Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit (No Motors or Wheels)

Documentation and other information

• 

  Pololu Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot User’s Guide (Printable PDF)

  User’s manual for the Pololu Balboa 32U4 balancing robot.

File downloads

• Pololu A-Star 32U4 drivers for Windows (version 1.3.0.0) (7k zip)

  This download contains the Windows drivers for the A-Star 32U4 and the rest of our 32U4 family of boards.

• Schematic diagram of the Balboa 32U4 control board (587k pdf)

• Pinout and power distribution diagrams of the Balboa 32U4 control board (2MB pdf)

• Gear ratio chart for the Balboa Chassis (447k pdf)

  This printable 1:1 scale chart helps you identify the gears included in the Balboa 32U4 Robot Kit and Balboa Chassis Kit and details the available gear ratios.

• Dimension diagram of the Balboa 32U4 Control Board (471k pdf)

• Dimension diagram for the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit (734k pdf)

• Dimension diagram of the Bumper Cage Kit for Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot (152k pdf)

• Balboa Bumper Cage assembly reference diagram (2MB pdf)

  Note: all angles shown assume the use of 80mm wheels.

• 3D model of the assembled Balboa Balancing Robot (24MB step)

  Note: this model includes micro metal gearmotors and 80mm wheels that are sold separately from the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit. This model uses a simplified model of the Balboa 32U4 Control Board to reduce the file size.

• 3D model of the Balboa 32U4 Control Board (27MB step)

  Note: this model includes an LCD and headers that are sold separately from the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit.

• Drill guide for the Balboa 32U4 Control Board (285k dxf)

  This DXF drawing shows the locations of all of the board’s holes.

• LSM6DS33 datasheet (1MB pdf)

  Datasheet for the ST LSM6DS33 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope.

• LIS3MDL datasheet (2MB pdf)

  Datasheet for the ST LIS3MDL 3-axis magnetometer.

Recommended links

• Balboa 32U4 Arduino library

  The Balboa32U4 library for the Arduino IDE helps interface with the on-board hardware on the Balboa 32U4 control board as well as the optional 5-channel reflectance sensor array for the Balboa.

• Balboa 32U4 library documentation

• LSM6 library for Arduino

  An Arduino library for interfacing with the LSM6DSO and LSM6DS33 accelerometer and gyro ICs.

• LIS3MDL library for Arduino

  An Arduino library for interfacing with the LIS3MDL magnetometer.

• Forum post: Correcting the Balboa magnetometer

  Pololu forum user Jim Remington has shared a technique for compensating for hard iron distortion of the Balboa’s magnetometer. After corrections, he was able to create a compass program with a basic accuracy of ±2°, sufficient for navigating the Balboa around the room.

• Arduino Software

  Arduino integrated development environment (IDE) software

• minimu9-ahrs software for Raspberry Pi

  This is a program for reading sensor data from Pololu IMU boards over I²C. It was written for and tested on the Raspberry Pi, but it will probably also work on similar embedded Linux boards that support I²C.

• Beefy arms for Balboa

  These 3D-printable support arms for the Balboa robot are a fun add-on that can help protect the robot’s electronics from damage if it falls over or runs into an obstacle.

• A-Star repository on GitHub

  This repository contains Arduino add-on files, Windows drivers, and bootloaders for the A-Star 328PB, A-Star 32U4, and the rest of our 32U4 family of boards.

• ATmega32U4 documentation

  Microchip’s product page for the ATmega32U4 AVR microcontroller, with links to its datasheet, application notes, and other resources.