OpenMower v1 Documentation – Robot Assembly

Docs: Prepare the Parts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Now that you have all the parts available, you will need to configure some of them, so that they will work together in the end.

Docs: Assemble the Robot

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Now that you have prepared the parts, assembling the robot should be easy.

Step 1: Install the OpenMower mainboard into the robot

Insert the OpenMower mainboard into the robot the same way the original board was mounted. The board is held in place in the rear by two plastic parts, and on the front it is held in place by two screws.

Step 2: Plug the modules together

After installing the modules, plug the modules into the main board as shown in the following picture:

Warning

The three motor controllers have different configurations. Make sure you plug them into the correct slots.

Don’t forget to plug the SD card into the Raspberry Pi

Step 3: Install GPS Antenna

🧰

GPS ground plane, GPS 3D printed mount and 15mm bolts with nuts are included in the kits v0.10 and later.

3D part is fragile and can get broken during shipping despite our best efforts. Superglue should fix it.

v0.10: holes on holder are smaller that bolts provided. Widen it with 3mm drill.

In order to improve the reception of the GPS antenna, we put a ground plane below it. This can be any metal plate, but we are using a PCB with a solid copper layer for this.

First put the GPS antenna’s cable through the large hole of the PCB and then screw the antenna with the ground plane PCB to the 3D-printed holder. Roll the rest of the antenna cable up so that it’s easy to stow inside the robot.

Once the antenna is fixed to the holder, you can plug it into the front of your robot (you will need to remove two white plastic cable holders) and fixate it using a screw.

Step 4: Connect Cables

Warning

Either make sure that the power connector gets connected last and that the switch is turned off before connecting it.

Info

Don’t close the lid of the mower yet. Do the software setup and the first tests without the top cover. You’ll probably need to access the hardware again.

Now that you have installed all your electronics, it’s time to connect everything up like shown in the picture below:

Docs: First Startup

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations that you have made it this far. Now comes the fun part — starting it all up!

Warning

If you see / smell anything unexpected, turn the switch off immediately!

This includes but is not limited to:

Smoke / Fire
Smell of hot electronics
Blown Fuses

It’s time to power the robot up by hitting the switch at the back of the robot.

Once turned on, the RGB LED on your mainboard should go through some colors starting with RED and ending with RED - ORANGE blinking.

This shows that the mower is in emergency mode and that ROS is not connected to the mainboard.

This is expected because our Raspberry Pi has no OpenMower software yet, just the basic operating system.

Warning

Don’t run the mower for too long, you cannot recharge it with the unmodified docking station!

If everything seems healthy, turn off the mower and proceed to the next section: Docking Station Assembly. Otherwise, refer to Troubleshooting.