thatdecade
Well-Known Member
The 10mm diffused white or blue LEDs I like for the helmets. I buy mine in bulk from ebay. I'm trying to make chrome holders for the 10mm LEDs popular too.
"Help!" for: Electronics
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Hey guys, is it possible to dissect one of those cheapo RC cars, take out the motor and transmitter, and use the now-wheelless axles to act as a servo for my Iron Man faceplate mech?
Only problems I see would be timing it, torque, and transmitter strength
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Well maybe not so much for torque, if I can replace the motor.
Only problems I see would be timing it, torque, and transmitter strength
.Well maybe not so much for torque, if I can replace the motor.
Skullptura
Member
It might work. The main problems that I can think of would be the weight of the faceplate would put astrain on the motors causing them to burn out a bit. The transmitter strength should be fine. You could try putting in a gear but space would be minimal!
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Right, the servo in there isn't very strong. You could potentially replace the motor with another servo that is stronger.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/steeringservos.html
http://www.hobbypartz.com/steeringservos.html
Holy crap. I've been searching everywhere for affordable Metal Gear servos. Thanks man!
Argh. But of course it's out of stock
Lurk mode engaged.
Then again, wouldn't the Servos need to be wired to a control panel, switch, etc, defeating the purpose of having a wireless transmitter? I'm trying to avoid the clutter of wires the best I can.
It's my understanding that the RC Helos, cars, etc. operate on motors that just continually rotate, right?
Skullptura
Member
The helicopters that I have, the servos that operate the forward and backward motion tilt the gyro back and forth which make it move forward and backward. But then mine arent that cheap lol. Go into a hooby store or propper electectronics store that has staff that know what they are talking about. (Good Luck with that). Explain what you need the servos to do and they might be able to help you. The shop I go to for repairs and other bits and pieces is JC Electronis. They do kits and individual parts.
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Just look at your RC car. Are there three wires or two on the motor?. Servos use three wires.
I despise ehow... no pictures
http://www.ehow.com/how_7672264_build-robot-rc-cars.html
edit:
That previous website has metal gear servos in stock. Just not the super strong one I first linked.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/metalgear.html
I despise ehow... no pictures
http://www.ehow.com/how_7672264_build-robot-rc-cars.html
edit:
That previous website has metal gear servos in stock. Just not the super strong one I first linked.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/metalgear.html
Thanksthanksthanks!!!!
I'll deff. be keeping these for reference. Time to get a cheapo RC car, I 'spose. Updates to follow on my Iron Patriot build page
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Erm. So I've stumbled across these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Wireles...ion_Controls_Touchscreens&hash=item2a24b00ad0
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4Key-Wirele...8?pt=Garage_Doors_Openers&hash=item4cfc506720
Am I going in the right direction, in terms of making the motor run? (Not exactly going into the whole precise position thing yet for servos, as programming does not look fun)
Going for this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Wireles...ion_Controls_Touchscreens&hash=item2a24b00ad0
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4Key-Wirele...8?pt=Garage_Doors_Openers&hash=item4cfc506720
Am I going in the right direction, in terms of making the motor run? (Not exactly going into the whole precise position thing yet for servos, as programming does not look fun
)Going for this:
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thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Well, using a RC car circuit board, you wouldn't need to do any programming. Just wire it up.
But yeah... you are right. Unlike a motor which can just be switched to a battery. A servo needs a circuit to tell it what to do.
Programming is tons of fun, and easy, and cheap! If you want to go that route... get yourself an arduino and read this guide.
http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Sweep
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11224 or this https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11286
I always recommend arduino for beginners, everyone else too. Has an awesome community writing lots of tutorials and libraries. Everytime I hear about someone making something random and cool, there's an arduino behind it.
But yeah... you are right. Unlike a motor which can just be switched to a battery. A servo needs a circuit to tell it what to do.
Programming is tons of fun, and easy, and cheap! If you want to go that route... get yourself an arduino and read this guide.
http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Sweep
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11224 or this https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11286
I always recommend arduino for beginners, everyone else too. Has an awesome community writing lots of tutorials and libraries. Everytime I hear about someone making something random and cool, there's an arduino behind it.
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Oops, I missed your eBay links before. The one with the blue rectangles on the board, those are relays, used for a small circuit to control larger things. The second link I removed from the quote, that is a data controller, no relays, not enough to run a motor's current.
The first link however did have two relays, two buttons on the remote. Press A and motor A turns on in one direction. Press A again and motor A turns off.
No way to reverse the motor with one of those. Not easily anyway.
