Rover Project Resources

Resources

The open source rover project is a project that can let people build a rover that is similar to the one on Mars for $2,500. The open source rover project is a great way to learn new things like learning how to build a rover from scratch or leaning how to program it. Now $2,500 may seem like a lot of money for some people who don’t want to spend that much on tools in order to build it. There are other rovers out there that can be built for much less and as low as $500. The following resources that are below are divided into categories that have links that are relatable to the open source rover project like wanting to build a less expensive rover or learning how to program it with free available course online.

JPL Resources

JPL website

The JPL website has general information and an overview of the open source rover project. It contains a link to Github where there are documents that have instructions and what tools are needed to build the rover.

https://opensourcerover.jpl.nasa.gov/#!/home

Github

This site contains all the documentation needed to build the rover. The instructions and tools will be helpful to build the rover.

https://github.com/nasa-jpl/open-source-rover

JPL’s Open Source Rover

A forum that has discussions regarding the rover project that can be helpful. It is run by people and is not related to JPL in anyway. The forum has discussions that might be helpful if we have questions about the project that might be on the forum.

http://s15.zetaboards.com/JPL_OpenSource_Rover/index/

Budget Rovers

TechRepublic

Information about the Raspberry Pi that is used on the rover project. It has the basic information about the credit card sized computer that is used on the rover.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/want-a-raspberry-pi-powered-mars-rover-designed-by-nasa-heres-how-to-build-one/?ref=producthunt

GitHub

This is a less expensive rover called Sawppy the Rover that was inspired by the JPL open source rover project. This rover is a less expensive rover if anyone does not want to spend more than $1,000.

https://github.com/Roger-random/Sawppy_Rover

YouTube link to the Sawppy Rover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acANiRFg-qA

Online Star Register

Another less expensive version of the JPL open source rover project that uses LEGO’s called Curiosity Rover. If anyone is interested in building a rover using LEGO’s this might be a useful link.

https://osr.org/blog/kids/nasa-build-your-own-rover-or-lego-rover

Battle Bricks

A link that shows pictures and videos of different versions of the Curiosity rover that is built with LEGO’s. Shows a few pictures and videos of the finished rover to get an idea of what it looks like.

http://battlebricks.com/curiosity/

Christopher Bartneck

Christopher Bartneck is an Associate Professor at the HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury who created a simpler version of the Mars rover. If anyone would like to start out with a simpler version of the Mars rover, this site can be useful.

http://www.bartneck.de/2018/03/03/simple-lego-mindstorms-mars-rover/

Self-Learning Resources

Lynda

A website that offers different online courses to help you learn business, software, technology and creative skills that can achieve personal and professional goals. It can help students who want to learn to code since the rover needs to be programmed.

https://www.lynda.com/

CodeAcademy