Moon Rover
A small-scale rover build inspired by lunar exploration rovers — chassis, motor control, and navigation logic built from scratch as a hands-on robotics project. This page documents the circuit, the components that went into it, and the build photos.
Overview
The goal of this build was to design a rover chassis that can drive over uneven, outdoor terrain while being controlled wirelessly from a phone. The ESP32 was chosen as the brain of the rover since it has built-in Wi-Fi, which made it possible to host a simple web control page directly from the board — no separate app needed.
Components Used
ESP32 Dev Board
Main controller — runs the drive logic and hosts the Wi-Fi control interface.
L298N Motor Driver
Switches higher current to the drive motors than the ESP32's GPIO pins can supply directly.
IR Sensor
Detects obstacles or line/edge cues at close range to help guide the rover's path.
Ultrasonic Sensor
Measures distance to obstacles ahead, enabling basic obstacle avoidance.
Li-ion Battery
Powers the motors and the ESP32 independently of a wall supply for outdoor testing.
Servo Motor
Steers or actuates a moving component, such as a sensor mount, on the rover.
LEDs
Used for headlights and status indication on the rover.
DC Motors ×6
Drive the six wheels independently, allowing turning by varying speed side to side.