Project Ideas

NWCCTV · 2012-07-09 16:29

First, Does anyone think I got a good deal on this? ( I got the 6 Ch. Version, Complete with packaging and all) http://manuals.hobbico.com/fut/5nlk-6nlk-manual.pdf All this for only $10.00. Instructions included. I brought it home, charged the batteries and tested. Everything works like a charm.

Any how, after doing some research I see that this unit is used for RC Airplanes. Must be for quite a large aircraft to hold 6 Servos and the RX. I am not really in to the RC Airplanes. To me it seems like an expensive hobby and a crash could cost some serious $$$$. Not to mention that I live in a neighborhood that is not suitable for flying. I would actually like to make something that is useful and utilizes all 6 servos. I have plenty of electronic items to play with, including BS2 chips, a BoeBot, sensors, etc. So, Any and all ideas are welcome.

W9GFO · 2012-07-09 17:18

If it came with servos then that is really a good deal. I have one of those radios somewhere, I tried finding it a while back just so I could salvage the gimbals.

It would work fine for an ELEV-8. As you noted, it is for air vehicles only.

NWCCTV · 2012-07-09 17:25

Yes, It came with all 6 servos, RX/TX and 2 Li-Po batteries!!!

It seems that the servos would not serve much of a purpose on an ELEV-8. However, I could be wrong.

I also have a 16 Ch. Sevo Center that I could implement. I believe I just need to reconfigure the wiring on the servos. If memory serves me correctly someone mentioned some time ago that Futaba servos are wired differently than most other servos.

W9GFO · 2012-07-09 18:20

That was a great deal!

I think those servos should be just fine. There are some old servos that are different - maybe it was Airtronics, not sure. Some even had four wires.

The ELEV-8 doesn't need any servos but you could use one for a camera tilt or bomb release.

NWCCTV · 2012-07-09 18:32

Bomb release!!! Now THAT is a great idea. First off, I have to build an ELEV-8 on a VERY low budget!!

prof_braino · 2012-07-10 06:41

I think you can connect electronic speed controllers instead of servos, and control regular continuous rotation DC motors.

Get one or three of those big old Mylar birthday balloons, and make a blimp! Then you don't have to worry so much about crashes, or at least not downward at acceleration due to gravity. You could even fly it in the house! Then you can connect the servo outputs to your microcontroller, and read the PWM signals and make a PWM pass through. Once you got all that down, you can program the microcontroler to make the blimp autonomous. You can even use cheap spare parts. This is actually one of the projects for which I bought parts (when I was rich before I had kids).

You could even build your blimp similar to a quad copter, when you get good at it you can remove the balloons and fly it outside. This sounds pretty fun.... Maybe I'll do it myself!

This was my re-inspiration a couple years ago
http://airswimmers.com/
Pretty simple with what you got in the box, and safe indoors!

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 14:11

Need to revisit this old thread

As you noted, it is for air vehicles only.

So there would be no way to modify this to be able to control my Wild Thumper? I was checking out this site and they seem to be using a very similar controller. I currently have my WT working with a Sony IR remote but if I could use this controller I think I would be able to have more control over the functions.

mindrobots · 2013-09-25 14:19

It seems like Duane Degn was using an Airplane RC transmitter to control one of his robots (the one that remembered the commands and stored them on the SD card for replay?) Check out his project indexes in his signature.....

or we can try calling him.......

Duane!!!

Gadgetman · 2013-09-25 14:24

Actually, it can be used for almost anything, unless the frequency is specifically for air vehicles.
The big difference between this and one built for a RC car is that they have some sort of steering wheel.

Channel assignments listed in the manual is more of a recommendation than an absolute rule...

For a car with 'normal' steering, you probably want a steering wheel on the controller. Just affix a wheel and add a control linkage from somewhere on the rim of that to one of the sticks on the controller.
Should work... I think...

ratronic · 2013-09-25 14:24

Andy if you have the receiver for that transmitter you can certainly control your Wildthumper (HB-25's and other stuff) with it.

Edit: You have to keep in mind which sticks you are going to use for what.

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 15:10

Yes, I do have the receiver. Where do I start???

ratronic · 2013-09-25 15:47

I think there are RC receiver objects in the OBEX. If you can't find one to use let me know. I use one that Jason Dorie has for his quadcopter. If nobody else responds to this by tomorrow I will try to come up with something to control the HB25's

with Jason's RC receiver program. His program is limited on the input pins I believe (It's been a while). I need to know the port#' for the left and for the right HB25's.

xanadu · 2013-09-25 16:06

I used Rich Harman's and it worked great

http://obex.parallax.com/object/505

Duane Degn · 2013-09-25 16:13

mindrobots wrote: »

Duane!!!

Ouch, my ears hurt!

xanadu wrote: »

I used Rich Harman's and it worked great

http://obex.parallax.com/object/505

I initially planned to use Rich's object in my projects, but it requires a cog for each pair of channels. To monitor six channels takes three cogs.

