MARS Rover 2.0

// Overview

Built for
the Red Planet

MARS Rover 2.0 is a fully autonomous surface exploration rover engineered to simulate Mars mission objectives — soil sampling, terrain navigation, environmental sensing, and real-time telemetry.

Powered by a Raspberry Pi 4B running ROS2, the rover integrates long-range LiDAR, ultrasonic proximity sensors, a multi-axis robotic arm with servo actuators, and a solar power management system.

The chassis is actuated by MG996R and SG90 servo motors through a precision gear system, with 3D-printed structural panels providing a lightweight yet rigid frame.

Servo Motors

40m

LiDAR Range

Solar Panels

ROS2

Framework

12x

Battery Cells

6-DOF

Robotic Arm

// Hardware

Components

Every part of MARS Rover 2.0 was selected for reliability, power efficiency, and mission performance.

Raspberry Pi 4B

Qty: 1

Computing

Benewake TF03 IP67 LiDAR

Qty: 1 · 40m range

Sensing

HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor

Qty: 3

Sensing

Soil Moisture Sensor FC-28

Qty: 1

Sensing

LDR Light Dependent Resistor

Qty: 4

Sensing

Solar Panels

Qty: 2

Power

3.6V Battery Cells

Qty: 12

Power

LM2596 Buck Converter

Qty: 2

Power

Shockley 300W 10A CC CV Buck

Qty: 1

Power

MG996R Servo Motor

Qty: 7 · High torque

Actuation

SG90 Micro Servo Motor

Qty: 6 · Lightweight

Actuation

Rover Chassis

Qty: 1

Structure

Precision Gears

Drive train gear set

Structure

3D Printed Structural Panels

Custom PETG panels

Structure

Ball Bearings

Qty: 3 · Precision grade

Mechanical

Soil Sampling Drill Bit

Qty: 1 · Motorized

Sampling

Jumper Wires

Various

Connectivity

Arduino Uno

Qty: 1

Microcontroller

ESP32

Qty: 1

Microcontroller

Switches

Qty: 5

Control

Servo Driver

Qty: 1

Control

LEDs

Various

Lighting

Powerbank

Qty: 1

Power

ESP32-CAM Module

Qty: 1

Vision

// Mission Objectives

Capabilities

Engineered around four core Mars analog mission objectives.

Terrain Navigation

Autonomous obstacle detection and pathfinding using TF03 LiDAR (40m range) and 3× HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors for close-range proximity mapping.

Soil Sampling

A 6-DOF robotic arm with motorized drill bit end-effector enables autonomous core sampling. FC-28 moisture sensor analyzes soil composition in real time.

Solar Power Management

Dual solar panels with LDR-guided tracking charge 12× 3.6V Li-ion cells. Shockley 300W + LM2596 converters regulate voltage for all subsystems.

Real-Time Telemetry

ROS2 nodes publish live sensor data — LiDAR point clouds, IMU orientation, battery state, and arm position — over DDS for ground-station monitoring.

2D Point Cloud Mapping

Generates high-resolution 2D maps of the environment using LiDAR scans, enabling precise terrain mapping for the mission objectives.

// Software Stack

Powered by ROS 2

The rover runs on ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2), a robust middleware framework providing real-time communication between sensor nodes, motor controllers, and decision-making modules.

DDS-based publish/subscribe messaging between distributed nodes

LiDAR point cloud processing & obstacle avoidance algorithms

Real-time sensor fusion: LiDAR + ultrasonic + IMU pipeline

Autonomous arm control & soil drill sequencing via action servers

Solar tracking loop via LDR differential feedback controller

ROS 2 HUMBLE UBUNTU 22.04 DDS / FASTRTPS PYTHON 3.10 RCLPY

// Technical Specs

Specifications

Complete technical breakdown of the MARS Rover 2.0 hardware and software architecture.

Processor	Raspberry Pi 4B — ARM Cortex-A72 @ 1.8GHz
OS / Framework	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS + ROS 2 Humble
LiDAR	Benewake TF03 IP67 — 40m range, 100Hz
Proximity	3x HC-SR04 Ultrasonic — 2cm to 400cm
Drive Motors	7x MG996R High Torque + 6x SG90 Micro Servo
Power Source	12x 3.6V Li-ion cells + 2x Solar Panels
Voltage Regulation	2x LM2596 + 1x Shockley 300W CC CV Buck
Sensors	FC-28 Soil Moisture, 4x LDR, TF03 LiDAR
Arm DOF	6 Degrees of Freedom
Construction	3D Printed PETG Panels, Precision Gears, Ball Bearings
Sampling Tool	Motorized Soil Drill Bit