AratMicro

High-performance, open-source micromouse robot platform built for Robosam and MEB Robot (Ministry of National Education Robotics Competition, Turkey).

AratMicro is a competition-focused maze-solving robot with a custom PCB, wall-detection sensors, dual-encoder drive, and STM32F411-based firmware. Hardware and software are developed together; all design files are shared in this repository.

Competition target

This robot is designed to meet the maze-solving requirements of:

• Robosam — national robotics competition (micromouse / labyrinth category)
• MEB Robot — Ministry of National Education (MEB) robotics competition for schools

The mechanical dimensions, sensor layout, and control architecture are tuned for fast, reliable maze exploration and shortest-path solving under competition rules.

Features

Area	Detail
MCU	STM32F411CEU6 — Cortex-M4 @ 100 MHz, 512 KB Flash, 128 KB RAM
Motor driver	DRV8833 — dual-channel H-bridge
Wall sensors	4× IR receivers + 4× IR LEDs (front left/right, left, right)
Maze solver	Flood fill (16×16 grid)
Position feedback	Left/right quadrature encoders (L_ENC_A/B, R_ENC_A/B)
I/O expansion	PCF8574AP — I2C GPIO expander
Power	2S LiPo → AP63203WU buck (3.3 V logic), separate motor rail
Programming	ST-Link SWD (PA13/PA14), optional UART Bluetooth
Firmware	PlatformIO + Arduino framework, C++17

Mechanical (target parts)

Part	Size	Notes
Motor	40 × 12 × 17 mm	3 mm D-shaft
Wheel	32 × 7 mm	3 mm D-shaft

Mechanical CAD files are not yet included. Dimensions were chosen to match the PCB and drivetrain layout.

Repository layout

AratMicro/
├── hardware/
│   └── pcb/          # KiCad 10 schematics and PCB (AratMicro.kicad_pro)
├── software/
│   ├── src/          # Firmware source code
│   ├── include/      # Public API headers
│   ├── lib/          # PlatformIO module libraries
│   ├── test/         # Host-side unit tests (Unity)
│   ├── docs/         # Architecture and hardware reference
│   └── platformio.ini
├── LICENSE
└── CONTRIBUTING.md

Quick start

Requirements

• PlatformIO (VS Code extension or CLI)
• ST-Link V2 (or compatible programmer)
• KiCad 10.x (for hardware edits)

Build and upload firmware

cd software
pio run -e aratmicro_f411
pio run -e aratmicro_f411 -t upload

Host tests

Algorithms and core logic can be tested on the host:

cd software
pio test -e native

Hardware

KiCad project: hardware/pcb/AratMicro.kicad_pro

Schematic sub-sheets:

Sheet	File	Contents
Power Supply	power_supply.kicad_sch	2S LiPo input, buck, protection
MCU	mcu.kicad_sch	STM32F411, clocks, SWD, I/O
Motor Controller	mc.kicad_sch	DRV8833 motor driver
Sensor Unit	su.kicad_sch	IR wall-detection circuit

Full BOM and signal list: hardware/README.md

Software architecture

Firmware is organized in layers:

• core — Hardware-independent application lifecycle
• platform — Time and pin abstractions
• lib/ — Motor, IMU, maze solver modules (planned)

Details: software/docs/architecture.md

Status

Component	Status
PCB schematic	Active development
PCB layout	Active development
Firmware skeleton	Available
Motor driver code	Planned
Wall sensor code	Planned
Maze solver (flood fill)	Available (host-tested)
Mechanical CAD	Planned

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

This project is released under the MIT License — hardware and software may be used, modified, and shared freely.