Review for Tscinbunny kit «Robot-car with Bluetooth — ESP32-CAM + STM32»

Hi everyone! =)

In this article i wil tell you about a very interesting and cool electronics kit from China company Tscinbunny. This kit is for building a robot car with a lot of interesting functions — following the man and riding around obstacles with ultrasonic sensor, videotranslation with WiFi to your smartphone or computer, following the line on floor. You can also write your code, and so this robot can do anything you want.

It is not just a kit, it is a full constructor for building a robot car with a programmable microcontrollers (ESP32-WROOVER and STM32F10 onboard). You can build it and write every program you want, from just riding by WiFi control to a very cool autopilot car with gesture control. Let’s look at kit parts.

I sorted all parts by categories.

Electronics

1. STM32 board with microUSB — 1 pc. Main board, that controls all modules of the car.
2. Bluetooth receiver — 1 pc. Sends signal from STM32 board by air.
3. ESP32-CAM — 1 pc. Microcontroller, that controls camera and sends real-time picture by Wi-Fi.
4. IR sensor for line following — 1 pc. Used for line following. Line must be contrast with floor, for example, floor is white, line is black.
5. Servo SG-90 (full complect, with all screws) — 2 pcs. Needed for steering and moving camera and ultrasonic module.
6. Shield-board for STM32 (driver for motors) — 1 pc. Controls power and motors/servos.
7. Motor-reductor — 4 pcs. Needed for moving the car.
8. Ultrasonic sensor — 1 pc. Measures the distance in front of it.
9. Antenna for ESP32-CAM — 1 pc.

Body

10. Wheel for motor-reductor — 4 pcs.
11. Acrilic plate for steering motors — 2 pcs.
12. Top main acrilic panel — 1 pc.
13. Bottom main acrilic panel — 1 pc.
14. Box for two batteries 18650 — 1 pc.

Screws

15. Copper tube М2×8 — 4 pcs.
16. Copper tube М3×12+6 — 4 pcs.
17. Plastic tube М3×20 — 4 pcs.
18. Plastic tube М3×40 — 4 pcs.
19. Metal breacket for motor-reductor — 2 pcs.
20. Axis for steering wheels — 4 pcs.
21. Breaket for motor-reductor gear — 4 pcs.
22. Breacket for motor-reductor axis — 4 pcs.
23. Half-gear for motor-reductor — 2 pcs.
24. Steering gear — 1 pc.
25. Breacket for ultrasonic sensor — 1 pc.
26. Nuts М1.6 — 4 pcs.
27. Nuts М2 — 16 pcs.
28. Nuts М3 — 48 pcs.
29. Bolts with a round cap М1.6×10 — 4 pcs.
30. Bolts with a round cap М2×8 — 8 pcs.
31. Bolts with a round cap М2×10 — 8 pcs.
32. Bolts with a flat cap М3×8 — 28 pcs.
33. Bolts with a round cap М3×10 — 6 pcs.
34. Bolts with a flat cap М3×12 — 12 pcs.
35. Bolts with a flat cap М3×30 — 8 pcs.
36. Plastic bolts with a flat cap М3×8 — 10 pcs.
37. Plastic bolts with a round cap М3×8 — 10 pcs.

Cables

38. Cables for modules connecting — 3 pcs.
39. USB Type-C cable — 1 pc.

Tools

40. Programmer for STM32 with cable — 1 pc.
41. Screw for building — 2 pcs.

How does it works?

This kit is needed to build a full autonomous robot-car with three main features:

1. Obstacle avoidance
   Ultrasonic sensor (8) controls space in front of the car. If there is a lot of space, the car goes ahead. If there is no space, the steering servo (5) turns left and right, and ultrasonic sensor measures space again, and the car goes there, where is a lot of space.
2. Line following
   IR-sensor (4) watchs contrast color, and the program in the STM32 (1) controls power on motors by PWM to follow the line.
3. Videocontrol and IoT
   The camera on ESP32-CAM (3) sends picture in real-time to your smartphone or PC by Wi-Fi. You can add AI face or object recognition, and gestures recognition to control your robot by hands.

Why THIS kit?

• Ready solution «all-in-one» — don’t needed to search compatible parts.
• Modulation — for example, if you don’t need camera, you can change ESP32-CAM to any module.
• Study by practice — you will learn:
• How to control motors (PID-controls for slow control).
• Working with analog STM32 (processing signals from sensors).
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications.
• You can use all these components in the future.

