Pixhawk, Piksi Multi, Sabertooth - Autonomous Robot Ground Rover Setup

I worked on this robot as part of my thesis. The purpose of this video is for the students who come after me, who may or may not know anything about the Pixhawk, to be able to pick up from where I left. In addition, the purpose of this video is to help the hobbyist who wants to do this for fun.
This video is very long winded. It goes into a lot of detail and I didn't edit it to make it concise and efficient. However, I did try to make it complete. Hope this helps anyone who is looking to use the pixhawk for an autonomous ground vehicle.
If you want to read my thesis you can find it at www.researchga...

[@austinlee9291]

Thanks this is awesome! Much appreciated

[@bluegizmo1983]

I know this is an old video, but just an FYI for people who watch it in the future: 2:49 that motor controller does NOT recharge the batteries when it's driven in reverse. No motor controller can do that. What it DOES do is recharge the batteries a little when the wheels are decelerating, i.e. when you release the throttle and it coasts to a stop. It's called regenerative braking, which sort of acts like a brake when there is no throttle input, causing the rover to come to a stop and using the spinning wheel to feed back some power into the batteries. This does not work while the wheels are actively being powered (forward or reverse) via the throttle.

[@ryanmoeller6892]

Thank you! That always confused me but I never took the time to understand it, makes sense now! That's how some electric cars work so I should have realized 🤦

[@havasrobotic]

Thank you very much

[@AboAhmedah]

At 20:40, can you elaborate on the setting to avoid full throttle. It is important function to avoid fuse blowing up or damaging the driver in case you use larger motors that pulls more that drive amps rating

[@jay91230]

Firstly thank you for the detailed explanations of everything. I am making a rover but I am using tracks. I was wondering what is Pixy 14:55. What is the orange control logic board and why do you need that? Feel free to give any advice or suggestion for settings for tracks. I am using PX4 with cube

[@mustafakhalifa329]

what is your Servo output settings?

[@100diy]

Hello ,
I have a newbie question, I'm gathering equipment for a robot mower project, the remote control you're using looks like a Taranis X7, do you think the FRSky X9 Lite or X9 Lite S might be enough? thank you

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I am not well versed in transmitters, but i would imagine yes it would have plenty of buttons and compatibility. one thing to take into account is how many help forums can be found on it. good luck, have fun!

[@AlchemiUnlimited]

please list your components and where you located them

[@ryanmoeller6892]

The easiest place to find a parts list is in my thesis paper where I used this robot to help develop a genetic algorithm for solving the traveling salesman problem in the context of a center pivot potato field:
www.researchgate.net/publication/342916625_GPS-Guided_Autonomous_Robot_with_Obstacle_Avoidance_and_Path_Optimization?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InByb2ZpbGUiLCJwYWdlIjoicHJvZmlsZSJ9fQ

[@vitalityplays1834]

Hello, is there a way to get PWM values out of pixhawk main output to serial values on Arduino. My idea is to use Arduino to translate PWM values to control my H Bridge motors

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I do not know the answer to that right now. In my mind it would be much easier to buy a motor controller that can accept pwm signals if you have the money. The saber motor controller I bought from super droid robotics cost around $60 I think. I would check pololu and adafruit for cheaper options, and maybe Amazon, too.
I did just do a quick Google search and it looks feasible. Check out forum.arduino.cc/t/pwm-to-serial-converter/445692

[@MrNams]

I want to make UGV, how to start? I already made my UAV.

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I used the link at the end of this comment a lot. Read the entire manual in that link! Then, talk to anybody you can who has related experience. Lastly, use google/youtube to find internet forums to answer specific questions. As a bonus tip: mrobotics is a great company to buy products from, so is super droid robots, adafruit, and pololu. I would love to help more but I'm no longer doing this project and I don't have the time. Good luck and have fun!
ardupilot.org/rover/

[@MrNams]

@@ryanmoeller6892 Thanks

[@alltopografia5234]

hello where did you buy the tire, do you have a link or reference?

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I got it from superdroidrobots.com! I think it was a 10 inch tractor wheel.

[@cnarerdemsagr1964]

Hi;
Can you draw the motor and pixhawk wiring diagram?

[@ryanmoeller6892]

Look me up on research gate! My whole thesis on it is there. www.researchgate.net/profile/Ryan-Moeller-2

[@Hazar-bt6nf]

Do we have to use RC? What we are planning to do we are try to building an autonomous rover that is running without RC. I think we should not have it for calibration etc.

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I would double check the pixhawk manual but I think it will allow you to run without RC capability. You won't be able to tune your controls, though. Troubleshooting might be harder, too.

[@Hazar-bt6nf]

@@ryanmoeller6892 I mean, our plan is to move the motors without using mission planner, and a RC. We use dronekit library for autonomous movements.

[@Leafyfpv]

that qx7 tho'

[@urbanbelaj]

Hi Ryan, very good video, I learned a lot. I am a complete beginner in making a rover, but I make rc mowers and would like to upgrade them. th-cam.com/users/urbanbelaj I don't know if I fully understand, telemetry and lidar can't be turned on at the same time, is that correct, and why not? And another question, can we position the points for the map with the help of a rover outside directly in the field? Thank you and best regards from Slovenia.

[@ryanmoeller6892]

I did not fully test the lidar functionality, so if can't answer that question, sorry. And as far as the way point input goes, the only way I know of is the manual way, but I think there must be a way to "hack" the pixhawk and send it way point from a c++ program on windows, for instance. Sorry not of much help there.
If you want more functionality, ROS and a raspberry pi would be the way to go, but that's a whole different thing that I've never done before.

[@urbanbelaj]

@@ryanmoeller6892 thanks.