A DIY autonomous ground rover built for $400 from donor consumer electronics, functioning as a 24/7 AI-powered digital guard dog.
Patrols a residential property perimeter autonomously, detects intruders via AI vision, and executes a deterrent response -- all on a 24-hour battery cycle without human intervention.
[Hailo NPU] --> [Raspberry Pi 5] --> [ESP32] --> [2x BLDC Hub Motors] Vision AI Mission Brain Motor Ctrl 4WD Drivetrain
| Component | Source | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Chassis + steering | Razor Crazy Cart (donor) | $0 |
| Drive motors | Hoverboard hub motors (donor) | $0 |
| Compute brain | Raspberry Pi 5 | ~$80 |
| Motor controller | ESP32 + custom firmware | ~$15 |
| AI accelerator | Hailo-8 NPU | ~$70 |
| Battery | 36V 20Ah Li-ion | ~$165 |
| Camera | Razer Kiyo (donor) | $0 |
| Total | ~$400 |
- ESP32 firmware (C++): BLDC ESC control, state machine, telemetry, WiFi API
- RPi5 brain (Python): mission planning, waypoint navigation, serial command dispatch
- Hailo NPU: real-time person/vehicle detection at the edge, no cloud dependency
IDLE → PATROL → INVESTIGATE → ALERT → DETER → PATROL
Battery watchdog triggers RETURN_HOME at 25%, EMERGENCY_STOP at 10%.
- Chassis fabrication
- ESP32 motor controller firmware
- RPi5 patrol navigation software
- Hailo NPU vision integration
- Gen 2: autonomous charging dock
Wanted a real-world platform to learn edge AI, embedded systems and autonomous robotics without spending $5,000 on a research robot.