Craft your own “Mars” rover with this Kickstarter robotics kit

It won’t trek across Martian soil or run on solar power, but Plum Geek’s new Spirit Rover kit looks just like the real deal. The small robotics kit is modeled after NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, but comes at a fraction of the size (and cost). Perfect for exploring planetary tabletops, Spirit Rover includes off-the-shelf motors, sensors, and computers for anyone keen on crafting and coding their own space agency-like robot.

The kit includes your basic components for a functioning desktop robot: motors, sensors, and computer boards. All components are affixed to a custom Plum Geek chassis that resembles the real NASA Spirit. A servo-driven head, a pair of “solar” panels, and a couple drive motors give the Spirit Rover a sense of its surroundings and allow it to explore.

Powered by the onboard Raspberry Pi board and Arduino chip, you can program Spirit Rover in C, C++, and Python. Included sensors and cameras can be used for programming Spirit Rover to recognize, follow, or avoid objects. Multi-colored LED strips on the chassis illuminate depending on your program. Furthermore, ports and sockets allow for wireless expansion such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Spirit Rover comes unassembled in pieces; no soldering is required, but you’ll need a screwdriver. Multiple configurations are available as well; there’s a Spirit Rover with or without the pivoting ultrasonic sensor and camera. Each variant will run you a different price, and you can view the rover lineup on Kickstarter.

Well over the funding goal of $30,000, Plum Geek has raised a hefty $60,000 for Spirit Rover. Backers can expect the rover to land on their doorsteps next February.

Source: Kickstarter Image: Plum Geek/Kickstarter

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