Difference between revisions of "Donkey Car"

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(Attach Parts To Donkey Car Hat)
(Attach Parts To Donkey Car Hat)
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[[File:Dc-120-pi-headers.jpeg|600px]]
 
[[File:Dc-120-pi-headers.jpeg|600px]]
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The pair of pin sockets fit side by side:
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[[File:Dc-130-pi-headers.jpeg|600px]]
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Sit the Donkey Car Hat on top of the Raspberry Pi, so that it mounts on the header sockets. Then solder all 24 joints, being careful not to bridge any pins together:

Revision as of 12:31, 20 January 2019

Before You Begin

There are several steps where it's possible to destroy the Raspberry Pi, the camera, or other expensive parts of the kit. Please don't rush! Read these instructions carefully, and check before making any soldered connections, attaching the camera, or attaching power.

WARNING: Do NOT connect or disconnect items such as the servo or speed controller while power is applied. During testing we accidentally destroyed several servos by doing this. Make sure everything is powered down before doing ANY work on the car.

Parts Required

There are 4 major items included in your kit:

1. 1/16th scale RC car chassis, with a steering servo, a motor speed controller, and a NiMH battery.
2. Battery charger with AU/NZ adapter.
3. White rectangular laser-cut corflute base plate.
4. A bag of small parts.

The bag should contain:

* 1 x Raspberry Pi model 3
* 1 x Raspberry Pi camera and flex cable
* 1 x Donkey Car Hat for Raspberry Pi (in anti-static bag)
* 1 x Freetronics PR28V voltage regulator, already configured for 5V output (in anti-static bag)
* 1 x laser-cut corflute bracket
* 2 x blue laser-cut brackets
* 1 x 5mm 2-way screw terminal
* 4 x small cable ties
* 4 x plastic spacers
* 2 x 12-way header sockets
* 1 x 4-way pin header
* 2 x 3-way pin headers
* 2 x 1-way pin headers
* 2 x 10mm M3 bolts
* 2 x M3 nuts

Dc-10-parts.jpg

You will also be given a micro SD card and adapter separately, pre-loaded with Raspbian and the necessary software.

Chassis Preparation

Use a Philips-head screwdriver to remove the 4 black screws holding the rear spoiler mount onto the chassis:

Dc-20-remove-screws.jpg

Fit the blue laser-cut bracket labelled "REAR" onto the chassis, using the original screws to go through the bracket and into the spoiler mount. Tighten the screws gently so you don't crack the bracket. It doesn't need to be very tight:

Dc-30-rear-mount.jpg

Put the 2 x 10mm M3 bolts through the blue laser-cut bracket labelled "FRONT", and through the chassis at the front:

Dc-40-front-mount.jpg

Use the 2 x M3 nuts to secure the bracket. Once again, it doesn't need to be very tight. Just tight enough to stop it vibrating loose.

Dc-50-front-mount-nuts.jpg

Fit the white base plate onto the blue mounting brackets. WARNING: The bracket can be fitted upside down. The correct orientation has the small indentation to the right, and the hole to the left:

Dc-60-base.jpg

Wrap the rubber bands around the mounting brackets to secure the base plate.

Examine the white laser-cut camera mounting bracket, which has slots cut through one side of the corflute so that the tabs can bend in one direction. Bend the tabs, and begin to slide them into the slots in the base plate:

Dc-65-camera-mount.jpg

Slide the camera mount forward so that the tabs clip into the slots:

Dc-70-camera-mount.jpg

When the mount is all the way forward, clip the rear tab down into the slot:

Dc-80-camera-mount.jpg


Mount Raspberry Pi On Chassis

Insert the 4 cable ties through the base plate. Start by going down through the slot, then back up through the round hole. When the cable ties are in position, drop a coloured plastic spacer onto the tail of each cable tie:

Dc-90-pi-mount.jpg

Place the Raspberry Pi onto the tail ends of the cable ties, so that it sits on the coloured plastic spacers. Close the cable ties, gently tighten them, and clip off the ends:

Dc-100-pi-mount.jpg

Attach Parts To Donkey Car Hat

Peel the rubber stopper off its backing and stick it on top of the HDMI port on the Raspberry Pi.

The stopper isn't quite high enough on its own, so also cut off part of the thin rubber from the backing and stick it on top to increase the thickness:

Dc-110-rubber-stopper.jpg

Fit the pair of 12-way pin sockets onto the Raspberry Pi header. Yes, we know the sockets are shorter than the header! It doesn't matter, because all the pins we care about are within the first 10 positions on the header. Make sure the sockets are all the way towards the end of the header:

Dc-120-pi-headers.jpeg

The pair of pin sockets fit side by side:

Dc-130-pi-headers.jpeg

Sit the Donkey Car Hat on top of the Raspberry Pi, so that it mounts on the header sockets. Then solder all 24 joints, being careful not to bridge any pins together: