Mike, If you'd like to go down this road I can definitely help you out along the way. Just as an example, I think for control of my Abrams it would be cool to use a Wii Nunchuck/microcontroller with an Xbee pro, so we'll see how that goes.
Yeah, I know how to hook up a pot, but like I said, I would suggest using pwm instead. A potentiometer is a resistive voltage divider, and wasted energy in these devices is directly proportional to the current used (which will be high running tanks!). Using PWM gets rid of this problem, because it basically turns the voltage on and off very quickly. The inductive load of the motor (the motor windings) averages out these on and off transitions. (for example, if we switch between 0 and 5volts with 5 volts "on" 50% of the time, the motor thinks that it's getting the average, or 2.5 volts). There are other advantages as well, but for high current motor controlling this is the way to go On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 4:31 PM, Mike Måne <[email protected]> wrote: > > George: I was considering that idea, but using servos to control these > 15-year-old things probably won't go very smoothly, or as you said, it > would be delayed. Also, a switch must be thrown to simply reverse the > motors. I think it would be best to simply replace the original > controls with a receiver. > > Don: The term "microcontroller" sounds like it must be a cool idea. > I'm not an electrician, so you might have to send me a little > instruction for guidance, but your help would be appreciated. Do you > know how to hook up a potentiometer? > > Thanks again, > > -Mike M. > > On 16/08/2009, Don Shankin <[email protected]> wrote: > > I would suggest a PWM controller to control the speed. I'm not sure how > > much they are to purchase, but if you're handy with > electronics/programming, > > you can make one on a microcontroller. I made one on an Atmel > > microcontroller that sets the PWM duty cycle based on serial commands. > If > > you're interested I can send you the source for this. The only parts you > > need are an atmel micro, a max232 level shifter, and a few caps... less > > than $10 in parts > > > > > > > > > > -- > -Mike Måne @ > http://moonrcprojects.googlepages.com > > > > -- ---------- Donald Shankin Computer Engineering Undergrad Blue Marble Security Member IEEE Vice Chair, MTU Chapter NSBE Telecommunications Chair, MTU Chapter CAEL Partner (507) 301-2499 [email protected] [email protected] ---------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
