Review of the ROBOTIS TurtleBot 3 ,UPDATED (08/27/2017)

The TurtleBot3 is another in a long line of high quality robot kits from Robotis. The kit is also a open sourced hardware and software kit which is near and dear to my heart. As I am a huge believer in the open sourced approach to robotic development. The main hardware for the robot is the Raspberry Pi running a Ubuntu Mate OS with ROS (Robot Operating System). The main sensor for the Burger and Waffle is a  LDS(LASER Distance Sensor) which can do SAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). Another cool feature of the kit is that must of the parts are 3D printable. You can find all of the CAD files in the OnShape web application. Just search for ROBOTIS in the public files. Link. 

Specifications of the LDS.

Items	Specifications
Operating supply voltage	5V DC ±5%
Light source	Semiconductor Laser Diode(λ=785nm)
LASER safety	IEC60825-1 Class 1
Current consumption	400mA or less (Rush current 1A)
Detection distance	120mm ~ 3,500mm
Interface	3.3V USART (230,400 bps) 42bytes per 6 degrees, Full Duplex option
Ambient Light Resistance	10,000 lux or less
Sampling Rate	1.8kHz
Dimensions	69.5(W) X 95.5(D) X 39.5(H)mm
Mass	Under 125g

Items	Specifications
Distance Range	120 ~ 3,500mm
Distance Accuracy (120mm ~ 499mm)	±15mm
Distance Accuracy(500mm ~ 3,500mm)	±5.0%
Distance Precision(120mm ~ 499mm)	±10mm
Distance Precision(500mm ~ 3,500mm)	±3.5%
Scan Rate	300±10 rpm
Angular Range	360°
Angular Resolution	1°

 Link for more information about the LDS sensor.

SLAM or Simultaneous Localization and Mapping "is the computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of an agent's location within it." link.

Other Hardware:

Items	Burger	Waffle
Maximum translational velocity	0.22 m/s	0.26 m/s
Maximum rotational velocity	2.84 rad/s (162.72 deg/s)	1.82 rad/s (104.27 deg/s)
Maximum payload	15kg	30kg
Size (L x W x H)	138mm x 178mm x 192mm	281mm x 306mm x 141mm
Weight (+ SBC + Battery + Sensors)	1kg	1.8kg
Threshold of climbing	10 mm or lower
Expected operating time	2h 30m	2h
Expected charging time	2h 30m
MCU	32-bit ARM Cortex®-M7 with FPU (216 MHz, 462 DMIPS)
IMU	Gyroscope 3 Axis
	Accelerometer 3 Axis
	Magnetometer 3 Axis
Power connectors	3.3V / 800mA
	5V / 4A
	12V / 1A
Expansion pins	GPIO 18 pins
	Arduino 32 pin
Peripheral	UART x3, CAN x1, SPI x1, I2C x1, ADC x5, 5pin OLLO x4
Dynamixel ports	RS485 x 3, TTL x 3
Audio	Several programmable beep sequences
Programmable LEDs	User LED x 4
Status LEDs	Board status LED x 1
	Arduino LED x 1
	Power LED x 1
Buttons and Switches	Push buttons x 2, Reset button x 1, Dip switch x 2
Battery	Lithium polymer 11.1V 1800mAh / 19.98Wh 5C
PC connection	USB
Firmware upgrade	via USB / via JTAG
Power adapter (SMPS)	Input : 100-240V, AC 50/60Hz, 1.5A @max
	Output : 12V DC, 5A

Not sure what will happen to the Waffle because Intel is phasing out production of the Joule? When I find out more information about the Waffle and its production I will write a blog post about it.

Link to Turtlebot3 documentation. 

What stands out to me about the TurtleBot3 kit.




So the Turtlebot3 brains are the Raspberry Pi 3 running Ubuntu Mate with ROS (Robot Operating System). 

Link to more information about ROS.

Where to download Ubuntu Mate.

More information about the Raspberry Pi 3.

More information about the OPENCR control board.

Items	Specifications
Microcontroller	STM32F746ZGT6 / 32-bit ARM Cortex®-M7 with FPU (216MHz, 462DMIPS)
Sensors	Gyroscope 3Axis, Accelerometer 3Axis, Magnetometer 3Axis (MPU9250)
Programmer	ARM Cortex 10pin JTAG/SWD connector
	USB Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU)
	Serial
Extension pins	32 pins (L 14, R 18) *Arduino connectivity
	Sensor module x 4 pins
	Extension connector x 18 pins
Communication circuits	USB (Micro-B USB connector/USB 2.0/Host/Peripehral/OTG)
	TTL (JST 3pin / Dynamixel)
	RS485 (JST 4pin / Dynamixel)
	UART x 2
	CAN
LEDs and buttons	LD2 (red/green) : USB communication
	User LED x 4 : LD3 (red), LD4 (green), LD5 (blue)
	User button x 2
Powers	External input source
	5 V (USB VBUS), 7-24 V (Battery or SMPS)
	Default battery : LI-PO 11.1V 1,800mAh 19.98Wh
	Default SMPS: 12V 5A
	External output source
	12V@1A, 5V@4A, 3.3V@800mA
	External battery connect for RTC (Real Time Clock)
	Power LED: LD1 (red, 3.3 V power on)
	Reset button x 1 (for power reset of board)
	Power on/off switch x 1
Dimensions	105(W) X 75(D) mm
Mass	60g

My un-boxing videos of the Turtlebot3.



My Assembly video of the Turtlebot3.



Layer one of the Turtlebot3.



Layer two of the Turtlebot3.



Layer three of the Turtlebot3.



Final layer of the TurtleBot3.

Where to buy: ROBOTIS, ROBOTIS.US

The Burger is 549.00 US and the Waffle is 1,779.00 US.