Pioneer 2 - Manual (Page 52)

Maintenance and Repair
46
Getting Inside
We normally discourage you from opening up your robot. However, on occasion, you may need to get
inside your Pioneer 2 Mobile Robot. For instance, you need to get inside to access the User Power
connections on the Motor-Power board to attach your custom electronics. Or you may need to get at your
onboard computer.
Open the robot AT YOUR OWN RISK,
unless explicitly authorized by the factory.
We describe here how to remove your robot’s Nose to get at the onboard computer. And we describe
what screws to remove to access the contents of the Body of your Pioneer 2 DX, CE, or AT robot.
Onboard Computer
The Pioneer 2 onboard computer sits just behind the robot’s Nose. Its hard-drive, fan, and system
speaker are attached to the Nose. Accordingly, remove the robot’s Nose to access the computer to change
or add a part or check connections.
For all models, the Nose is attached to the robot with two screws: one directly underneath the front
sonar bay and one on the bottom of the robot just behind the seam between the robot’s Body and the Nose.
Remove both screws with the hex wrench supplied with your robot. If you have either the P2 Gripper or
front Bump Ring accessories, remove it first.
BE CAREFUL: Delicate wiring inside.
Four pins along its back edges guide the Nose onto the front Body of the robot. So, to remove it once
the Nose screws are out, pry the Nose out and away from the Body. Careful: The hard-drive, fan, and
speaker have attached wire harnesses that you need to relieve before completely detaching the Nose from
the Body. We recommend unplugging the speaker wire and simply rotating the Nose out of the way to
access the onboard computer.
Top Plate
You may access the contents of your Robot, such as the aforementioned User Power connector on the
Motor-Power board, by removing select screws that fasten the Top Plate to the Body. See Figures 8-1 and
8-2 for screw locations on the DX/CE and AT models,
respectively. In all cases, remove the screws completely,
then carefully lift the Top Plate up off the Body just
enough to access internal cables. Detach only those cables,
such as the rear sonar cable, that interfere with rotating the
Top Plate so you can access the portion you need.
For the Pioneer 2 DX and CE models, use the hex
wrenches that came with your robot to remove the six
3mm flat-head screws that attach the top plate of the
Pioneer 2 to the sides of its Body. They are the three rear-
most screws on each side. Do not remove the screws that
attach the microcontroller board and the front sonar ring to
the top plate (Figure 2-5). Also remove the eight 4mm
screws from the two wheel struts and remove the struts
from the wheel axles.
Figure 8-1. Pioneer 2 DX/CE Top Plate retaining screws
For the Pioneer 2 AT model, remove the sixteen 3mm flat-head screws that attach the Top Plate to the
Body. All of the screws are to the rear of the robot, along the sides and around the Accessory door. Do not
remove the screws at the front of the robot or around the Console.