I ended up using one Jason modified. I modified it yet again to make it more user friendly (any I/O pin may be used instead of just the first six). I think Jason has since modified his to be able to use any pins, but I still think my version is friendlier.

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 17:02

Great. I will give it a shot. I actually got the idea while looking at this site. However, They are not using HB-25's which is why I was not sure that it would work. If I get it going I will post on my WT project page. Thanks all for the help.

EDIT: So as not to mess anything up, is a resistor needed between the RX and the Prop pin?

ratronic · 2013-09-25 17:11

Here is an example using one of Jason's objects to display the receivers microsecond output to the serial terminal for Propeller ports 0 - 2. The receivers usually have 5 volt outputs so

make sure to use a 4.7k resistor between the receiver and Propeller ports.

Con                        
                                                         
  _CLKMODE = XTAL1 + PLL16X                              
  _XINFREQ = 5_000_000
            
Var
        
Obj
  pst : "parallax serial terminal"
   rc : "rc_receiver_7_opt"
  
Pub Main                                                          
    
  pst.start(57_600)
  rc.setpins(%0000111)    'enable ports 0,1,2 for receiver connection with 4.7k between
  rc.start
 
  repeat
    pst.char(1)
    pst.str(string("CH 0 = "))
    pst.dec(rc.get(0))
    pst.chars(32, 4)
    pst.char(13)
    pst.str(string("CH 1 = ")) 
    pst.dec(rc.get(1))         
    pst.chars(32, 4)           
    pst.char(13)               
    pst.str(string("CH 2 = ")) 
    pst.dec(rc.get(2))         
    pst.chars(32, 4)           
    pst.char(13)
        
    waitcnt(clkfreq/100+cnt)

Duane Degn · 2013-09-25 17:15

NWCCTV wrote: »

They are not using HB-25's which is why I was not sure that it would work.

The RC radio is just an input device. It doesn't really matter how the motors are controlled as far as receiving the input goes. Code used to control an H-bridge motor will work with CR servos (or HB-25's) with just a few tweaks to the code and use of a different motor control object.

I recently controlled a CR servo using pulses but then bypassed the servo's control board and controlled the motor directly with an h-bridge. The transition from servo pulses to H-bridge PWM was really easy (this is one of the strength of the Propeller).

You might be able to control the HB-25's directly from the receiver. If your radio has programmable mixing, there should be a way to mix the ailerons and elevator channels together to get the receiver to output the appropriate pulses. I wouldn't worry about this though. I'm pretty sure my radio has the mixing this would require but I wanted the Propeller to do the mixing for me.

The control of the WT should be pretty much the same as a two CR servo robot. The code myself and others have posted to control a Propeller equipped Boe-Bot should work on the WT.

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 17:16

Perfect. Thanks Dave and Duane.

The control of the WT should be pretty much the same as a two CR servo robot. The code myself and others have posted to control a Propeller equipped Boe-Bot should work on the WT.

Yep, Like I said, I have it working using a Sony IR Remote and have played with a couple different Servo programs. I did not think of using the Futaba setup until I was browsing around at what others had done. I figured since it has been lying around doing nothing for over a year I may as well put it to use. I also like @Gadgetman's idea of adding a wheel for better steering control.

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 18:03

@ratronic, I am charging the batteries for the RX/TX units now. In getting everything setup I have one question, (possibly more later!!!). The receiver uses it's own power source. I am assuming that I still need at least one pin grounded to the prop, correct?

W9GFO · 2013-09-25 18:19

Absolutely!

Duane Degn · 2013-09-25 18:21

NWCCTV wrote: »

I am assuming that I still need at least one pin grounded to the prop, correct?

Yes.

ratronic · 2013-09-25 18:44

You will have to provide 5 volts to the receiver and grounds have to be tied. Here is a very simple example to test with. If you hook up the elevator channel 2 to Propeller port 0 with 4.7k between and the HB25's

are hooked to Prop ports 14 & 15 try this. I would put the Thumper on something so the wheels can free spin before you try this. Since the Elevator stick (right, up/down) detents in the center you should be

able to push up and go one way and push down and go the other (only forw and back). The speed will depend on how far you have pushed the stick.

Con                        
                                                         
  _CLKMODE = XTAL1 + PLL16X                              
  _XINFREQ = 5_000_000
  
  LEFT  = 14   'left hb25 propeller port
  RIGHT = 15   'right
  ELEV  = 0    'propeller port connected to receiver elevator channel(2) with 4.7k
       
Var
        
Obj
  
   rc : "rc_receiver_7_opt"
  srv : "propboe servos"
  
Pub Main
                                                       
  srv.setup(LEFT, 0, 20)    'setup left hb25 to stop and have 20us step per pulse ramping
  srv.setup(RIGHT, 0, 20)   '      right                
  
  rc.setpins(%0000111)    'enable ports 2,1,0 for receiver connection with 4.7k between
  rc.start
 
  repeat
    srv.set(LEFT, -rc.getrc(ELEV))      'set left hb25 to elevator stick position
    srv.set(RIGHT, rc.getrc(ELEV))      'set right hb25 to elevator stick position   
        
    waitcnt(clkfreq/100+cnt)

ratronic · 2013-09-25 19:05

I forgot the zip and still have problems editing posts.

