Skip to content

Doc: Update hardware documentation with the DotBot components + images #283

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Open
nermine11 wants to merge 1 commit into
base: main
Choose a base branch
from
Open

Doc: Update hardware documentation with the DotBot components + images #283

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
41 changes: 40 additions & 1 deletion doc/hardware/index.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -22,11 +22,50 @@ What to have on hand (the two USB cables are the ones you'll reach for most):

## DotBot v3

### Components
| Component | Reference | Function |
|---|---|---|
| **VDD booster** | U8 | Boosts the supercap voltage to a stable 3.6 V system rail. |
| **ON/OFF switch** | SW3 | Turns the DotBot on or off. |
| **Reset button** | SW1 | Resets the nRF5340. |
| **User button** | SW2 | General-purpose button. |
| **MCU: nRF5340** | U1 | The brain of the DotBot. |
| **Over-voltage protection** | U4 (ADCMP350) | Disconnects the input if the charging voltage is too high. |
| **Vmotor switch** | U10 + Q10–Q12 | Gates the motors power. |
| **Vbumper booster** | U9 (TPS61022) + L2 | Boosts the bumper rail to 3.66 V. |
| **Motor drivers** | U5, U6 (BDR6120H) | H-bridges converting MCU logic signals into motor current. |
| **Wheels** | — | Two driven wheels, one per motor (left and right). |
| **Bumper rails** | V_Bumper± | Contact rings at the front and rear, carrying the charging rail. |
| **DotBot ID** | — |DotBot ID. |
| **Lighthouse receiver** | D17 (BPW34S) + U12 (TS4231) | Detects the IR sweeps from the base stations and outputs them as digital signals. |
| **Supercap charger** | U13 (BQ24640) + L3 |Charges the supercapacitor. |
| **USB-C port** | J2 | Connects to the DAPLink probe, data only, no charging. |
| **Add-on headers** | J16, J17 | Expose UART, I²C and SPI for expansion boards. |
| **SWD mux** | U7 (TS3A27518E) | Routes the debug lines from the on-board programmer to the nRF5340. |
| **Debug probe** | U2 (STM32F103) | Runs DAPLink; programs and debugs the nRF5340 over USB. |
| **Motors** | M1, M2 (N20) | Drive the left and right wheels; each carries a quadrature encoder. |
| **Status LEDs** | D19, D23, D24 + D18 | Indicate the robot's mode: bootloader, running, programming. |
| **Supercapacitors** | J11 / J12 | Main energy storage. |
| **Coin cell** | BT1 (CR2032, 3 V) | Enables the motors to be powered. |
| **Supercap terminals** | J11 (V_Cap+), J12 (V_Cap−) | Connect the supercapacitors to the board. |
| **Passive front wheel** | — | Ball caster: used for support. |
| **Bumper connectors** | J7, J8, J14 (front) / J9, J10, J15 (rear) | Connect the front and rear bumpers to the board. |
| **Barrel jack** | J4 | Charges the supercapacitors. |
<p align="center">
<img width="988" height="649" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c2b05eac-a0ff-4369-bcc2-7ad947905142" /><br>
<b>Figure 1: DotBot front</b>
</p>
<p align="center">
<img width="1052" height="732" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/058f5a1c-5d77-4452-b8b0-d15a50b4189b" /><br>
<b>Figure 2: DotBot back</b>
</p>

### Connectors
The DotBot has two connectors you'll use:

| Connector | What it's for |
|---|---|
| **USB-C (J2)** | Flash and program the DotBot. Also powers it while plugged in. |
| **USB-C (J2)** | Flash and program the DotBot. |
| **Barrel jack (J4)** | Charges the on-board supercapacitor (the DotBot's "battery"). |

**USB-C (J2) - flashing.** The DotBot v3 has an **on-board programmer** behind
Expand Down
Loading