WSAL12913 – AlphaBot2-Pi/en

Documentation notice: This technical documentation was independently rewritten from an archived supplier source. Check technical details and commands against the product version and manufacturer documentation before use.

Summary

Technical overview of the AlphaBot2 robot kit for Raspberry Pi 3B/3B+/4B. Covers hardware assembly, software setup (WiFi, PuTTY, interfaces), and example programs for motors, joystick, IR remote, obstacle avoidance, ultrasonic ranging, RGB LEDs, line following, and servo control.

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Technical overview

The kit comprises the AlphaBot2-Base chassis and the AlphaBot2-Pi adapter board; assembly is snap-fit with no soldering or wiring.
The adapter board includes a TB6612FNG dual H-bridge motor driver, an LM2596 5 V regulator, a TLC1543 10-bit ADC, and a PCA9685 servo controller.
The chassis uses N20 micro gear motors at 1:30 reduction, rubber wheels (42 mm diameter, 19 mm width), and omni-direction wheels.
Remote access is set up via WiFi, checking the IP address with ifconfig, then using PuTTY with the default credentials pi/raspberry.
Interfaces such as camera, SPI, I2C, and UART are enabled through raspi-config; a reboot may be required afterward.
Example programs reside in ~/AlphaBot2/python and are run with sudo python <file>.py.
The IR remote controls forward (key 2), backward (8), left (4), right (6), stop (5); +/− adjusts speed and EQ restores the default.
The five IR sensors report values depending on surface: white KT board ~800–900, in air 0–100, on black line 100–300.
RGB LEDs (WS2812B) are driven via the rpi_ws281x module; if colors display incorrectly, add hdmi_force_hotplug=1 and hdmi_force_edid_audio=1 to /boot/config.txt.

Commands and examples – verify before use:

sudo raspi-config
sudo reboot
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ttf-wqy-zenhei
sudo apt-get install python-pip
sudo pip install RPi.GPIO
sudo pip install spidev
sudo apt-get install python-smbus
sudo apt-get install python-serial
sudo pip install rpi_ws281x
cd ~/AlphaBot2/python
sudo python AlphaBot2.py
sudo python Joystick.py
sudo python IRremote.py
sudo python Infrared_Obstacle_Avoidance.py
sudo python Ultrasonic_Ranging.py
sudo python TRSensors.py
sudo python Line_Follow.py
sudo python PCA9685.py
sudo python ws2812.py

Notes and version constraints

IR remote key mapping may vary by remote model; adjust the program accordingly.
The ultrasonic sensor is not included in the Pi 3B kit due to space constraints; the feature is only available if added separately.
If the wheels run in the wrong direction, swap the pin settings ain1/ain2 or bin1/bin2 in AlphaBot2.py.
Enabling DMA-based RGB LED channels can affect audio output; adding hdmi_force_* lines may render the headphone jack unavailable.
Bluetooth remote control requires a paired device and correct rfcomm configuration; enable Bluetooth on the Pi and set it discoverable if connection issues occur.

Source and revision record

AlphaBot2-Pi - Waveshare Wiki
Source revision: 89124
Captured: 2026-08-30T03:36:22+00:00
SHA-256: 283b63d5be9f1b11d05ff2c8dfc7120ed2fea4e40f10670a8d9104678a3417f6