NWCCTV · 2013-09-25 19:42

OK. I will give this a try in the next day or two. Thanks.

ratronic · 2013-09-26 09:42

Andy since you are using the PropBOE I used the object Duane posted for the rc receiver. You can plug the receivers elevator channel 2 directly into the P16 servo header using a servo cable. The PropBOE has

3.9k resistors into the Prop ports which is fine. Make sure the voltage jumper for those ports is set to 5 volts. This does the same thing as above except the receiver is plugged into the P16 servo header. Also this code

has P16 - P19 servo headers enabled so you can plug in other receiver channels. P16 - P19 = Channel 0 - 3 for the rc.get() or rc.getrc() methods.

Con                        
                                                         
  _CLKMODE = XTAL1 + PLL16X                              
  _XINFREQ = 5_000_000
  
  LEFT  = 14   'left hb25 propeller port
  RIGHT = 15   'right
  ELEV  = 0    'rc object channel# - connect receiver elevator channel(2) to p16 on propboe
       
Var
        
Obj
  
   rc : "rcreceiver121116c"
  srv : "propboe servos"
  
Pub Main
                                                       
  srv.setup(LEFT, 0, 20)    'setup left hb25 to stop and have 20us step per pulse ramping
  srv.setup(RIGHT, 0, 20)   '      right                
    
  rc.start(%1111_0000_0000_0000_0000)   'enable propeller ports 19,18,17,16 for rc receiver, p16 = ch 0, p17 = ch1, p18 = ch2, p19 = ch3
 
  repeat
    srv.set(LEFT, -rc.getrc(ELEV))      'set left hb25 to elevator stick position
    srv.set(RIGHT, rc.getrc(ELEV))      'set right hb25 to elevator stick position   
        
    waitcnt(clkfreq/100+cnt)

NWCCTV · 2013-09-26 09:45

I am only using a Prop BOE for testing. The WT uses a Prop Demo Board.

ratronic · 2013-09-26 10:12

That is good. That will make it simple to connect the HB25's and rc receiver channels to the PropBOE servo headers which will power your receiver to. That last code I posted with Duane's posted rc object allowed use of P16 - P19

for receiver channels. Have fun with your project!

NWCCTV · 2013-09-26 10:16

Will do. Thanks again for all the help.

mindrobots · 2013-09-26 10:21

Wow, Dave!

You and Duane are making this very tempting to plug my RC receiver into my ActivityBot and make it into an RC car!

Duane Degn · 2013-09-26 10:57

mindrobots wrote: »

Wow, Dave!

You and Duane are making this very tempting to plug my RC receiver into my ActivityBot and make it into an RC car!

Don't forget, you can also use a SD card to record and playback your path.

ratronic · 2013-09-26 18:14

Andy I am working with a small tracked chassis using a pair of HB25's (overkill). Any how I was playing with how to steer it and I came up with this using the Elevator channel 2 plugged into P16 and Aileron channel 1 plugged

into P17 on the PropBOE. The Aileron stick is the Elevator stick moving from side to side. Very simple start. Maybe you can find it useful.

Con                        
                                                         
  _CLKMODE = XTAL1 + PLL16X                              
  _XINFREQ = 5_000_000
  
  LEFT  = 14   'left hb25 propeller port
  RIGHT = 15   'right
  ELEV  = 0    'rc object channel# - connect receiver elevator channel(2) to p16 on propboe servo header
  AILE  = 1    '                                      aileron channel(1) tp p17 on propboe servo header
       
Var
        
Obj
  
   rc : "rcreceiver121116c"
  srv : "propboe servos"
  
Pub Main | l, r, l1, r1
                                                       
  srv.setup(LEFT, 0, 20)    'setup left hb25 to stop and have 20us step per pulse ramping
  srv.setup(RIGHT, 0, 20)   '      right                
    
  rc.start(11_0000_0000_0000_0000)   'enable propeller ports 19,18,17,16 for rc receiver, p16 = ch 0, p17 = ch1, p18 = ch2, p19 = ch3
 
  repeat
    l := r := rc.getrc(ELEV)
    l1 := r1 := rc.getrc(AILE)
    srv.set(LEFT, -l - l1)      'set left hb25 to elevator stick position
    srv.set(RIGHT, r - r1)      'set right hb25 to elevator stick position   
        
    waitcnt(clkfreq/100+cnt)

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