How to Make the Adeept Raspclaws Robot

So I have assembled the Adeept Raspclaws Robot Kit and I thought that perhaps I should create this Instructable to give a few tips to others to help in assembling their own as well.

Required materials:

1. A Raspberry Pi model 3B, 3B+, or 4.
2. 1 Adeept RaspClaws kit.
3. 1 micro-SD card with 16gb or more of storage.
4. 1 micro SD card reader (or micro-SD to USB adapter)
5. 2 type 18650 batteries rated for 2000mAh or higher and can output 3.7v or higher.
6. Alternate computer to install the operating system onto the SD card and to connect to the robot.

Disclaimer: I will be installing the required operating system by using a Windows based computer. If you are using a non-Windows system, you will need to research how to install the OS to the SD card for your operating system.

Start by downloading and installing Raspberry Pi Imager onto your computer from this website here. Insert your SD card into your computer and then open the raspberry pi imager program. After opening the raspberry pi imager, select the operating system button, scroll down and select erase, after which you will then select your SD card in the storage section and click the write button. During the process, a couple of weird screens that look like windows file explorer pages may appear, but you do not need to interact with them as they are perfectly normal and will disappear after the process is complete.

After this is done, open the Raspberry Pi Imager operating system tab again and go to Raspberry Pi OS (other). Find Raspberry Pi OS (legacy) and select it.

This following part is optional (in terms that there are other ways to do it) but highly advised as this makes it much easier to setup. This step will require you to have some access to your wireless router or some other way to discover IP addresses, such as the app Fing, so that you may discover what the IP address of your raspberry pi is for SSH purposes. If you do not have that kind of access to your router, or just choose to not do this, you will need to connect the Raspberry Pi to a display in order to set up these settings and to check for your IP address via the OS, which I will not cover.

At the main menu, look for the gear in the bottom and select it. This will open up the operating system settings.

The following are the settings that will need to be set up:

1. Enable SSH- select use password authentication.
2. Set username and password- select whatever username and password you want but make sure to write it down!
3. Configure wireless LAN- enter your network ID in the SSID section and input the password in the password field.

After this is done, click save.

Select your SD card in the storage section and click write. Wait for the process to finish, and then eject the SD card and insert it into the Raspberry Pi and power it on.

You will need to know the Raspberry Pi IP address in order to wirelessly connect to it. This can be done several ways, with my preferred method being to check the router, but every router is different so I cannot just leave instructions for how to check it. It will be up to you to find out how to do this yourself. When you do find out what it is, proceed to the next step.

For this step, you will need to have an application that can connect to another computer via SSH. One popular app is called Putty. However, my preferred method is to use windows PowerShell, which comes preinstalled with windows.

Start by searching in the taskbar "powershell" and click on the application with the blue and white greater than sign. A black screen with text will appear.

Type the following in, replacing it with the pertinent info:

ssh (your Raspberry Pi username)@(your R-Pi IP address)

an example would look like this: ssh pi@100.10.10.22

Hit enter (to confirm the command)

Enter your password that you previously created

You will receive a normal warning message about unknown machines and security - type yes.

You will then be connected to the Raspberry Pi!

Type in the following commands:

sudo git clone https://github.com/adeept/adeept_raspclaws.git

(hit enter and wait for it to complete)

sudo python3 adeept_raspclaws/setup.py

(hit enter and wait for it to complete)

After this, you will be disconnected from SSH which is part of the process. Power off your Raspberry Pi and you can now move on to building your robot!

Before we start actually building the Robot, the motors must be debugged before they are inserted into their respective places. The process is very simple using the following instructions.

After the Raspberry Pi has been assembled as described in the next step with the camera and driver board connected, plug a servo into a port (doesn't matter which number), ensuring that the colored wires are inserted according to the colors of the pins (yellow to yellow, red to red, black to black) and turn on the Raspberry Pi. It may take about a minute for the Pi to run through the scripts. When it does, you should hear the motor move which means it has been debugged which means that you can then insert it into its specific place. After that you can power off the Raspberry Pi and disconnect it. Note: Do this process ONE at a time. Plugging up multiple servos without running the Pi on high voltage battery power can cause the Pi to undervolt which can potentially cause damage.

I have tried to make this guide as complete and independent as possible, however, the steps for the angle of the servos and the wiring require special attention. The steps for these items contain links to the manual for assembling the robot. This is done because I want to ensure that it is clear how you are supposed to angle the servos and wire the servos respectively since they have diagrams that explicitly show and label such things. These two steps can make or literally break the robot.

Take 4 M2.5x10+6 Copper Standoffs and fix them through the bottom of the Raspberry Pi, then take 4 M2.5x14 Copper Standoffs and screw them on top of the M2.5x10+6 Copper Standoffs.

Take 1 M2.5x11 Copper Standoff and 1 M2.5*4 screw and fasten the standoff to the hat as shown in the picture. Then slot in the mpu-6050 driver board. The take another M2.5*4 screw to hold the driver board in place.

