI adapter;
  • Kingston SSDNow V Series 64GB.

External Devices

Sensors:

• Point Grey Bumblebee2 (Firewire stereo camera system);
• MicroStrain 3DM-GX2 (IMU with triaxial accelerometer, triaxial gyro, triaxial magnetometer, temperature sensors, and an on-board processor).

Power

• 2x 4S2P Li-Po batteries 4800mAh 14.8V;

Extras

• 2x Groupner ULTRAMAT (for Li-Po battery charging);
• +6x 4S2P Li-Po batteries 4800mAh 14.8V (for replacement);
• PC Laptop Sony VAIO with Intel Core i5;
• Gamepad Logitech Rumblepad 2 (to control RAPOSA-NG);
• External power supply.

To be installed

• Microsoft Kinect for XBOX 360 (Vision + Depth camera);
• A Pan & Tilt motor.

Power

Battery used by RAPOSA-NG

RAPOSA-NG uses two 4S2P Li-Po batteries with 4800mAh and 14.8V for motors and electronics, respectively. Two LEDs near the lock indicates how much energy is left for the electronics (left) and motors (right).

It is also possible to use an external power supply for the electronics.

Switch on/off

Motors and electronics are also switched on/off independently.

To switch on/off the electronics, place the key into the lock and turn it.

If the external power supply is connected and on, the electronics are immediately on. Remove the external power supply to switch off the electronics.

To switch on/off the motors, simply press the red button at the bottom-left top corner. If the light is on, the motors are on.

To switch on/off the computer, press the gray button near the lock after switching on the electronics until a green LED lits.

Batteries

  Main page: RAPOSA-NG Batteries

RAPOSA-NG uses Lithium-ion Polymer batteries (Li-Po) with 4800mAh and 14.8V.

Each battery is composed of 4 cells with 2400mAh and 3.7V each, in a 4S2P fashion (two 4 series packs in parallel).