The chassis will support all actuators, sensors and computation units onboard the robot. Ensure you select a chassis that is strong enough for the job.You can also modify existing RC vehicle platforms.
Traxxas
FG Sportline
Losi
Local Hobby shops
$500- $1600
Microcontroller
The micro-controller connects directly to the actuators and ensure they operate as commanded. It is the low-level control center. An Arduino is usually an easy board to start with, more experienced teams can design their own custom boards.
Arduino
PIC
Maple
Digikey
Robotshop
Local electronic shops
$30-$100
Sensors
Range sensor – detect obstacles in long range, usually used for planning and mapping purposes
Obstacle – Localized data, used to determine drive-ability and local path planning
Vehicle States – This includes IMU (inertial measurement units), encoders, etc.
Localization – Localize the vehicle to the global framework.
Camera
Accelerator/Gyro/IMU
Radar/Sonar
Encoders
GPS
Digikey
Robotshop
Local electronic shops
$500- $10,000
Computer
High level computation platform. A PC onboard can provide significantly more computation power than the micro controller can. The PC can take care of all the high level computation (Mapping and Localization from sensors etc.) and only send specific low level commands to the microcontroller.
Jetson TX2
PC104
ITX
fitPC
fitPC
Local computer shops
$400- $1500
RC car disk brake
The vehicle must be able to be shut off through RC, a soft Estop through RC controller is recommended. The vehicle must also be equipped with hard Estop buttons. Brakes are essential to stopping the vehicle. You can purchase RC brakes from hobby shops, or design your own. Ensure that the robot does not cruise for too long after the estop is pressed.