Balboa Chassis with Stability Conversion Kit (No Motors, Wheels, or Electronics)
This kit gives you the structural pieces you need to build your own Balboa chassis with stability conversion. The chassis includes an integrated battery holder that can be configured for 4 or 6 AA cells. Two configurable gearboxes further increase the gear ratio from the required micro metal gearmotors while supporting the weight of the robot with ball bearings rather than the gearmotor shafts themselves. The chassis works with a variety of wheel sizes and micro metal gearmotors, so wheels and motors are not included; choose your own wheels and motors to personalize your robot.
Unlike the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit, no electronics are included: this chassis is for those who want to supply their own custom electronics.
This chassis kit consists of the structural pieces from the Balboa 32U4 Robot Kit plus the Stability Conversion add-on, giving you almost everything you need to build a differential-drive Balboa robot based on your own electronics. Motors and wheels are deliberately not included with the kit so that you can pick your own to customize the look and performance of your robot (see the Selecting motors and wheels section below for more information). The kit includes the following parts:
-
Balboa core chassis
- battery box and cover
- two motor retention clips/gearbox housings
- two gearbox covers
- six 683 ball bearings
- two 3mm D-shafts
- ten plastic pinion gears (small – two each with 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25 teeth)
- ten plastic output gears (large – two each with 41, 43, 45, 47, and 49 teeth)
- battery terminals
-
Stability Conversion Kit
- chassis extension piece/ball caster holder
- three rollers
- 1″-diameter plastic ball
- ball caster retention clip
The majority of the chassis is made from black ABS plastic, and these pieces securely snap together for quick assembly. The main chassis piece contains an integrated battery holder that can be configured for four or six AA batteries (batteries are not included), and it also has slots for two micro metal gearmotors, which are held in place by two configurable plastic gearboxes. These gearboxes further increase the gear ratio of the required gearmotors while the weight of the chassis with ball bearings rather than the gearmotor shafts themselves. The gearboxes also position the wheel shafts along the central plane of the battery holder, which is helpful for balancing applications.
The stability conversion piece holds a large ball caster and clips onto the front of the chassis to provide a smooth third point of contact for traditional differential-drive applications. If you are using this chassis to make a balancing robot, you can leave this piece off, or you can add it without the ball caster to make the chassis taller and to provide additional mounting points.
For balancing applications, please consider also getting the bumper cage kit for Balboa to make it easier for your robot to pop itself up from horizontal and to help protect your electronics from falls.
Dimensions
| Size: | 185 × 112 × 80 mm1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 130 g2 |
Notes:
- Of assembled chassis with stability conversion kit and 80×10mm wheels.
- Of assembled chassis with stability conversion kit and motors. This weight does not include wheels, batteries, or any electronics.
Documentation and other information
User’s manual for the Pololu Balboa 32U4 balancing robot.
File downloads
- 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 for the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot Kit (734k pdf)
- Dimension diagram of Stability Conversion Kit for Balboa (392k pdf)
- 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 Stability Conversion Kit for Balboa (4MB step)