robotindex Waveshare UGV Rover
A 6-wheel, rocker-arm-suspension AI robotics kit from Waveshare, built around a Raspberry Pi 4B/5 (or optional Jetson Orin) with an ESP32 motor sub-controller and an optional 2-axis pan-tilt camera module. It's a distinct, higher-tier sibling to the bare Waveshare UGV02 chassis already in this catalog — and, like TurtleBot4 in this same subcategory, Waveshare markets it purely as an educational AI-development platform, not a security product.
waveshare.com/ugv-rover-ros2-kit →
Image: Waveshare (official)
Specs
Battery
3× 18650 Li-ionnot included; 3S UPS module
Weight
~2.19 kgwith pan-tilt module; 1.87kg without, per Waveshare's official spec table
Dimensions
230 × 252 × 255 mmwithout pan-tilt: 230 × 252 × 123mm
Connectivity
Wi-Fi + WebRTCbrowser-based control, no app install needed
Sensors
9-axis IMUsupports USB/UART lidar for SLAM
Compute
Raspberry Pi 4B / 5+ ESP32 sub-controller; Jetson Orin Nano/NX kit also sold
Camera
5MP, 160° FOVoptional 2-axis pan-tilt add-on; no IR/night-vision sensor
Software
ROS 2 HumbleDebian Bookworm; GitHub firmware licensed GPL-3.0
Chassis
6-wheel, 4WDrocker-arm suspension, aluminum-extrusion frame
Speed
~1.3 m/strades the tracked UGV Beast's off-road grip for speed
Subscription
Nonelocal WebRTC browser control, open-source firmware — no cloud account required
Reference Price
Waveshare's own listings range from $244.99 for the bare chassis kit up to $486.99 for the full PT/ROS2 configuration with the Raspberry Pi and pan-tilt camera module included; a Jetson Orin Nano/NX compute variant runs higher still. It's sold directly through waveshare.com and through general electronics/robotics distributors including RobotShop, Core Electronics, and eBay — no AliExpress storefront listing was confirmed at research time, though Waveshare typically maintains one.
Insights
Firmware for this lineup is genuinely open-source (GPL-3.0), though the hardware design files carry no formal open-hardware license. Its turret light is a visible-spectrum LED spotlight, not an IR/night-vision sensor, despite how it may look in photos.
Firmware & Community
waveshareteam/ugv_rpi
Open firmware and demo code for motion control, ROS, and AI-camera vision. Hardware is documented but not formally open-licensed.
Verified against Waveshare's own product pages and wiki for the UGV Rover, UGV Rover ROS2 Kit, UGV Beast, UGV01, UGV02, WAVE ROVER, and RaspRover; the shared `waveshareteam/ugv_rpi` GitHub repository; independent coverage from CNX-Software and Hackster.io; and distributor listings (RobotShop, Core Electronics, eBay). Flagged as uncertain or corrected: this catalog's prior generic name ("Waveshare UGV Rover Series") has been narrowed to the specific model shown in this photo — a 6-wheel UGV Rover, not the tracked UGV Beast or the bare UGV02 chassis already catalogued separately; the "Security" framing itself, which no official Waveshare source supports and which this catalog keeps only as a maker-adaptation caveat, matching the same concern already raised on TurtleBot4; and current AliExpress pricing/availability, which could not be independently confirmed at research time.