pi-top blog

For the first time ever in Raspberry Pi history, with the pi-top [4] Robotics Kit  you can now build any robotic configuration you want as simple and easy as if you were using LEGO®! We’ve built five different robot configurations to give you some inspiration, Alex is one of them.

HOW TO BUILD ALEX

In this video, we walk you through the steps you need to follow to build Alex, which should take you around an hour to complete. We also have detailed PDF instructions on how to get started with the pi-top [4] Robotics Kit and how to build Alex on our website.

Once you're done building Alex and you're ready to get coding, visit our project library, Further, to turn Alex into an autonomous line following robot.

For more advanced users, we've published pi-top Python Software Development Kit (SDK), pi-top .NET Core SDK and pi-top Robotics Engine (ROS).

What can Alex do?

Alex is a configuration designed for autonomous driving and AI projects. It incorporates a pan-tilt servo motor mechanism mounted on the front which gives the wide-angle camera sensor two degrees of freedom - a full 180° of range in both axes.

Its Ultrasonic Sensor is also attached to the pan-tilt servo motor mechanism which enables Alex to perform full 180° scans to look for possible obstacles. Finally, the two high accuracy, high power encoder motors are positioned at the front of the vehicle; allowing for more accurate positioning for projects such as line-following.

The pi-top [4] Robotics Kit offers ultimate modularity and expandability, allowing you to customise or design any configuration to suit your needs. Alex provides a large range of sensor mounting points so you can adapt and change it rapidly to suit your project's needs.