How to build and start — quick guide:

1. Build the car by the instruction below;
2. Connect all cables, motors and antenna;
3. Connect the ESP32 board by USB-cable to computer.
4. Open the Arduino IDE. Add a board core for ESP32. I told about it in this article.
5. Create a new project, paste there the code from project directory.
6. Load libraries in the IDE.
7. Select your board and click Load.
8. When the compilation and loading ended, disconnect ESP32 from computer.
9. Connect the STM32 board to your computer, program it by the instruction from the.
10. Disconnect the STM32 board from the computer, connect all boards to the robot-car, connect batteries, turn it ON and play =)

INSTRUCTION FOR BUILDING

Here is the official instruction from Tscinbunny:

Обложка инструкции

Перечисление компонентов 1

Перечисление компонентов 2

Установка ИК датчика и опор

Установка задних моторов

Установка колес и АКБ блока

Установка рулевого сервопривода

Установка антенны в шилд

Установка платы в шилд

Установка датчика УЗ

Установка платы с камерой

Установка осей рулевых моторов

Сборка рулевого колеса

Установка колеса на мотор-редуктор

Сборка блоков

Подключение модулей

Подключение моторов и серво

Now i will tell you how to build this robot-car step-by-step.

Help

Who is who — screw and bolt? Screw has a pointed tip and it is screwed in without a nut. Bolt has a flat tip and screws in with a nut. It’s important not to confuse them!

All bolts have a type, for example, «M3*10 with a flat cap». It means, that you need to take a bolt with flat cap 3 millimeters in diameter and 10 millimeters in length.

Which bolt to choice — with a flat cap or round? In places where another object is located next to the bolt, such as a battery box, use a flat cap so that the round one does not interfere with the installation of batteries. For your convenience, I have indicated where and which bolts should be used =)

In the beginning of every step, i selected those components, that you need for this step, and also their quantity.

Have a nice building =)

