3D model
The S1 Inventor model. Drag to orbit, right-drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom; explode it, take the body off, show the sensor fields, follow the wiring above and below the deck, turn the steering, and switch between the two GPS configurations and the two ways to print the shell. Open full screen
Documents
-
Build guide
How the car is built on an eight-station line, from raw sheet to a driving test. Every step has an animated drawing made from the CAD model.
-
Parts list and cost
Every bought part with its listing and price, the parts made in-house, and the fit checks before the first build. Prices are before tax and shipping.
-
Prototype estimate
Engineering support from the design to a working prototype: 130 hours, $6,500, four weeks.
The car
- Structure
- Flat laser-cut 1/8 in aluminum for the chassis and rear bulkhead, with printed PETG nose caps, towers and corner blocks, all joined by through-bolts, under a printed two-piece body whose top shell lifts off after four thumb screws. The shell prints in-house in sections that fit a 256 mm bed, or in one piece at a print service. TPU seals wherever the body opens. Nothing is bent; only the mast tubes, from the shop's stock, are cut to length.
- Drive and steering
- Two rear gearmotors with encoders. Each front wheel turns on its own kingpin, driven by its own servo.
- Sensing
- A LiDAR at the front of the roof, its head clear above it for a full 360° view, a GPS under the roof, and eight sensor stations around the body, each pairing a ToF sensor with a Sharp distance sensor. Plus a motion sensor (IMU).
- Camera
- On a telescoping mast that lifts it to 55 in and folds down for shipping, plus a cup on the roof for a 360 camera and a USB-C charging socket beside it.
- Power and safety
- Two 12.8 V LiFePO4 packs, each on its own fuse, charged in place through the rear port. A latching E-stop on its roof tower, right behind the mast, cuts the drive and the mast.
- Computer
- An Orange Pi runs navigation and the app link, and drives the motors, servos and mast straight off its own pins.
Where it stands
- Ready: the S1 design and the priced parts list. The build guide still shows the v4 body (aluminum lids) and the shop-provided mast.
- Next: order the parts, cut and print them, and run the fit checks listed in the parts list before the first build.
- Then: four weeks of bring-up, integration and testing to a working prototype (see the estimate).
- Acceptance: none of the fifteen acceptance tests has been run yet; they need the built prototype.