Ok, for this one I would actually recommend looking up how to install the Raspberry Pi camera so that you can have a clear idea for how it actually connects. The cable is (somewhat) delicate and has to be connected a certain way so that the metal "tabs" in the cable make contact with the port on the Pi. It isn't hard, but you have to understand what you are doing. However, one thing I would definitely recommend doing is removing the camera from the other end so that it is easier to thread it through the slot in the HAT, as shown in the last picture. Note: In some photos, you may notice that I do not have the cable routed through the slot. Admittedly, it's because I did not even notice the slot when I was initially installing it. Do as I say, not as I do.

Take your battery holder, 2 M3*8 countersunk screws, and 2 M3 nuts and put the screws through the holes in the holder and screw them into the M3 nuts on the other side. Just take notice of where I orient the cable and which side the logo on the plate is facing.

Place the Raspberry Pi on top of the acrylic plate with the power switch facing the logo as I have in the photo. Take 4 M2.5*8 screws and install them from the non-logo side.

Take 6 single rocker arms and 6 m1.7*6*6 self tapping screws and screw them into the acrylic plate as shown in the picture above. Make sure these screws are snug.

Take 1 4-foot rocker arm and attach it to the acrylic plate as shown with M1.7*6*6 self-tapping screws.

Attach the LEDs to the plate with 4 M1.4*6 self-tapping screws. Note: The LEDs are actually labeled, the white strip symbolizes the input side, and the other side is the output. Don't get these confused when wiring them as this can cause damage.

Take 1 single rocker arm and 1 M1.7*6*6 self-tapping screw and attach them to the acrylic plate as seen in the photos.

Take 1 servo, 2 M2 nuts, and 2 M2*8 screws and attach the servo to the plate as shown in the picture. These are the feet of the robot so you will need to complete this step a total of six times. However, 3 are the right feet and 3 are the left so they will need to be flipped in their orientation. The feet shown in the pictures above are the left feet. I have put pictures of the right feet in the next step.

Right side pictures for step 14.

Take 1 single rocker arm and 1 M1.7*6*6 self-tapping screw and attach it to the plate as seen in the picture. There is a total of 6 and 3 of them need to be oriented for the right side so those pictures are in the next step as well.

Right side pictures for step 16.

Take 2 M2 nuts, 1 servo, and 2 M2*8 screws and attach them to the plate as seen in the picture. This step will need to be repeated 6 times with three in a different orientation for the right side.

Pictures of the plates for step 18 oriented for the right side of the robot.

Take 3 M3*10 screws and 3 M3 nuts and attach these two acrylic plates to step 18. There are 6 total with three being oriented for the right side. Pictures for the right side are shown in the next step.

Pictures of the assembly for step 20 oriented for the right side.

As a friendly reminder, don't forget to debug your servos!

Take 1 M2.5 screw and attach the foot to the upper the part of the leg as pictured. The foot needs to be at a specific angle pay attention to the diagram in the manual.

Pictures of the right side of step 22.

Take 4 M1.4*6 self-tapping screws and attach the Raspberry Pi camera to the plate as show in the pictures.

Take 4 M3 nuts and 4 M3*10 screws and attach these two plates to the Raspberry Pi camera. Take note of how they are attached to the camera with the four screws holding the camera to the plate on the bottom.

Take 2 M2*8 screws, 2 M2 nuts, and attach a servo to the plate.

Use 1 M2 nuts and 1 M2*8 screw to attach the servo to the fin plate. Then take 2 M3*10 screws and 2 M3 nuts and attach the fin to the bottom plate.

Don't forget to debug servos!

Use 1 M2.5*8 screw to attach the camera to the turret by screwing into the servo that is angled to the side.

Use 4 M1.4*6 self-tapping screws to attach the 2 car lights to the front plate.

Don't forget to debug the servos!

Use 6 M2.5*8 screws to attach the legs to the top plate.

The legs need to be inserted at the proper angle. Please refer to the Adeept RaspClaws instruction manual for a diagram detailing this specific angle.

Use 8 M3*8 screws to attach the top plate with the legs to the bottom plate holding the Raspberry Pi, using 4 M3*40 nylon standoffs to bridge them. Don't forget to insert your front plate containing your headlights!

Please refer to the manual for the diagram for the wiring. Remember to insert the cables matching the colors of the plug to the port on the HAT.

Use 1 M2.5*8 screw to go through the bottom of the mount through to the bottom servo of the turret.

Use 8 M3*8 screws to attach the brackets to 4 M3*15 nylon standoffs. Use four screws for the bottom and four screws for the top.

Use 2 M3*8 screws and 2 M3 nuts to attach the completed turret onto the brackets from step 34.

Now your robot should be complete! To control it, go to a web browser like chrome and input the IP address of your robot with :5000 at the end of it.

Example: 192.11.10.12:5000

It might take a second to connect but then you will have an interface allowing you to control the robot. You can control the movement of the robot, the camera and you can even control the lights.

Have fun!