In this section, you will attach the motor brackets to the acrylic body. When complete it should look something like this.
Place the acrylic body on your building surface. Identify the front and back of the robot (hint: the back has fewer holes).
Set both motor brackets on top of the acrylic. The square side should be resting flat against the acrylic, with the half-moon elevated and facing the back of the robot. The bend in the bracket should be aligned to the outer edge of the acrylic.
Gently lift the Left Bracket to check if it is resting on holes labeled “L”. If so, Start Building! If not, set your brackets to the side, flip your acrylic over like you are turning the page of a book. (The front and back should stay the same!).
Now set your brackets on top of the acrylic again and check that the Left matches with L and the Right matches with R.
Set the right bracket aside. Place washers on two of the short screws. Then gently lift the acrylic, with the Left Bracket still resting on top, and insert the screws from the bottom, pointing up.
Thread a nut from the top, onto the end of each screw. Hand tighten.
Repeat this step for the Right Bracket.
When the nuts have been hand tightened, flip the whole assembly over. The brackets should be touching your building surface. Now use the screwdriver to tighten each screw until the washer is flattened. You might use a pair of needle-nosed pliers to help hold the nuts while you tighten the screws.
The brackets are now attached to the bottom of the robot.
In this section, you will attach the posts that will support the Raspberry Pi and the canopy for your robot.
From the Controller Hardware Bag:
Find the 4 holes that make a square in the middle of the acrylic.
These holes are labeled with a “2” on the acrylic body.
Place the screws up from the bottom of the acrylic, then attach the four short silver posts to the top of the acrylic.
Hand tighten the posts.
From the Acrylic Hardware Bag:
With the brackets still touching your building surface, find the four holes for the canopy support posts. They will be labeled “1” on the GoPiGo3 acrylic body.
Slide washers onto the four short screws.
Insert the screws (with washers on them) up from the bottom of the board, then attach the four long silver posts to the top of the acrylic.
Tighten the posts until the washers flatten. You may need to use the screwdriver for this step.
In this section, you will attach the motors, caster wheel, and wheels to your robot.
From the Motor Hardware Bag:
Attach the red cables to the yellow motors.
The cables will only attach in one orientation.
The GoPiGo is designed to be assembled and disassembled, so if you ever need to change the motors, you’ll be able to.
Put the washers on the screws.
Slide the long screws into the motors from the side where the wire is connected as shown in the picture.
Turn the acrylic body over so the metal motor brackets are pointing up and the acrylic is resting on your building surface.
Set each yellow motor inside a motor bracket.
The red wires should be facing inward, nearly touching each other.
The ends of the screws should fit through the motor bracket and extend beyond the edge of your robot.
To check your work, make sure the black circle encoders are facing the back of the robot.
Attach the nuts to the screws, tighten until the washers flatten.
Slide both motor cables through the acrylic board using the rectangular slot.
From the Caster Hardware Bag:
Place a washer on all four screws, and use two of them to screw the two medium silver posts into the caster wheel.
The posts should stick out the opposite side from the caster wheel itself.
Tighten until the washers are flat.
Flip the acrylic robot body so the yellow motors are touching your building surface. At the back of the acrylic, there are two short oval holes.
Slide the caster wheel underneath these holes so the wheel is touching your building surface.
Attach two screws from the top of the acrylic.
Tighten the screws until the washers are flat.
From the Motor Hardware Bag:
Slide the two acrylic spacers onto the white plastic axles on the motors.
Then, slide the two yellow wheels onto the axles of the motors.
In this section, you will attach the Raspberry Pi and GoPiGo Red Board.
Turn the Raspberry Pi upside down, so the metal pins are pointing down.
Slide the microSD card into the slot on the bottom of the Raspberry Pi. Make sure it is in all the way.
The SD card will only fit in one orientation.
Turn the Raspberry Pi face up, so the metal pins are pointing up.
Align the Raspberry Pi over the short silver posts sticking out of the acrylic body.
The pins on the Raspberry Pi should point upwards (as shown in the picture). The end with the SD card should face the back of your robot, which now has the caster wheel.
Screw the gold posts through the Raspberry Pi from above, and into the short silver posts. Hand tighten.
From Controller Bag:
Take the foam off the pins of the red board.
The GoPiGo3 is shipped with foam on the GPIO pins to prevent them from being bent.
Be sure to remove the foam before proceeding to use your GoPiGo!
Align the black pin port on the red board to the Raspberry Pi pins sticking up, and slide the red board onto the Raspberry Pi.
Press down gently until the board slides on securely.
Use the 4 screws to secure the red board to the gold posts.
In this section you will connect the motor cables to the GoPiGo Red Board, attach the canopy, and hook up the rechargeable battery pack.
Connect the motor cables to the GoPiGo3 Board.
The cables can only be oriented in one direction.
The connectors need to be pushed in fully.
It is very important to ensure that the right motor is connected to the right motor port on the board, and the left motor to the left motor port on the board.
From the Acrylic Hardware Bag:
Place one washer on each screw.
Gently set the acrylic canopy on top of the four tall silver posts.
There is a small slot cutout on the acrylic for a camera that should be towards the front of the GoPiGo, and the two battery pack slot cutouts should face towards the back.
Secure the acrylic canopy in place with the screws.
From the Battery Box:
Thread the velcro strap through the battery strap cutouts on the acrylic body.
There are two locations you can put the battery pack:
Plug the battery cable into the black power port of the red board (next to the power button).
Gently rest the battery pack on your robot.
Secure the battery pack to your robot with the red battery strap.
*Notice the power switch on the battery. The battery will need to be on before starting the robot. However, the robot should be turned off before turning off the battery.
Your robot is ready to program! Learn how to launch DexterOS and Raspbian for Robots here.
GoPiGo is not a toy, it is a robot learning tool. Ages 13 and up. To learn more about Modular Robotics, visit our website.
GoPiGo is a trademark of Modular Robotics Incorporated. Designed in the USA. Assembled in China. Copyright 2020.