Robot PCB & Firmware Optimization
Budget: $30 – $250 USD
My motor-driven inspection robot already works, but its electronics and code now need a serious upgrade. The mobile unit talks to a control box through a 100-metre twisted-pair cable while a vision camera streams live video, so every watt saved and every microsecond trimmed matters.
Phase 1 – Mobile Unit
I want the existing PCB completely re-laid to improve thermal behaviour, noise immunity and overall robustness. You will analyse the current board, then redesign it for cleaner power distribution, better signal integrity and easier field service. Schematics, PCB files (Altium or KiCad preferred), BOM and production-ready Gerbers are expected.
Phase 2 – Control Box
Inside the controller several separate boards handle power, comms and motor control. I need these consolidated into a single, more efficient assembly, or at least reduced in count, without losing any functionality. Your job is to review what I have, spot redundancy and propose a streamlined architecture, again delivering full design files.
Phase 3 – Firmware & Software
Once the hardware is locked, the embedded code (currently C on an STM32) must be updated to match the new pin-outs, peripherals and any additional sensing we decide to add. Clean, well-documented firmware plus a desktop utility for calibration and field updates will wrap things up.
Acceptance criteria
• Redesigned boards pass bench tests and a four-hour continuous-run stress test.
• Firmware compiles without warnings and runs deterministically under our RTOS.
• End-to-end latency for video and control signals stays within present limits or improves.
You’ll have access to the existing prototype, full schematics, and my lab for remote testing via VPN-connected scopes and logic analysers. If you’re comfortable moving from concept to production-ready files, let’s talk timelines and milestones so we can push this robot to the next level.
Phase 1 – Mobile Unit
I want the existing PCB completely re-laid to improve thermal behaviour, noise immunity and overall robustness. You will analyse the current board, then redesign it for cleaner power distribution, better signal integrity and easier field service. Schematics, PCB files (Altium or KiCad preferred), BOM and production-ready Gerbers are expected.
Phase 2 – Control Box
Inside the controller several separate boards handle power, comms and motor control. I need these consolidated into a single, more efficient assembly, or at least reduced in count, without losing any functionality. Your job is to review what I have, spot redundancy and propose a streamlined architecture, again delivering full design files.
Phase 3 – Firmware & Software
Once the hardware is locked, the embedded code (currently C on an STM32) must be updated to match the new pin-outs, peripherals and any additional sensing we decide to add. Clean, well-documented firmware plus a desktop utility for calibration and field updates will wrap things up.
Acceptance criteria
• Redesigned boards pass bench tests and a four-hour continuous-run stress test.
• Firmware compiles without warnings and runs deterministically under our RTOS.
• End-to-end latency for video and control signals stays within present limits or improves.
You’ll have access to the existing prototype, full schematics, and my lab for remote testing via VPN-connected scopes and logic analysers. If you’re comfortable moving from concept to production-ready files, let’s talk timelines and milestones so we can push this robot to the next level.