Cloudy MK2 Mini-AGV: 3D-Printed ROS 2 Mobile Robot

Cloudy is a compact, fully 3D-printed differential-drive robot base built for ROS 2. Two NEMA 17 steppers drive belt-reduced wheels, four sprung caster wheels keep it level, and a closed body holds an on-board Linux computer, a 2D lidar, a depth camera, proximity sensors and status lights. It is a good base for learning mapping, navigation and teleoperation on a real robot.

Updated for modern use: one purchase list for the whole robot with one row per screw length, a grouped print table and a shorter build guide in build order. The print files are unchanged.

What you build

• Four sprung caster units with ball bearings and O-ring tyres, two left and two right
• Two belt-driven wheel units, each with a NEMA 17 stepper, a GT2 16T pulley, a printed 50T pulley and a 122 mm belt
• A three-piece printed frame joined by 20 x 20 aluminium profiles, with a battery bay underneath
• Body panels with an emergency stop, an OLED status display, WS2812 light bars and panel-mount power, USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports
• A front bumper carrying the lidar, the depth camera and three proximity sensors

Files

• All 30 print-ready STL files: caster wheels, drive units, the three frame parts, battery cover and bottom, and the body panels. The number after _X in each file name is how many to print
• Build guide PDF: parts bought separately, print table, caster, drive, frame and electronics assembly, software setup and safety
• Bill of Material PDF with quantities, notes and a shop link for every part

Print settings

PLA or PLA+ works for everything. Mechanical parts: 0.3 mm layers, 100% infill and supports. Print the 50T drive pulley at 0.15 mm. Body panels: 0.2 mm layers in any colour. You need a bed of at least 250 x 200 mm. Expect around 190 hours of printing and about 1.9 kg of filament in total.

Electronics

• Wemos D1 R32 (ESP32) with an Arduino CNC Shield and two DRV8825 drivers for the 1.7 A NEMA 17 steppers
• Orange Pi 5 (8 GB) as the on-board ROS 2 computer
• RPLIDAR A1M8 2D lidar and Intel RealSense D435i depth camera
• Three APDS-9960 proximity sensors, an INA219 power monitor and a TCA9548A I2C multiplexer
• Two 5 V UBECs (3 A and 6 A), a 60 mm fan, OLED display, WS2812 light bars and an emergency stop
• Optional FlySky FS-iA6B receiver for manual driving

Bill of Material

Every part you need to buy, with quantities, notes and shop links, is in the Bill of Material PDF in the files of this model. The 6S 18650 Li-ion battery pack with BMS, the DIN 7049 self-tapping screws and the caster extension springs are bought separately from a battery shop, a fastener supplier and a spring supplier. The build guide lists the exact sizes.

Software

The ESP32 runs micro-ROS firmware built with Arduino IDE 2, and the on-board computer runs ROS 2 with a micro-ROS agent, ros2_control, the lidar driver, SLAM and Nav2 for mapping and navigation. A Gazebo simulation lets you try teleoperation and navigation before the robot is built. Firmware, the hardware interface and links to the full ROS 2 workspace are in the source repository below.

Skill level

Advanced. You print about 190 hours of parts, assemble belt drives and sprung casters, wire a 6S battery system with two regulators, and set up ROS 2 and micro-ROS on a Linux computer.

Full build guide and source

The build guide, source and all project files: https://github.com/ToolKnox/hawkridge-cloudy-mk2-mini-agv-ros2-robot (Code > Download ZIP).

Safety

The 6S pack stores a lot of energy. Use a pack with a BMS, fuse the main line and never short the power rails. Wire the emergency stop so it cuts motor power, set the stepper driver current before driving, and lift the wheels off the table the first time the motors run.