PeTTraC

Autonomous, self-balancing laser-play robot that sees your pet’s mood, follows them at up to 1.4 m/s, and conjures mesmerising light shows on the fly.

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Inverted-Pendulum Chassis

SimpleFOC wheels keep PeTTraC upright on hardwood, tile & low-pile carpet.

FOC Stack: ESP32-S3 @25 kHz PWM (torque loop) → PID attitude loop @200 Hz → velocity loop @30 Hz.
Center-of-Mass High: Batteries + Pi turret mounted above axle for slower tip-over and cleaner control linearity.
Top Speed: 1.4 m/s with closed-loop position holding to ±2 mm.
Prototype Path: Wheel deck → add dead-weight → integrate turret → integrate sensor suite.

360° Turret & Sony IMX500

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W + 8 MP IMX500 AI camera swivels to keep pets centred.

Edge Vision: IMX500 on-die DSP filters frames; TFLite animal tracker runs at 4 fps inside 512 MB RAM.
Workflow: Dev via VS Code Remote-SSH, cross-compiled wheels, 512 MB swap enabled; services restart on crash.
Audio: MEMS mic behind wave-guided labyrinthine damper; 3 W speaker for voice cues & chirps.
Comms: Wi-Fi 5, BLE 5, optional MQTT cloud relay, WebRTC live video.

Laser-Show Scanner

5 mW TTL diode + quad voice-coil mirrors draw Lissajous spiders & fireflies.

Mirror Specs: 3 mm glass, 1 kHz bandwidth; ultra-light foam tape mount for quick swap.
Wave Tables: Sine pairs for circles, saw-sine for spiders; photodiode feedback auto-linearises.
Safety: Beam capped at Class IIIa, dwell limit 20 ms; software keeps beam below pet eye-line.

Kick-Stand Arm & Toys

Micro-servo arm self-rights PeTTraC & swaps to feather wands or treat tubs.

Recovery Routine: Wheels reverse → chassis rolls to side → arm deploys → wheels drive forward.
Modular Mount: Quick-release bayonet fitting supports feather wand, treat dispenser, or extra LiDAR.
Design Note: Arm tip extends ~30 mm beyond wheel radius to minimise torque yet give leverage.

Battery & Power Train

4×18650 cells + PiSugar 3 UPS yield 4 h play / 24 h sentry runtime.

Pack: 4 s2p 18650-Li ion → 56 Wh; hot-swappable sled for continuous operation.
UPS Module: PiSugar 3 handles safe shutdown < 3.0 V, 5 V boost rail, and USB-C fast charge.
Runtime Profiles: Play: 4 h continuous motion+laser; Standby Sentry: 24 h with vision motion triggers.

Full Technical Spec Sheet

CPU: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · Quad-core 1 GHz · 512 MB RAM
Camera: Sony IMX500 8 MP · 120° FOV · On-die AI ISP
Motor Control: Dual SimpleFOC BLDC drivers @25 kHz PWM
Laser: 5 mW Class IIIa red diode + quad voice-coil mirrors
Audio: Digital MEMS mic · 3 W speaker · labyrinth acoustic dampener
Power: 56 Wh (4×18650) · PiSugar 3 UPS · USB-C PD fast charge
Wireless: Wi-Fi 5 · BLE 5 · MQTT cloud bridge · WebRTC video
Dimensions: Ø 140 mm × H 220 mm · Weight ≈ 850 g
Max Speed: 1.4 m/s · Balance error < 2 mm