Thrustmaster Universal Challenge

LEDboy

Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction...so I can interface this steering wheel with the Propeller... When all say and done I would like to be able to control a gokart with a few xbee mods and this steering wheel set up.... I BIG remote controlled GoKart if you will.· Any input would help...What I want to do is be able to sit in front of my computer using a cam and drive the GoKart from my room.

ElectricAye

Well, I'm no expert but I think the first thing you'll want to think about is safety. I'm guessing you'll want your system to continuously be looking for some kind of carrier signal or rapidly repeating safety code. If for any reason that code is not detected within, say, 0.1 seconds, then the fuel line will be closed immediately. In other words, you'll want the thing to fail safe so it doesn't mow down a bunch of old ladies standing at the bus stop.

my 2 cents

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

I have yet to try it with something like this but....

cgi.ebay.com/Nintendo-64-Nascar-2000-game-steering-wheel-pedal-/260589532739?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item3cac58b643#ht_500wt_975

There is a nice N64 driver in the OBEX which uses a single data line.

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Are you Propeller Powered? PropellerPowered.com
Visit the: PROPELLERPOWERED SIG forum kindly hosted by Savage Circuits.

LEDboy

Thanks for the replies...Yes Im thinking safty first...I was in the Air Force for the last 11 and a half years it was drilled into us ha ha ha....All I'm working on is getting the steering wheel and the prop to work a stepper motor or a servo.· Am I thinking right? I will need to do somthing like the shiftin command on the BS2...but with prop insted?· I will look at the code and see if I can get this to work with my steering wheel Thanks again

ElectricAye

LEDboy said...
....All I'm working on is getting the steering wheel and the prop to work a stepper motor or a servo. Am I thinking right?....

First, you'll need to determine what the torque and speed requirements for your steering mechanism will be. I doubt you will directly drive your steering wheel with the motor, so you'll probably want some sort of gearing and/or belting system for the motor to move the steering. Keep in mind that the torque/speed requirements during actual movement of the go cart will probably be very different than having it setting in your garage. You will have to match your motor requirements to fit what the go cart needs and, from that, determine what sort of power supply will drive your motor - are you planning on using a battery system, or an electric generator, or what?

LEDboy said...
.......I will need to do somthing like the shiftin command on the BS2...but with prop insted?....

I'm guessing the Prop would make an excellent controller for such a project and you'll find a lot more sophistication is possible, far better than the BS2. The Propeller Object Exchange (aka OBEX) has a variety of software objects available for servo motors, steppers, etc. The Prop can control stepper motors via various methods, each of which provides various amounts of efficiency/performance.

The OBEX section for motor control is here:
obex.parallax.com/objects/category/7/?n=100

For a little recent discussion about stepper motor control with the Propeller, you might check out this:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=886539

For an interesting tutorial about stepper motors, check out this:
dkc1.digikey.com/us/en/tod/STMicroelectronics/StepperFundamentals_NoAudio/Stepper_Fundamentals_NoAudio.swf

www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/step/physics.html


Hope that helps you get started.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Watching the world pass me by, one photon at a time.

Post Edited (ElectricAye) : 4/25/2010 1:40:58 AM GMT