Educational mobile base · 2022
iRobot Create 3
A Roomba chassis with a ROS 2 node on board. Subtract the vacuum, add a payload bay and a documented interface, and you get the safest possible way to start mobile robotics.
$300
iRobot
— DOF
Closed source
Why it matters
Rugged, cheap, and it already has the boring parts solved. You can be writing navigation code in an hour.
Where it falls short
No LiDAR and no real payload capacity. It is a teaching base, not a platform for a real application.
Read this if you plan to copy itThe parts below are the same classes of component at this platform scale — they are not the exact vendor parts. Use them to understand the architecture and to price a home-built equivalent.
What it is made of
| Subsystem | Comparable part | Price | Primary spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) | $80 | 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz |
| Sensors | BNO085 9-DOF IMU | $25 | 3-axis accel + gyro + magnetometer |
Software you would touch
ROS 2 · Python · iRobot Create 3 interface