Rover Profile/ 2018

Revolution

Four wheels, expandable bogies, and a rebuilt 6-DOF arm

Drive: 4-wheel modified rocker-bogie
Arm: 6-DOF
Payload: >5 kg lift / hold

CompetitionLEAD // Mohammad Zahirul Islam

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Mission Brief

Revolution is BRACU Mongol Tori's 2018 University Rover Challenge entry and the third major iteration of the Mongol Tori lineup. This year the team moved from a six-wheel to a four-wheel platform, introduced an expanding rocker-bogie suspension, completely reconstructed the robotic arm, and packed the controls into a portable three-laptop command station while cutting overall size and weight. It is a stand-alone mobile platform built to assist astronauts across servicing, retrieval, autonomous traversal, and scientific research tasks.Revolution is BRACU Mongol Tori's 2018 University Rover Challenge entry and the third major iteration of the Mongol Tori lineup. This year the team moved from a six-wheel to a four-wheel platform, introduced an expanding rocker-bogie suspension, completely reconstructed the robotic arm, and packed the controls into a portable three-laptop command station while cutting overall size and weight. It is a stand-alone mobile platform built to assist astronauts across servicing, retrieval, autonomous traversal, and scientific research tasks.

Spec SheetDWG revolution-2018-2018

Competition: URC 2018
Year: 2018
Team Lead: Mohammad Zahirul Islam

01 / What Makes It New

5 breakthroughs that define Revolution

01
Innovation
Expandable rocker-bogie suspension
Two heavy-duty linear actuators extend the bogies from 0.76 m to 1.2 m on demand, widening the stance for added stability on vertical drops and steep slopes.
02
Innovation
Six-to-four wheel redesign
The platform dropped from six wheels to a four-wheel modified rocker-bogie, cutting size and weight while keeping the ability to climb rocks and rotate 360 degrees.
03
Innovation
Reconstructed 6-DOF arm
An entirely rebuilt arm with four linear actuators, two DC motors, a tip bevel-gear assembly for wire-free wrist rotation, and a cable-driven claw that lifts more than 5 kg.
04
Innovation
Portable command station
A self-contained base station running three laptops consolidates control, science, and camera feeds into a deployable remote command post.
05
Innovation
Dual sample collectors
A claw-based digging module and a custom drill-bit housing (which forces soil upward into a separate box) give two contamination-aware ways to gather Martian-analog samples.

02 / Engineering

Built subsystem by subsystem

Every discipline on the team owns a slice of the machine. Here is how each one comes together.

SYS.01Mechanical

01Subsystem

Mechanical

A ground-up mechanical redesign moving to four wheels with an expandable rocker-bogie suspension, a rebuilt 6-DOF arm, and dual sample collectors. The chassis combines ladder and space-frame structures with triangulation for rigidity against rocky-terrain shock.

Ladder + space frame K-shaped chassis, 0.7 m long x 0.55 m wide, with triangulation against shape distortion
Four-wheel modified rocker-bogie with two bogies on a U-shaped rear differential bar and universal joints
Expandable bogies extending from 0.76 m to 1.2 m via two heavy-duty linear actuators for stability on drops and slopes
Molded aluminum wheels 0.30 m diameter x 0.10 m wide with fixed-orientation rubber grip for 360-degree rotation and climbing
6-DOF arm using four linear actuators and two DC motors, bevel gear assembly at the tip, cable-driven claw, lifts >5 kg
Multiple task-specific end effectors: 3-finger rubber-grip claw and an excavator-claw heavy-duty effector

SYS.02Controls

02Subsystem

Controls & Software

Control software is split across dedicated GUIs for control, science, and mapping, served from a portable base station that acts as TCP client to the rover server. A mapping GUI tracks the rover in real time on a preloaded map via GPS.

Control GUI written in JAVA, platform-independent, base station as TCP client and rover as server
Science GUI built in C# rendering sensor readings into custom gauges
Mapping GUI tracks rover live on a preloaded map using GPS latitude/longitude
Autonomy stack in Python 3.6 with OpenCV 3.0 image processing
Portable command station running 3 laptops for control and rover cameras

SYS.03Electronics

03Subsystem

Electronics

An ATmega2560-based Arduino drives the motors through 43A BTS7960 modules and connects directly to the onboard NUC PC. The electrical system was designed in Proteus 8.0 and manufactured on a plug-and-play PCB, with power split between motor and communication streams.

ATmega2560 Arduino Mega controlling motors via 43A BTS7960 modules
Plug-and-play PCB with six Cytron drivers, four BTS drivers, and a four-channel relay module
Electrical system designed in Proteus 8.0
Dual power streams: 12V 30A lead-acid for motors, two 12V 4.5A Li-Po for comms
Comms branch sub-divided via voltage converters to power network switch, router, IP camera, FPV camera and NUC PC
Safety: kill switch for force shutdown and a 30A fuse box

SYS.04Network

04Subsystem

Communication

A 2.4 GHz dual-router link connects the onboard NUC PC to the base station, with omni-directional coverage on the rover and a high-gain tracked directional antenna at the base. Vision is delivered through IP and FPV camera feeds.

