VMX-pi transforms your Raspberry Pi into a reliable, real-time Robotics Controller or Vision/Motion Processor with embedded IMU & CAN-bus interface.  VMX-pi plus Raspberry Pi can perform both real-time robotic control and higher-layer Robot Position Tracking, Drivetrain path-planning and kinematics-based control –  remotely accessed via Ethernet, Wifi or Bluetooth.

VMX-pi is the heart of an intelligent robot, and includes software libraries, example code and many more features.

VMX-pi also makes a great Vision/Motion Coprocessor, especially when combined with the VMX-rtk Robotics Toolkit.  And VMX-pi CAN Bus connectivity provides an easy way to monitor a robot CAN Bus.

VMX-pi assembled with a Raspberry Pi 3.

Super-charge your robot:

  • Switched-mode Power supply for Raspberry Pi and external devices, including under-voltage management and over-current/short-circuit protection
  • 30 Digital IOs and 4 Analog Inputs including circuit protection against over-voltage, and locking connectors for many functions
  • Digital Communication Interfaces including CAN, SPI, I2C and UART
  • navX-technology 9-axis IMU enabling Motion processing features including Field-Oriented Drive, Auto-balance, Auto-rotate to angle, Collision Detection and more
  • Network Time Server w/Battery-backed Real-time clock for synchronizing data and logs on distributed networked robot controllers

Additional Key Features:

  • Write code directly on VMX-pi:  Functions either as a standalone Development System (via Raspberry Pi inputs for keyboard, mouse, HDMI monitor), or can be used with a remote development environment
  • Easily connect to sensors:  Breakout boards are available for easily connecting to the Sparkfun QWIIC Connect System family of I2C sensors.

Power up with VMX Robotics Toolkit:

VMX Robotics Toolkit (VMX-rtk) Raspberry Pi Software Images add many features including Video Streaming, Vision Processing Libraries, NTP Server, Real-Time Linux (PREEMPT_RT), ROS Kinetic, WPI Network Tables and more:

  • Vision processing with multiple cameras via Raspberry Pi-based OpenCV libraries and USB or Raspberry Pi Camera interfaces
  • Video streaming and Video capture to SD Card from Raspberry Pi
  • Robot Localization via Motion/Vision Processing fusion with sensor fusion packages (e.g., via the ROS robot_pose_ekf package)
  • Integration with environment mapping sensors (e.g., stereo cameras & 2D or 3D LIDAR) to implement Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) (e.g., via the ROS gmapping package)