1. Take 4 M3 nuts, 2 M3*10 flat cap bolts, IR sensor and bottom acrylic panel. Attach the nuts to both sides of the IR sensor holes, attach the sensor to its place on the panel, with the sensors facing down. Screw in the bolts from the bottom.
2. Take 4 bolts М3*8 with a round cap and 4 plastic tube М3*40. There are holes in the corners of the lower acrylic panel, two per corner. Attach the plastic tubing on the upper side of the panel to the holes that are closer to the center of the panel. Screw in the bolts from the bottom.
3. Take 4 bolts М3*8 with a flat cap, 4 copper tube М3*12+6 and 2 rectangle motor mount. Each motor mount has two holes in the end part — screw copper tubes into them, two tubes per mount. Install these two received modules on top of the lower acrylic panel, on the opposite side from the IR sensor, and fasten them with bolts, two bolts per module.
4. Take 4 long bolts М3*30 with a round cap, 4 nuts М3 and 2 gear motor. Turn one gear motor back to the center of the panel and sideways to the modules from the previous step. Insert 2 bolts from the outside into one motor, install it on one of the modules, and fasten it from the inside with 2 nuts, one per bolt. Repeat these steps with the second motor.
5. Take 2 wheels. Install them on the outside of the gear motor shafts.
6. Take battery box, 4 bolts М3*8 with a flat cap, 4 nuts М3 and the top acrilic panel. The part of the acrylic panel where there are no rectangular holes is the back. The part that the front rectangular opening is closest to is the right side of the panel. On the rear upper part of the upper panel, install the battery box, remove the cover and insert the bolts inside. On the back of the panel, screw the nuts onto the bolts, 1 nut per bolt. Insert the batteries and close the box cover.
7. Take 4 bolts М2*5 with a round cap, 2 copper tubes М2*8 and 1 servo. In the central rectangular hole, insert the servo drive from below, with the main shaft b closer to the front of the panel. Between the round holes of the servo and the holes on the panel, insert copper tubes, one per hole. We fasten it with bolts on both sides.
8. Take black round gear, 2 screws from the servo kit, and a long servo arm that has no protrusions. On one side of the gear, we install the servo lever, with the longer part of the lever shaft inside the gear. We match the holes on the gear with the holes on the lever and screw the screws into the holes on the gear side.
9. Take results from steps 7 and 8, and a bolt from the standart servo package. Mount the result from step 8 on the servo, screw it with a bolt.
10. Take a Wi-Fi antenna and shield board for STM32. Unscrew the lower part of the antenna (which is with the wire) from the antenna itself, and remove all the washers and nut. Insert the lower part of the antenna from the bottom into the hole on the board, put all 2 washers on this lower part and fasten the nut. Then screw on the antenna itself.
11. Take the result from step 10, the STM32 board and the Bluetooth transmitter. Install the STM32 card on special connectors on the shield board, with the USB connector closer to the antenna. This is important, the main thing is not to confuse the sides!! Install the Bluetooth transmitter in a special slot very close to the antenna. The number of pins on the transmitter board is not the same as the number of pins on the board, because not all of the transmitter’s pins are involved. Therefore, connect the transmitter so that there is one free pin on both sides.
12. Take 8 plastic flat head bolts, 4 M320 plastic tubes and results from stages 10 and 11. There are holes in the corners of the shield board, we insert one bolt from the top of the board into them, and fasten the plastic tubes to the bolts from the bottom. The resulting board on the stands is installed on top of the structure from stage 10 (the upper acrylic panel with the battery pack and servo), we fasten 4 bolts from the bottom, one per support. We will connect the wire from the battery pack to the main board after assembly, so as not to short out or spoil anything. Take servo, 2 M2*8 round head bolts and 2 M2 nuts. We insert the servo into the rectangular hole in the front of the upper panel, the servo shaft should be in the center of the panel. Carefully thread the servo wire through the hole so that the wire is at the bottom of the panel. We insert the bolts from above and fasten the nuts from below.
13. Take 2 screws from the servo kit, a mount for the ultrasonic sensor and a long lever without protrusions for the servo. We install the shaft at the bottom of the sensor mount, screw in the screws on top to fasten the lever and the sensor mount together.
14. Take the design from stage 14, ultrasonic sensor, 4 M1.6*10 round head bolts and 4 M1 nuts. Insert the sensor from the inside into the mount, insert the bolts from the outside, and tighten the nuts from the inside.
15. Take a stage 15 construction, 2 bolts M2 * 10, 2 nuts M2 with a round cap, and an ESP32-CAM board. From the inside of the structure from step 15, we attach the ESP32-CAM board, insert the bolts from the outside. From the inside, we tighten the nuts to fasten the structure from step 15 and the board with the camera.
16. Take designs from stages 14 and 16, as well as a bolt from the servo kit. We install the design from stage 16 on the servo of the design from stage 14. We fasten the servo lever from the inside with a bolt to the servo. Connect the Wi-Fi antenna wire to a special connector on the board with the camera, on its reverse side. Now let’s postpone our resulting construction for now.
17. Take 8 M3*8 flat head bolts, 8 M3 nuts, 4 white axles and 4 black steering motor mounts. Take one mount, attach one axle, and insert two nuts into the special recesses in the axles. Fasten the bolts on the back side. Repeat these steps 4 times. Take stage 18 designs, 8 M3*12 flat head bolts, 8 M3 nuts, 4 white semi-circular gear mounts and 2 steering motor plates. Insert nuts into the special slots of the structures from step 18, two for each structure. In the special grooves of the plates, we insert the structures with the axes facing out, on the other hand, we apply white fasteners and screw in the bolts. We repeat again, we get two U-shaped structures.
18. Take designs from stage 19 and 2 semi-circular gears, for attaching 4 M3 * 10 bolts with a flat cap. We insert the white gear mounts into the grooves and fasten them with bolts.
19. Take 2 gear motors, 4 M3*30 round head bolts and 4 M3 nuts. In the inner part of the structures, we insert gear motors, and bolts in them. From the gear side, we tighten the nuts.
20. Take last 2 wheels. Put the wheels on the gear motor shafts.
21. Take steering gear motors and lower panel with rear motors. Insert the steering motors into the special round holes. Check if the motor wheels are turning.
22. Take top panel and 4 plastic bolts М3*8 with round cap. Through the round hole in the middle of the top panel, pass the wires from the motors and the servo, connect them to the board. The activation procedure is shown in the image below. Carefully lower the top panel to the bottom and attach it with plastic bolts.
23. Take 3 cables (wires in group with connectors). Connect modules to the main board-shield like on picture below.
24. Programming. Connect the ESP32-CAM to the computer, bulk in attached sketch in the project directory. After connect the STM32 board to the computer and bulk in it it’s code from the project directory.
25. Testing. After building and programming connect the power cable from battery box to the shield-board and turn the tumbler in the state ON. Test the robot-car functions.

ATTENTION! If you can’t connect the cable connector when connecting the cable connector, make sure that you are connecting it correctly! It is very important. If the module is connected incorrectly, it may break, and the motor will rotate in the wrong direction.

Usually, such kits have sample codes in the kit for testing or for those who don’t know how to program, but really want to build and program something. But if you know how to program and have imagination, you can make a very cool unmanned car.

I found and collect all needed files, with instructions, sketches and documentation. You can download archive below, by click the button. Archive is hosted on Yandex Disk.

After downloading archive, unpack directory from it, on your Desktop, then you can work with this directory!

Thank you very much for reading my article! Rate it 5 stars =)