Best Robotics Kit

Hi folks, we are working on formally verified ROS2 software and are looking for a robotics kit to develop a proof of concept. We want something ready to go out of the box, based on RasberryPi, and has a good model in Gazebo. Any suggestions? Thanks, folks. Jamie Smith

May I suggest TurtleBot 3 or the forthcoming Turtlebot 4. I have a TB4 Lite sitting on my desk and I had the robot and simulation up and running in a little over an hour.

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It depends on what exactly you intend to do. A Neato Botvac can be used as a development platform that is inexpensive and has the advantage of a built in lidar. A ROS2 port of Ferguson’s drivers is on github.

Ubiquity Robotics has a $2K Pi driven platform capable of 100k payload. Unfortunately only ROS 1 at present. Dusty Robotics used it to prototype their successful construction drafting robot.

If the payload is minimal and an indoor smooth floor is all that is required, it is probably best to stick with a Turtlebot.

I’ve recently found GitHub - kallaspriit/rosbot: ROS 2 based robot learning platform and while it is DIY, it costs around the same as Turtlebot, while allowing some more power and bigger payloads.

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Have y’all seen the limo-bot? It looks like an interesting platform to learn ROS on. https://limo-bot.com/

It can change from diff drive to Ackerman steering. Treads or mecanum wheels are supposed to be provided as well.

The link to getting it running in simulation is here:

While the cost of this kit is reasonable, BOM about the same as a Turtlebot, you also need to consider the time it would take to order, assemble and get it working properly. All that time is being subtracted from time needed to code the new functionality of the prototype.

Interesting question.

Perhaps some questions for the OP.

What kind of Robot are you looking to implement?
Robot ARM, Mobile Robot, AMR, AGV, etc…

What is the application for your Robot?

How much money are you looking to spend?

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