HardLabs

Open source rover

nasa-jpl·open-source-rover·electrical/pcb/control_board/Control_Boards.kicad_pcb

Open source rover PCB layout, top view — open source Raspberry Pi board by nasa-jpl

About the Open source rover PCB

Open source rover is an open source Raspberry Pi PCB design by nasa-jpl, published on GitHub under the Apache-2.0 license. It is a 2-layer board measuring 220 × 178 mm, with 144 components from 43 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the Mounting_Holes, from the Raspberry Pi family. Other key parts include the INA260, PCA9685, D24V22F12, D24V150F5 and DC10CGKWA. By type, the board carries 38 resistors, 29 connectors, 23 capacitors, 15 transformers, 7 ICs and 6 transistors.

It belongs with the robotics & motion designs in this gallery.

From the project

A build-it-yourself, 6-wheel rover based on the rovers on Mars!

The overall Control Board consists of a Motor Board with a Brain Board mounted on top. These are the instructions to assemble these two separate pcbs and mount them together as the unified control board.

This document goes through the process of assembling and testing the custom Printed Circuit Boards for the project.

Note that the images in these instructions are taken from an assembly of the v2.0.1 board. There are minimal differences between v2.0.1 and v2.0.3 - such that it wasn't worth doing another photoshoot for v2.0.3. Make sure to follow the written instructions when in doubt.

Open source rover, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Open source rover

INA260PCA9685D24V22F12D24V150F5DC10CGKWAMIC2937A-3.3WT

Open source rover bill of materials (BOM)

144 components, 43 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
1
INA260
U1
1
PCA9685
U2
1
D24V22F12
D24V22Fx
U3
1
D24V150F5
D24V150Fx
U4
2
DC10CGKWA
DC7G3HWA
U5, U6
1
MIC2937A-3.3WT
U7
1
Mounting_Holes
M1
6
2N3906
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6
2
XT30-M
J1, J5
2
ED2580
ED2580-ND
J2, J6
2
XT30-F
J3, J4
3
TSW-104-07-F-T
J7, J12, J19
6
MOLEX_172675-0613
Molex_172675-0613
J8, J9, J10, J11, J13, J14
3
WM25701
277-11404-ND
J16, J17, J18
2
PEC08SAAN
J20, J30
1
PPTC102LFBN-RC
J21
2
S9175-ND_RPI_BREAKOUT
S9175-ND_rpi_breakout
J22, J23
1
6POSHEADER
6posheader
J24
1
SSW-104-01-F-T
J25
1
WM6548-ND
J26
Show 23 more
QtyPartRefs
3
PPTC021LFBN-RC
J27, J28, J29
1
Fuse
F1
9
#4THRU-HOLE
MH1, MH2, MH3, MH4, MH5, MH6, MH7, MH8 +1
8
brain_board_mounting_hole
MH9, MH10, MH11, MH12, MH13, MH14, MH15, MH16
3
RoboClaw
RC1, RC2, RC3
1
CT206124
CT206124-ND
SW1
9
test_point
T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T13, T14 +1
6
test_point
T7, T8, T9, T10, T11, T12
1
D
D1
2
1N4148
D8, D9
5
100NF
100nf
C1, C3, C5, C6, C32
14
10NF
10nf
C2, C4, C9, C10, C13, C14, C15, C16 +6
1
10UF
10uf
C7
3
100UF
100uf
C19, C25, C27
3
1k
R1, R6, R7
13
4.7K
4.7k
R2, R3, R4, R5, R11, R12, R13, R14 +5
1
680
R8
1
220
R9
1
100
R10
6
10K
10k
R15, R16, R17, R36, R37, R38
6
68
R18, R19, R20, R22, R23, R24
2
0
R21, R30
5
82
R25, R26, R27, R28, R29

Open source rover design files

The KiCad project lives in the nasa-jpl/open-source-rover repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Open source rover: common questions

What microcontroller does the Open source rover use?

The Open source rover is built around the Mounting_Holes, from the Raspberry Pi family.

How big is the Open source rover PCB?

The Open source rover measures 220 × 178 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Open source rover?

144 components, from 43 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Open source rover design files?

From the nasa-jpl/open-source-rover repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Open source rover design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its Apache-2.0 license, which nasa-jpl chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Open source rover without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug Raspberry Pi firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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