Turtle Rover: Mars robot replica powered by Raspberry Pi hits funding target
By Russell Barnes. Posted

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Following our interview with Kell Ideas’ CEO Szymon Dzwonczyk, the Turtle Rover has exceeded its Indiegogo funding target by over €6,000.
Szymon tells us, “Everyone will still be able to buy the Turtle Rover via Indiegogo, and by the end of the year from our shop.”
The kit Rover costs $990 (roughly £750) plus shipping, while a built Rover costs $1,972 (roughly £1,500) plus shipping.
Turtle Rover prototype: Mars engineers build Raspberry robot
Designed by Mars Rover prototype engineers, the Turtle can do the same job on Earth.
At the heart of the Turtle Rover is a Pi 3. As Szymon explains, “We love the computer and need to encourage people to play with the rover software using open-source code from the Pi community.”
The bespoke Turtle HAT uses “H-bridges and an STM32 [microcontroller] to drive the robotic arm.” The Turtle Rover is rugged, waterproof, and fully customisable, with wireless control (via an app) at up to 200 m. The internal battery should last for 4 hours of driving time.
See also: Build your own Mars Rover.

Russell runs Raspberry Pi Press, which includes The MagPi, Hello World, HackSpace magazine, and book projects. He’s a massive sci-fi bore.
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