Hi everyone,
The iRobot® Education team is thrilled to announce the release of the iRobot® Create® 3 Educational Robot, the next generation of our affordable, mobile robotics platform for educators, students, and developers.
The robot has a robust suite of on-board sensors and actuators, allowing for out-of-the-box robotics algorithm development and testing.
- The IMU, optical flow sensors, and wheel encoders allow Create® 3 to estimate its movement in the environment.
- The bumper sensor provides contact information, while through IR pairs it is possible to detect cliffs and proximity to objects.
The software is entirely based on ROS 2; all raw sensor data are produced through ROS 2 publications, while ROS 2 servers and subscriptions are used to control actuators and respond to users requests.
Create® 3 includes several algorithms for autonomous navigation.
By fusing inertial measurements, the robot publishes its odometry estimation and can detect when its wheels are slipping.
Various types of hazards such as kidnaps, wheel-drops and stalls are detected and published.
The robot is also capable of multiple autonomous behaviors, such as docking/undocking, wall-following, and reactive behaviors configured through ROS 2 parameters such as hazard escape.
Designed for beginner to advanced ROS 2 users, Create® 3 allows for a variety of programming methods.
With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability, Ethernet over USB connections, plus a removable faceplate and rear bay for attaching payloads, you can start building with your Create® 3 right away.
The robot will be available for purchase starting in April 2022.
Have a look at the Create® 3 website to subscribe for more information, or to become a beta tester.
If you want more details about the Create® 3 robot, you can also have a look at our video introduction or check out the Create® 3 Documentation.
While the physical robot is not yet available, today we have released the iRobot® Create® 3 Simulator open-source.
This Gazebo-based application simulates a complete Create® 3 robot, exposing all the same ROS 2 topics, actions and services as the real one.
You can start developing using the simulator and then effortlessly run your algorithms on the real robot.
We are also releasing some example applications that will show you how to use the ROS 2 interfaces of the Create® 3 in order to write new algorithms and behaviors: run a simple coverage strategy or drive the robot following the tempo of your favorite song.
We are eager to see what the ROS 2 community will be able to realize using the new iRobot® Create® 3 Educational Robot, and we invite you to ask us any question you may have about this new, exciting robot!