Recently, the world’s first multi-modal mobile robot development platform LIMO, in collaboration with the domestic ROS learning community Guyueju, has jointly launched an open-source free course “ROS Mobile Robot Practical Training”, as well as a professional core curriculum system for higher education institutions “Principles and Applications of Mobile Robots”. The course is aimed at students from beginners to those preparing for graduation and employment, allowing students to achieve the level of a development engineer with at least 1-2 years of project experience.
The two parties have reached a consensus to dive deep into the educational needs of higher vocational colleges, continuously integrating cutting-edge industry technology and market information, and using more realistic industry case scenarios to build a one-stop platform for autonomous exploration, practical innovation education, and development for higher education institutions and enthusiasts, maximizing the cultivation of students’ comprehensive abilities in autonomous learning, analysis, and problem-solving.(See the next article for the introduction of the LIMO curriculum system)
Teaching Platform: Introduction to the ROS Mobile Robot LIMO Development Kit
▍ Hub-driven integration, one vehicle with four motion modes
LIMO is the world’s first ROS development platform that integrates four motion modes. Users no longer need to buy four ROS vehicles to achieve four-wheel differential, four-wheel Ackermann, tracked, and Mecanum wheel motion modes.
LIMO’s patented innovative hub structure design allows for independent drive of a single wheel, making the switch between four modes easy and quick. Users only need 3 minutes to complete the switch by changing the standard three types of tires. Among them, the Ackermann and four-wheel differential modes only require changing the state of 2 locking pins to switch motion modes with one click.
▍ Metal body, hub motor
In terms of overall vehicle design, LIMO’s frame adopts a high-rigidity metal structure, differing from desktop ROS development vehicles, providing higher motion stability and reliability. In addition, LIMO uses a hub motor with a structure similar to that of a car, developing a patented integrated drive motor that simplifies numerous transmission components, making the vehicle structure more compact while enhancing the utilization of vehicle space; LIMO is equipped with a 30KG high-torque steering servo, which makes LIMO’s kinetic energy stronger, controllability better, and safety higher. This design allows LIMO to adapt to various outdoor road environments, such as high-friction surfaces, grass, small gravel, slopes, etc., with the ability to climb slopes of 25 degrees.
▍ Equipped with ultra-high-performance sensors, strong platform expandability
LIMO integrates ultra-high-performance sensors including LiDAR, depth cameras, wheel speed sensors, and touch screen displays. To facilitate users in selecting configurations based on actual application needs, LIMO offers both standard and high-end versions, with the main difference being the control module and depth camera configuration. The standard version uses Raspberry Pi, while the high-end version is equipped with the Nvidia Jetson Nano development board with a 4-core CPU and 4GB of RAM, and the high-end version also comes with the Intel depth camera D435, enabling depth vision V-SLAM functionality and environmental perception in dark environments, beneficial for developers learning safe inspection applications in narrow and dark spaces like underground pipelines.
Additionally, LIMO reserves multiple mounting holes and several USB interfaces, allowing users to expand more configurations for applications such as security, inspection, and transportation. Furthermore, LIMO integrates the iFlytek voice module, providing interactive solutions for service robot development. This voice module comes with a sound card, microphone, and speaker, automatically recognizing letters and numbers, and allowing developers to create more interesting applications based on it, such as voice navigation and voice path planning.
▍ Guyueju boutique courses, with supporting simulation sandbox
LIMO, as a multi-modal® ROS robot development platform, has all software open-source and supports ROS1 and ROS2 development. Users can build and deploy simulation environments on their own using the powerful Gazebo model simulation package, configuring corresponding operation paths to achieve mapping, navigation, obstacle avoidance, and route planning functions.
LIMO provides optional supporting scenario simulation sandboxes, allowing users to assemble them in ten minutes to establish multi-scenario simulated learning, teaching, and examination venues, greatly saving time on venue design and construction. This also means it is extremely friendly to beginners and school education, allowing for quick one-stop learning of core functions such as positioning, mapping, perception, and route planning within the sandbox, while also enabling the development of various functional modules such as character recognition, traffic light recognition, reverse parking, positioning navigation, specified route inspection, and obstacle recognition and avoidance.
For more product introductions and teaching courses, please contact: 15002347121