Post by Dave Chamberlain on Nov 27, 2014 7:45:14 GMT
So as we've been unable to race for the last few weeks due to hall availability :-(
What have you all been doing to fill in the time???
I've been working on project Dusty! Which is the restoration of the remote controlled bin used in the 1980's TV show 3,2,1 (Google dusty bin if your tooooo young to remember)
He is an actual metal dust bin with legs and feet driven by two 15v DC 540 size motors which run into a gear box (one in each foot) which turn a 100mm drive wheel.. The feet also have a castor wheel front and rear to add some stability!
Originally dusty had an Acoms 27Mhz stick radio controlling two servos which adjusted two mechanical speed controllers (bit like Tamyia mini) for the left and right foot motors.. Power was supplied by a 12v gel type battery which was missing when he arrived.. Driving dusty was interesting as he works a bit like a tank with turning accomplished by slowing or stopping one wheel while keeping the other wheel driving.. Sounds easy but with a traditional hand set one stick is designed for steering use so runs left/right not up/down making your brain work a little harder when trying to remember if left or right is forward or reverse!!
Anyway dusty was destined to be used in a panto this Christmas so I decided the 27Mhz gear and mech speed controllers had to go as they were hard to use and were actually dangerous as dusty all up with 12v battery does weigh in at quite a bit and glitchy 27Mhz radio gear could make for someone getting run over!!!
So the plan was to overhaul dusty with some new control kit.. I spent some time wondering how to get the forward / reverse and turning control working in a more logical way.. My first idea was to modify a set of 2.4Ghz sticks so the left/right went up /down instead, but these days unless you spend a bit of cash all of the cheap hand sets have the stick slots moulded in :-( Then Paul Longhurst suggested something called a "mixer" which is used by model boat builders to control boats with two motors.. After a little bit more research this device looked like it might do the job :-) it is a small circuit board with two servo sockets and two leads with servo plugs attached.. you plug your two ESC's into the two sockets and then plug the two plug into your throttle and steering sockets on your receiver the clever bit is the mixer outputs the throttle signal to both ESC's but mixes any steering input into the signal as well!!
The result? Well after a new 12v gel battery a pair of cheap ESC's from ebay and a few hours of wiring up Dusty drives like a dream using a standard wheel controller :-) the mixer works like charm even allowing Dusty to spin on a pin by putting one wheel in reverse when you have the steering on lock!
I've also added a big on / off switch with a nice red "on" led on his side along with a charging socket on his underside..
He leaves my workshop this Friday for Wimbourne where he is due to appear in a Christmas panto along side Ted Rogers son in a few weeks..
So like I said... What have you guys been doing??
What have you all been doing to fill in the time???
I've been working on project Dusty! Which is the restoration of the remote controlled bin used in the 1980's TV show 3,2,1 (Google dusty bin if your tooooo young to remember)
He is an actual metal dust bin with legs and feet driven by two 15v DC 540 size motors which run into a gear box (one in each foot) which turn a 100mm drive wheel.. The feet also have a castor wheel front and rear to add some stability!
Originally dusty had an Acoms 27Mhz stick radio controlling two servos which adjusted two mechanical speed controllers (bit like Tamyia mini) for the left and right foot motors.. Power was supplied by a 12v gel type battery which was missing when he arrived.. Driving dusty was interesting as he works a bit like a tank with turning accomplished by slowing or stopping one wheel while keeping the other wheel driving.. Sounds easy but with a traditional hand set one stick is designed for steering use so runs left/right not up/down making your brain work a little harder when trying to remember if left or right is forward or reverse!!
Anyway dusty was destined to be used in a panto this Christmas so I decided the 27Mhz gear and mech speed controllers had to go as they were hard to use and were actually dangerous as dusty all up with 12v battery does weigh in at quite a bit and glitchy 27Mhz radio gear could make for someone getting run over!!!
So the plan was to overhaul dusty with some new control kit.. I spent some time wondering how to get the forward / reverse and turning control working in a more logical way.. My first idea was to modify a set of 2.4Ghz sticks so the left/right went up /down instead, but these days unless you spend a bit of cash all of the cheap hand sets have the stick slots moulded in :-( Then Paul Longhurst suggested something called a "mixer" which is used by model boat builders to control boats with two motors.. After a little bit more research this device looked like it might do the job :-) it is a small circuit board with two servo sockets and two leads with servo plugs attached.. you plug your two ESC's into the two sockets and then plug the two plug into your throttle and steering sockets on your receiver the clever bit is the mixer outputs the throttle signal to both ESC's but mixes any steering input into the signal as well!!
The result? Well after a new 12v gel battery a pair of cheap ESC's from ebay and a few hours of wiring up Dusty drives like a dream using a standard wheel controller :-) the mixer works like charm even allowing Dusty to spin on a pin by putting one wheel in reverse when you have the steering on lock!
I've also added a big on / off switch with a nice red "on" led on his side along with a charging socket on his underside..
He leaves my workshop this Friday for Wimbourne where he is due to appear in a Christmas panto along side Ted Rogers son in a few weeks..
So like I said... What have you guys been doing??