Two 2.4 GHz routers (Rocket M2 and Bullet M2) with channel switching; dual-band 2.4/5.8 GHz planned
Omni-directional TL-ANT2412D antenna on rover for 360-degree horizontal coverage
High-gain directional sector antenna ANT2327D15T-120DP with Rocket M2 at base station
G-5500 rotator with elevation-azimuth controller to manually track the rover
Two IP cameras and two FPV cameras with 5.8 GHz 600 mW transmitter, switchable from control software

SYS.05Autonomous

05Subsystem

Autonomy

Autonomous traversal fuses GPS and magnetometer data with computer vision. The rover navigates by GPS to within 3.5 m of a target gate, then hands off to an OpenCV image-processing routine for final approach.

U-blox 6 based NEO-6 series GPS module with ~5 m error margin
HMC5883L three-axis magnetometer for heading determination
Target-gate path planning computing distance and angle between waypoints
GPS-to-vision handoff once within a 3.5 m radius of the destination
Image-processing routine built with OpenCV and Python

SYS.06Science

06Subsystem

Science

The science plan searches for signs of life and characterizes the Martian environment through onboard atmospheric/soil sensing and follow-up lab analysis. Samples are drilled into airtight containers, and a panorama with GPS data documents the site.

Onboard gas sensing: MQ7 (CO), MQ135 (CO2), MQ8 (H2), GROVE O2 sensor
Environmental sensors: LDR light, ML8511 UV, DHT22 air temp/humidity, DS18B20 soil temp, soil moisture
Lab tests: microbial biomass, water flow capillary, pH, amino acid, soil microscopy, soil bulk density
Drill-based sample collector deposits soil into a separate airtight box; claw collector also available
High-resolution panorama and close-up stratigraphic imaging with GPS location data
Reagents and equipment: Ninhydrin, ethanol, digital microscope, centrifugal tubes, spirit burner

03 / Telemetry

The numbers behind the build

Drive System

4-wheel modified rocker-bogie

Chassis

0.7 m x 0.55 m ladder + space frame (K-shape)

Suspension

Expandable bogies, 0.76 m to 1.2 m via two linear actuators

Wheels

0.30 m dia x 0.10 m molded aluminum, rubber grip

Arm DOF

6-DOF, 1.5 m reach

Payload

>5 kg lift / hold

Speed

~4 km/h

Operating Range

Travels up to 1 km from base station

Power

12V 30A lead-acid (motors) + 2x 12V 4.5A Li-Po (comms)

Compute

Onboard NUC PC + ATmega2560 Arduino

Parts Index // 18 components

ATmega2560 Arduino Mega
BTS7960 43A module
Cytron motor driver
Intel NUC PC
Proteus 8.0
U-blox NEO-6 GPS
HMC5883L magnetometer
OpenCV 3.0
Python 3.6
Rocket M2
Bullet M2
TL-ANT2412D omni antenna
ANT2327D15T-120DP sector antenna
G-5500 rotator
MQ7 / MQ135 / MQ8 gas sensors
ML8511 UV sensor
DHT22
DS18B20
ATmega2560 Arduino Mega
BTS7960 43A module
Cytron motor driver
Intel NUC PC
Proteus 8.0
U-blox NEO-6 GPS
HMC5883L magnetometer
OpenCV 3.0
Python 3.6
Rocket M2
Bullet M2
TL-ANT2412D omni antenna
ANT2327D15T-120DP sector antenna
G-5500 rotator
MQ7 / MQ135 / MQ8 gas sensors
ML8511 UV sensor
DHT22
DS18B20

DS18B20
DHT22
ML8511 UV sensor
MQ7 / MQ135 / MQ8 gas sensors
G-5500 rotator
ANT2327D15T-120DP sector antenna
TL-ANT2412D omni antenna
Bullet M2
Rocket M2
Python 3.6
OpenCV 3.0
HMC5883L magnetometer
U-blox NEO-6 GPS
Proteus 8.0
Intel NUC PC
Cytron motor driver
BTS7960 43A module
ATmega2560 Arduino Mega
DS18B20
DHT22
ML8511 UV sensor
MQ7 / MQ135 / MQ8 gas sensors
G-5500 rotator
ANT2327D15T-120DP sector antenna
TL-ANT2412D omni antenna
Bullet M2
Rocket M2
Python 3.6
OpenCV 3.0
HMC5883L magnetometer
U-blox NEO-6 GPS
Proteus 8.0
Intel NUC PC
Cytron motor driver
BTS7960 43A module
ATmega2560 Arduino Mega

04 / Mission Plan

Four missions, one machine

How this rover is engineered to score across every University Rover Challenge task.

01
Extreme Retrieval and Delivery
Designed to travel up to 1 km from base at roughly 4 km/h, the rover uses its modified rocker-bogie and rubber-gripped aluminum wheels to traverse rocks, slopes, stairs, and vertical drops over 0.75 m while delivering aid to astronauts.
02
Equipment Servicing
The 6-DOF arm reaches 1.5 m from the ground with a strong three-finger claw and 360-degree rotational wrist for wire-free manipulation, performing tasks like plugging cords, turning knobs, and undoing latches; a claw-mounted camera aids vision and an onboard box stores retrieved tools.
03
Autonomous Traversal
Combining U-blox NEO-6 GPS, an HMC5883L magnetometer, and OpenCV vision, the rover navigates through target gates by GPS to within 3.5 m of each destination, then switches to image processing for the final autonomous approach.
04
Science
The rover drills and collects soil into airtight containers, runs onboard gas and environmental sensing for subsurface data, and returns samples for lab tests (microbial biomass, capillary, pH, amino acid, microscopy) to assess the likelihood of life on Mars.