The last couple of weekends, I’ve been working on the least sexy part of the robot – the mounting frame. As has been mentioned, the space inside the robot is VERY tight this year, so making everything fit is a real challenge.
We need to fit in:
- The Pi and its (not quite) Hat
- 2 x Motor controllers
- Servo controller board
- IMU
- Screen
- 2 x Battery monitors
- 2 x PSUs
- Amplifier
- Speaker
All in a space 94 x 83 x 89mm. And we need to think about thermal management. Looks like we’ll have to mount the batteries externally!
Our solution is this 3D printed frame. It holds the circuit boards vertically (for good convection cooling), puts the Pi and its connections at the back (the back is removable for easy access).
All the other little boards are mounted on the reverse of the Pi mounting plate (hidden in the photo). The whole thing lifts out of the robot if we need access to one of the boards buried near the bottom.