RC Car hack

@jonnyr

An interesting project and I will be looking to pinch a few ideas as I quite minded to get and bodge an RC car myself.   I see that some of these RC cars can get very expensive so I'm endeavouring to see the bang for buck one gets with these various models but I'm thinking the bigger the better for going over the rough terrain.  Most video's on these modules show them zooming about at high speed, whereas a much slower and steadier pace is much more appropriate so a 'rock crawler' could be the way to go.  Do keep us posted with your progress. 👍 

@jonnyr, impressive video !  I have a Tank robot I brought as a kit, that has Ir RC , Ultrasonics (HC-So4) for anti-collision, photo-Resistors for light following. and Bluetooth for using your iPhone for remote control..I'm still in the testing stages to make sure everything works properly.. your tips on timing and sensor arrangements are most useful..Good luck on your Rock Crawler project..Somehow I think it will be very successful...lol

A photo of my Tank robot is attached below..

 kind regards,

   LouisR

@byron Thanks Byron. The project was a lot of fun. There's something really satisfying about building something and getting it to work. Just remember to make sure the wires are secure, my earth wires came out a couple of times and I had to put them back in, which was actually more difficult than it sounds because of the spaghetti-ness of the wiring.

@inst-tech Thanks. I've been looking at those tanks. They look really cool and a lot of fun. My idea was to attach a metal detector and use it to search for treasure or as a mine sweeper. Just one question, how does it go over rough terrain?

@jonnyr  That was a very good question.."How does it do over rough terrain".. Not very well..It lack the torque for anything other that what it was designed for..which is educational only...it's a simple learning tool..I bought it learn how to program in C++, and get an idea of how to use the software and firmware to built more sophisticated projects..I think your way ahead of this kind of thing, but it was fun to build it, and get everything working, including the bluetooth...lol Now to move on to other projects.. I'm 75 now, so I can't doddle, times not my friend...lol

Good luck with your Rock Crawler..

kind regards,

    LouisR 

@inst-tech Louis, you're in the right place if you want to learn how to do all that stuff. Dronebot is like an online university.

Do you ever watch makercast? Some of the guys on there are doing some great stuff. Some of them are a bit boring. But there are some great creative ideas.

This site is the best for starting. The other ones that I like are:

1. Random Nerd Tutorials for learning esp32
2. Ralph Bacon for learning Arduino and esp32
3. Great Scott 
4. Andreas Spiess - the guy with the swiss accent
5. Jeremy Fielding for watching a creative genius at work and learning
6. Joop Brokking - he has some fairly advanced coding tutorials for the Arduino
7. Bitluni - I implemented his pixel matrix with ping pong balls for LEDs
8. Zack Freedman - really entertaining.
9. James Bruton.

@jonnyr, indeed, I have watched the videos by Paul McWhorter, and Andreas Spiess, Plus many more on advanced topics in electronics circuitry analysis, and circuit design using OpAmps, and Mosfets.

I'm a retired  industrial electrical/Instrumentation technician, with 40 years of electronics and process control experience..This is just another new programming language to learn...lol

Thanks for the tips on the list of folks to get more information on project ideas and programming..

kind regards,

    LouisR

@inst-tech Wow! That sounds like an awesome job. I work in a bank during the day and as a chauffer for my kids on the weekends 🙂 This stuff just keeps me sane.

I'll check out Paul McWhorter on YouTube. 

@jonnyr, yep..everyone needs a little escape from the grind of daily life every once in a while.

Working in the industrial arena for so many years made me somewhat aware of advancing technology, as that is where most commodity products come out of..It's NASA, Military, Industrial, then down to the consumer level, which can be a very long time for the general public to have a go at it..lol

We were using touch screen technology on our process control computers , (round 1990) long before it was in use by the general public.. along with many other advances in sensor technology, like the two wire transmitters using analog 4-20 mA signal source to the computers. it's converted to a 1-5 Vdc signal at the input of the ADC by using a 250 ohm .01% precision resistor. Many , many advances in instrumentation in the 40 + years I worked in the industry. 

You my friend, now can have all the fun you want as most of this technology is readily available and cheap..uh, compared to what it was just a decade ago that is...lol

kind regards,

LouisR

@inst-tech LOL. The technology has now trickled down to nerdy makers like myself.