To control the motor direction, you need 4 switches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_bridge
Edit, this one says it can reverse motor direction. Of course no instructions how ever. I don't really believe him.
http://r.ebay.com/CVzneb
Let me start this off by saying I've never wired anything in my life. I'm sure I can do it, just haven't had a reason to yet. I've gotten a lot of the basic components for my build (LED's, soldering iron, wiring, switches, battery boxes, etc) but am stuck on one item that's farther beyond my negligible skill level. On the back of my torso I wanted to have two parallel light chasers running. My hope was to have it look something like a runway, with two lights running parallel down the length, but with only four LED's on each side.
I've found some kits online and I'm sure with some instructions and practice soldering I could put them together, but I don't know which ones are any good. The few I looked at seemed to have some negative comments that made me shy away. Could someone recommend a good kit? Also, would I be able to wire both sides into one, or would I need to have two separate units? I'm really hoping for one, since I'd like to have the lights going at the exact same time.
Thanks in advance!
I've found some kits online and I'm sure with some instructions and practice soldering I could put them together, but I don't know which ones are any good. The few I looked at seemed to have some negative comments that made me shy away. Could someone recommend a good kit? Also, would I be able to wire both sides into one, or would I need to have two separate units? I'm really hoping for one, since I'd like to have the lights going at the exact same time.
Thanks in advance!
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Depends exactly what lighting effect you want. Here is a good kit for a larson scanner, the leds light up back and forth like they are scanning.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11365
edit: Just re-read your post. Two lights like a runway. One led lights at a time, then turns off, lighting the next LED in sequence. I believe that is called a chasing lighting effect.
Maybe you can link me to some of the kits you've found, and I can show you how to modify them to light up two strips of LEDs instead of one.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11365
edit: Just re-read your post. Two lights like a runway. One led lights at a time, then turns off, lighting the next LED in sequence. I believe that is called a chasing lighting effect.
Maybe you can link me to some of the kits you've found, and I can show you how to modify them to light up two strips of LEDs instead of one.
The ones I've found so far are:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-...r_Kit/1.html?gclid=CNHKnpHg6rQCFQ-e4AodZG0Aww
http://www.bgmicro.com/mk173.aspx
Both of those have more LED's than necessary, but it's the right general idea. They all look like the LED's mount directly to the board, but the setup I'm trying for is to have one chaser in the top of each "fin" on the back of the MkVI torso; this is why I asked about splitting them. Controller in the middle, with wiring running to each fin so both would change simultaneously.
Hoping this is possible.. thanks for the help.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-...r_Kit/1.html?gclid=CNHKnpHg6rQCFQ-e4AodZG0Aww
http://www.bgmicro.com/mk173.aspx
Both of those have more LED's than necessary, but it's the right general idea. They all look like the LED's mount directly to the board, but the setup I'm trying for is to have one chaser in the top of each "fin" on the back of the MkVI torso; this is why I asked about splitting them. Controller in the middle, with wiring running to each fin so both would change simultaneously.
Hoping this is possible.. thanks for the help.
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
The one from bgmicro looks like a larson scanner.
http://www.vellemanusa.com/downloads/0/infosheets/mk173_uk.pdf
The one from allelectronics will work just fine. The 4017 chip is a decade counter, perfect for chasing lights. Unfortunately, the 4017 by itself doesn't supply enough current to run the LEDs (max 2mA). Sure those little red LEDs will light up fine, but blue / white LEDs need more kick.
This is the basic circuit of that kit
Manual - http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_assets/spec/AEC.pdf
Circuit - http://www.eleccircuit.com/7-led-light-running-adjust-speed-by-4017-and-555/
I uploaded a picture from a previous project I did. Modifies the 4017 output to drive multiple LEDs. Let me know if you need more help, I can make a better picture of how to modify the kit from allelectronics to do what you want. Below is just the jist of the modification using a NPN transistor to bump up the current output to each LED pair.
4017 with transistors by thatdecade, on Flickr
http://www.vellemanusa.com/downloads/0/infosheets/mk173_uk.pdf
The one from allelectronics will work just fine. The 4017 chip is a decade counter, perfect for chasing lights. Unfortunately, the 4017 by itself doesn't supply enough current to run the LEDs (max 2mA). Sure those little red LEDs will light up fine, but blue / white LEDs need more kick.
This is the basic circuit of that kit
Manual - http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_assets/spec/AEC.pdf
Circuit - http://www.eleccircuit.com/7-led-light-running-adjust-speed-by-4017-and-555/
I uploaded a picture from a previous project I did. Modifies the 4017 output to drive multiple LEDs. Let me know if you need more help, I can make a better picture of how to modify the kit from allelectronics to do what you want. Below is just the jist of the modification using a NPN transistor to bump up the current output to each LED pair.
4017 with transistors by thatdecade, on Flickr
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