Gripper
The gripper is a turret that can be plugged on the robot. It gives to the Khepera IV the ability to grab and move objects.
Two degrees of freedom for accurate and robust manipulation and transportation of objects of 5cm width and 50g load.
Made from high precision mechanical parts.
Elements | Technical Information |
---|---|
Max load size | 5 cm |
Max load weight | 50g |
Power supply | By the robot |
Size | closed and up: 108mmx115mmx155mm (HxWXL) |
Weight | 600g |
Sensors | Resistivity, arm position, motor current, infrared |
Functions | Grab object, detect object, measure resistivity of the grabbed material |
Autocalibration | Builtin |
Includes:
- Kh4 Gripper
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price: 2800 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping cost)
Software
- will be included in the new libkhepera library
User Manual
KoreIOLE
The KoreIOLE is a general Input and Output extension board for the Khepera IV. It provides several interfaces for digital I/O, digital power outputs, 10 bit analog inputs. The KoreIOLE can operate in stand-alone mode or communicate with a Khepera IV or any external SPI or I2C master. A CAN bus controller is also included to connect a Khepera IV to any CAN devices.
The KoreIOLE supports the KB-250 interface. The KB-250 interface is an open standard interface to expand the functionality of a Khepera robot in a easy and fast way. Besides using a full line of off-the-shelf KB-250 modules, developers can also design their own modules. KB-250 modules can be used singularly or stacked together to give the needed functionality. Several KoreIOLE boards can be placed on one stack to allow control of a large number of I/O.
A set of high level commands is provided, to easily interface Khepera programs or for external operations.
Elements | Technical Information |
---|---|
Digital IO | 16 x 5V digitial IO that can be independently configured as – Input – Ouput – PWM output |
Digital Power Output | 6 x digital power outputs – up to 1 Amps per channel – externaly provided voltage supply – fuse protected |
Analog Input | 12 x analog inputs – timestamped 10bit analog to digital converters – 0-5V input with a 0.005V resolution |
Interface | I2C Interface (400kbps) KB-250 Male Interface (for communication with the Khepera IV) KB-250 Female Interface (for stacking) |
Dimensions | 85mm x 57mm |
Includes:
- KoreIOLE board
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price : 195 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping costs)
User Manual
KoreIO
KoreIO is a general Input and Output extension board for Khepera IV. It provides several interfaces to additional digital IO, digital power outputs, 10 bit analog inputs and 8 bits analog outputs. A CAN bus controller is also included to connect a Khepera IV to any CAN devices.
A special PWM ouput mode is available to control standard Servo Motors. The KoreIO board is able to control up to 10 Servo Motors simultaneously, and to provide them with 5V power supply.
KoreIO board supports standalone usage using a serial or I2C interface and it can be included in a KB-250 stack as well. The KB-250 interface is an open standard interface to expand the functionality of an existing ARM base platform in a easy and fast way. Besides using a full line of off-the-shelf KB-250 modules, developpers can also design their own modules. KB-250 modules can be used singularly or stacked together to give the needed functionality.
A set of high level commands is provided, to easily interface the Khepera IV programs or for external operations with the libkhepera.
Elements | Technical Information |
---|---|
Digital IO | 16 x 5V digitial IO that can be independently configured as – Input – Ouput – PWM output |
Digital Power Output | 6 x digital power outputs – up to 1 Amps per channel – externaly provided voltage supply – fuse protected |
Analog Input | 12 x analog inputs – timestamped 10bit analog to digital converters – 0-5V input with a 0.005V resolution |
Analog Ouput | 8 x 8bit analog outputs – 4.5V to -5V voltage range – 15 mA drive current per channel |
CAN bus Controller | CAN bus controller and transceiver – 1Mbps data rate |
Interface | K-Net Interface (for communication with Khepera and Koala) I2C Interface (400kbps) RS232 Serial Interface (115kbps) KB-250 Male Interface (for communication with Khepera IV) KB-250 Female Interface (for stacking) |
Dimensions | 85mm x 57mm |
Includes:
- KoreIO board
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price : 624 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping costs)
User Manual
KoreMotorLE
KoreMotorLE provides two DC motor channels. It can drive up to two DC motors using separate PID’s to control position, and speed. The PID control loop is implemented with 32-bit calculations, with a 32-bit position value and a 16-bit velocity value. Current measurement feedback is also available to detect torque and stall conditions for the motors.
KoreMotorLE does not support standalone operation. The board must be connected to a Khepera IV using the KB-250 stack.
The KoreMotorLE supports the KB-250 interface. The KB-250 interface is an open standard interface to expand the functionality of an existing Khepera robot in a easy and fast way. Besides using a full line of off-the-shelf KB-250 modules, developers can also design their own modules. KB-250 modules can be used singularly or stacked together to give the needed functionality. Several KoreMotorLE boards can be placed on one stack to allow control of a large number of motors.
Features:
- Control for 2 DC motors with incremental encoders.
- Motor requirements:
- 5-28V
- 25W max
- 2.5A max continuous
- 5.0A max peak
- Control:
- open or closed loop regulation
- position, speed and current (torque) control
- adjustable sampling frequency from 10Hz up to 12kHz
- One 2A fuse per motor and one common 5A fuse
- K-Net Interface (for communication with Khepera and Koala)
- KB-250 Male Interface for communication with Khepera IV
- KB-250 Female Interface for stacking
Includes:
- KoreMotorLE board
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price : 199 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping costs)
User Manual
Expansion Turret
The expansion turret can be plugged on the top of the Khepera IV to improve the capabilities of the Khepera IV. This turret will provide many different options to the Robot:
· Laser Range Finder (LRF) connection capability (Hokuyo URG-04LX-UG01)
· StarGazer (indoor global position and bearing) connection capability
· Additional battery for a larger autonomy with the K4 external charger pack
· IOs accessibility
With the expansion turret it is now possible to connect and use on the same Khepera robot a LRF module and a stargazer module at the same time.
