Arduino Uno RC Remote - Can It Be Done? -- Episode 443

Can you build an RC remote controller with just an Arduino Uno and a random Wifi module? That is the question this project video answers! Clem got visited by his friend Goofy who is driving RC crawlers in a local trophy series and tasks him with improving his current controller by adding more analog channels and open firmware to allow competitors to freely mod their systems. Clem only uses parts commonly found in a makers workshop such as an Arduino Uno, shift registers and some wifi modules to build an RC system from scratch. While it works, he cuts some corners to get latency down, and shows you how to get different microcontrollers to talk to each other over UART and WiFi.

Supplemental Content:

Episode 391: First Person View RC Car with PS1 Steering Wheel
Episode 439 - Mechanical Arcade Game with Barebones Arduino
Github for Adafruit Library for the display
RC Crawler competition mentioned in the video: ASTS – Austrian Scale Team Series
Goofy‘s tattoo art

Bill of Material:

Product Name	Manufacturer	Quantity	Buy Kit
MULTICOMP PRO Toggle Switch, On-On, SPDT, Non Illuminated, 2M Series, Through Hole, 100 mA	MULTICOMP PRO	8	Buy Now
TT ELECTRONICS / BI TECHNOLOGIES Rotary Potentiometer, 10 kohm, 1 Turns, Linear, 200 mW, ± 20%, P160 Series	TT ELECTRONICS / BI TECHNOLOGIES	4	Buy Now
NEXPERIA Shift Register, HC Family, 74HC165, Parallel to Serial, 1 Element, 8 bit, SOIC, 16 Pins	NEXPERIA	3	Buy Now
NEXPERIA Shift Register, 74HC595, Serial to Parallel, Serial to Serial, 1 Element, 8 bit, SOIC, 16 Pins	NEXPERIA	2	Buy Now
DURATOOL Spring Set, Compressed & Extending, Assorted, 200 Pieces	DURATOOL	1	Buy Now
DURATOOL Desoldering Wire, Black, 2.5 mm Width, 1.5 m Length	DURATOOL	1	Buy Now
ON SEMICONDUCTOR Linear Voltage Regulator, Fixed, 5.0 V to 18 V In, 5.0 V / 1 A Out, DPAK-3	ON SEMICONDUCTOR	2	Buy Now
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Linear Voltage Regulator, Fixed, 4.75V To 26V In, 3.3V And 400mA Out, SOT-223-4	TEXAS INSTRUMENTS	2	Buy Now
MICROCHIP 8 Bit Microcontroller, AVR ATmega Family ATmega328 Series Microcontrollers, 20 MHz, 1 KB, 32 KB	MICROCHIP	2	Buy Now
MULTICOMP PRO LED, Inbuilt Resistor, 5V, Red, Through Hole, T-1 3/4 (5mm), 10 mA, 2.1 V, 650 nm	MULTICOMP PRO	8	Buy Now
MULTICOMP 3D Printer Filament, 1.75mm Dia, Blue, PLA, 1 kg	MULTICOMP	1	Buy Now
C & K COMPONENTS DIP / SIP Switch, 8 Circuits, Raised Slide, Through Hole, SPST-NO, 5 V, 100 mA	C & K COMPONENTS	1	Buy Now
MULTICOMP Tactile Switch, MCDTS-6 Series, Top Actuated, Through Hole, Round Button, 160 gf, 50mA at 12VDC	MULTICOMP	8	Buy Now
MIDAS Graphic OLED, 48 x 64 Pixels, White on Black, 3V, I2C, 15.9mm x 27mm, -40 °C	MIDAS	1	Buy Now

Additional Parts:

Product Name
RC car wheel as steering wheel
RC Car ( Cars used in the Epsiode: modded Reely Bulldog/Rockdog / AMR Mini Scud with Mini Cooper Body)
ESP8266 modules (ESP-01S) or any other wifi module

Attachments:

Resources_RC Remote.zip

Arduino Uno RC Remote - Can It Be Done?

element14 Presents | About Clem | Project Videos

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celcius1 over 4 years ago

With the self centering steering leg, you could use a coil spring, for the centering, if your interested I can send you my fusion 360 file of a test of working printable coil spring, I will state it works best when printed in PETG, as PETG seems to have the right type of springiness.

The nature of the coil spring would do the trick due to how a coiled spring functions, as its more representative of the motion used for the steering control
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mayermakes over 4 years ago in reply to celcius1

thank you ! of course I'm interested in your design, please post it right here so other community members can see it as well!
I had a design with a steel "rotary"? spring (no idea how its correctly called) in mind but it did not work out as intended, the design shown in the video was easiest to integrate with the pcb design.
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celcius1 over 4 years ago in reply to mayermakes

Hey Clem,

Happy to help, here is the link to my github https://github.com/Celcius1/MiscFiles where I have uploaded it to. It's the only file there for the moment but I'll add more as I release some other items to the public. But like I said it was a test to see if I could print a coil spring, which you would most commonly find in wind up watches and clocks.

Regards
Paul
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mayermakes over 4 years ago in reply to celcius1

Awesome, thanks for Posting your design!
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celcius1 over 4 years ago in reply to mayermakes

Glad to help, this design would give you an idea how the use of a coil spring works, and can be adapted, a variation on the design with more constraint can be used, but still uses the same concept in the uploaded file. If you get stuck more than happy to upload a variation on this file
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mayermakes over 4 years ago in reply to celcius1

thnaks for the Offer at the moment My design might not need that specialiced gel (and I expect it to be very expensive). But if I have the need I wil lget back to you! thanks for the tremendous support!
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mayermakes over 4 years ago in reply to celcius1

thnaks for the Offer at the moment My design might not need that specialiced gel (and I expect it to be very expensive). But if I have the need I wil lget back to you! thanks for the tremendous support!
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