Pavlov Mini Wheel: Open-source ROS2 quadruped tracks balls with vision
Build your own autonomous dog with this open-source ROS2 platform
Pavlov Mini Wheel is a new open-source robotics project from developer bengokaysaglam, designed to build an autonomous four-legged robot with vision-based ball tracking. At its core, the system runs on ROS2 Humble for inter-component communication and uses Gazebo for simulation and testing. The hardware stack splits control: a Raspberry Pi 4B handles high-level tasks like computer vision and decision-making, while an Arduino Mega manages low-level motor control and sensor feedback. The project leverages URDF/Xacro for robot modeling and integrates AI-based perception to enable the robot to detect a target object and move autonomously toward it.
The developer shared the first part of the development journey on Medium, covering motivation, system architecture, and key technologies. The project aims to provide an accessible platform for robotics enthusiasts and researchers to experiment with quadruped locomotion and autonomous navigation. Pavlov Mini Wheel is fully open-source, encouraging community contributions and feedback. Early discussions on ROS Discourse highlight interest in hardware integration and simulation workflows, positioning the platform as a valuable educational tool for those exploring ROS2 and computer vision in robotics.
- Runs on ROS2 Humble with Gazebo simulation for development and testing
- Dual-processor architecture: Raspberry Pi 4B for high-level AI, Arduino Mega for low-level motor control
- Vision-based ball tracking enables autonomous target detection and movement
Why It Matters
Offers an affordable, open-source entry point for learning quadruped robotics and vision-based autonomy.