The expansion turret give access of different GPIO’s of the Khepera by soldering a wire:
- – Main ground
- +3.3V supply output (max 2A)
- +5V supply output (max 2A)
- COM3 Tx (ttyS2), GPIO166
- COM3 Rx (ttyS2), GPIO165
- Interrupt 1 input, GPIO10
- Interrupt 2 input, GPIO186
- I2C SCL, GPIO184
- I2C SDA, GPIO185
- SPI MISO, GPIO173
- SPI MOSI, GPIO172
- SPI CLK, GPIO171
- SPI CS1, GPIO175
- PWM1, GPIO144
- Kh4 battery Voltage
- COM1 Rx (ttyS0), GPIO151
- COM1 Tx (ttyS0), GPIO148
Here is the possible configurations with the expansion turret :
K4 expansion turret alone
Expansion turret with additional battery inserted in
K4 expansion turret with LRF sensor Hokuyo URG-04LX-UG01
K4 expansion turret with Stargazer module
K4 expansion turret with LRF, Stargazer and additional battery
Left setup on the Khepera IV
Includes:
- Kh4 expansion turret
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price for the expansion turret only : 390 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping costs)
Software
- will be included in the new libkhepera library
User Manual
External Charger Pack
The K4 external charger pack is an option to the expansion board. Composed by two batteries, an external charger and a power supply. It is used to add autonomy to the Khepera IV robot. The additional battery of 3600mAh adds about 5 hours of autonomy to the Khepera IV. It is particulary indicated when you use a Stargazer and / or a LRF module, in order to save the autonomy of the robot.
Another advantage is that you are able to change the additional battery while the nattive battery inside the robot is still powering the robot, making unnecessary to restart your robot and allowing you to run a virtualy unlimited experimentation time.
The additional battery is plugged into the expansion board (not included in the K4 external charger pack).
The pack include two additional batteries and the charger which can charge up to 2 batteries in about 4 hours.
Here is a brief summary of the gain of autonomy with the additional battery :
Setup | Autonomy without additional battery | Autonomy with additional battery |
KheperaIV alone | about 7 hours | about 12 hours * |
KheperaIV with LRF | about 5 hours | about 8.5 hours * |
KheperaIV with StarGazer |
about 4 hours | about 7 hours * |
KheperaIV with LRF+StarGazer |
about 3 hours | about 5 hours * |
KheperaIV with Gripper |
about 4 hours | about 7.5 hours * |
KheperaIV with Gripper+LRF+StarGazer |
about 2.5 hours | about 4.5 hours * |
*Time indicated above are average, depending of the CPU and motor use.
Additonal battery (the pack includes two of them)
External charger, it can charge up to two batteries in the same time in about 4 hours.
Includes:
- Kh4 external charger
- Powersupply
- Two Khepera IV batteries
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price: 470 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping costs)
Laser Range Finder
The expansion turret can receive in option a Laser Range Finder module. It is used to do navigation, specially for mapping and localization. A laser inside the sensor is scanning the robot environment, measuring each 0.36 degres the distance from any object at its height.
The model which can be used is the URG-04LX-UG01 from the Hokuyo company. The turret gives the mechanical support for the sensor and the connectivity for it. In option, you can add a battery with the external charger pack in order to save the Khepera IV robot autonomy.
Technical specification of the LRF module:
Elements | Technical Information |
---|---|
Range | 20 mm to 5600 mm |
Accuracy | 60 to 1000mm : ±30mm , 1000 to 4095mm : ±3% of measurement |
Angular resolution | approx. 0.36 degree |
Autonomy | 2 hours |
Weight | 300g |
Software | Libkorebot |
Scanning time | 100ms / scan |
LRF module on the expansion turret
Includes:
- Kh4 expansion turret with the LRF module installed
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price for the expansion turret with the LRF module : 1890 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping cost)
Software
- will be included in the new libkhepera library
User Manual
Indoor global positioning system (Stargazer)
The Stargazer is a module allowing the Khepera IV robot to have indoor global position and bearing from passive landmarks marks.
It is used to do navigation, specially for mapping and localization. The module has IR Led’s for lighting landmarks and a camera for capturing the image, which is processed by on-board electronics. It computes position and bearing related to landmarks stuck on the ceiling. It uses the StargazerTM module from Hagisonic co. Ltd.
This a top module. No module can be plugged above this one.
Elements | Technical Information |
---|---|
Range | 2.5-3 m of diameter with 1 landmarks (for ceiling height of 2.4 m; can be improved by adding landmarks) |
Accuracy | 3.5 cm / 3 degrees |
Measurement time | 10 times /sec |
Autonomy | 2h30 ; Li-Pol battery |
Weight | 117 g |
Software | Libkhepera |
Compatibility | Khepera IV extensions (KB-250 specifications) |
Includes:
- Kh4 expansion turret with the Stargazer module installed
Requirements:
Price:
- Recommended price for the expansion module with Stargazer module: 1790 CHF (excluding local taxes and shipping cost)
Software
- will be included in the new libkhepera library
User Manual