R/C car

48 Articles

Hacker Driven To Build R/C Forza Controller

September 2, 2020 by 6 Comments

Generic video game console controllers have certainly gotten better and more ergonomic since the hard corners of the Atari joystick. As beautiful and engrossing as games have become, the controller is still the least engaging aspect. Why race your sweet fleet of whips with an ordinary controller when you could pretend they’re all R/C cars?

[Dave] found an affordable 4-channel R/C controller in the Bezos Barn and did just that. It took some modifications to make it work, like making a daughter board to turn the thumb grip input from a toggle button to a momentary and figuring out what to do with the three-way slider switch, but it looks like a blast to use.

The controller comes in a 6-channel version with two pots on the top. Both versions have the same enclosure and PCB, so [Dave] already had the placement molded out for him when he decided to install a pair of momentary buttons up there. These change roles based on the three-way slider position, which switches between race mode, menu mode, and extras mode.

We love the way [Dave] turned the original receiver into a USB dongle that emulates an Xbox 360 controller — he made a DIY Arduino Pro Micro with a male USB-A, stripped down the receiver board, and wired them together. There’s an entire separate blog post about that, and everything else you’d need to make your own R/C controller is on GitHub. Check out the demo and overview of the controls after the break.

[Dave] is no stranger to making game controllers — we featured his DJ Hero controller modified to play Spin Rhythm XD a few months ago.

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RC Car Becomes Cable Cam

July 19, 2020 by 6 Comments

The prevalence of drones has made airborne photography much more widespread, especially among hobby photographers and videographers. However, drone photos aren’t without their problems. You have to deal with making the drone follow the shot which can be difficult unless you have a very expensive one. Worse, you can’t really fly a drone through heavily wooded or otherwise obstructed terrain.

[Makesome’s] friend faced these issues and wanted to buy a cable cam — a mount for the camera that could go back and forth on a cable strung between two trees or other structures. Instead of a design from scratch, they decided to cannibalize a cheap RC car along with an HP printer and the effect — as you can see in the video below — is pretty good.

Repurposing toys is an honored tradition and, after all, what do you need but a motor that goes forward and reverses? We can’t help but notice though that toy hacking is much easier now that you can 3D print custom widgets to connect everything together.

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Remotely Navigate The Apocalypse In Mid-Century Style

June 2, 2020 by 18 Comments

One of the few positives to come of this pandemic is that the restrictive nature of scarcity can be a boon to creativity. Plus, the doom and gloom of it all is causing people to loosen up and do things they never felt free enough to do before in the demanding world of the before times.

For example, [ossum] makes R/C vehicles on commission to exacting standards, but took a break from perfection to build this remote control hellscape-faring van by the seat of his pants. It’s quite a resourceful build that combines pieces from previous projects with a few standard R/C parts and a handful of clever hacks.

The body is a test print of a 1957 Chevy Suburban van that [ossum] made for someone a few years back. It’s mounted on a scrap metal chassis and moves on printed tank treads designed for a different vehicle.

Since glass is a liability in an apocalypse (and because [ossum] doesn’t have a resin printer yet), the windows have fortified coverings that are printed, patina’d, and detailed with tiny rivet heads.

As far as hacks go, our favorite has to be the clothespin steering. [ossum] only had one electronic speed controller, so he used a servo to actuate a pair of spring-loaded clips, alternating between the two to move the tank-van. There’s a short video after the break that shows the rack and clothes-pinion steering, and it’s loaded up right after a brief demo of the van.

We realize that everyone’s apocalyptic needs are different, but there’s more than enough here to get you started. Don’t have access to enough R/C parts? Gear boxes and drive shafts can be printed, too.

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Active Suspension R/C Car Really Rocks

January 13, 2020 by 27 Comments

When you’re a kid, remote control cars are totally awesome. Even if you can’t go anywhere by yourself, it’s much easier to imagine a nice getaway from the daily grind of elementary school if you have some wheels. And yeah, R/C cars are still awesome once you’re an adult, but actual car-driving experience will probably make you yearn for more realism.

What could be more realistic and fun than an active suspension? Plenty of adults will never get the chance to hit the switches in real car, but after a year of hard work, [snoopybg] is ready to go front and back, side to side, and even drift in this super scale ’63 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 wagon. We think you’ll agree that [snoopybg] didn’t miss a detail — this thing makes engine noises, and there are LEDs in the dual exhaust pipes to simulate flames.

An Arduino reads data from a triple-axis accelerometer in real time, and adjusts a servo on each wheel accordingly, also in real time, to mimic a real car throwing its weight around on a real suspension system. If that weren’t cool enough, most of the car is printed, including the tires. [snoopybg] started with a drift car chassis, but even that has been hacked and drilled out as needed.

There are a ton of nice pictures on [snoopybg]’s site if you want to see what’s under the hood. We don’t see the code anywhere, but [snoopybg] seems quite open to publishing more details if there is interest out there. Strap yourself in and hold on tight, because we’re gonna take this baby for a spin after the break.

If this is all seems a bit much for you, but you’ve got that R/C itch again, there’s a lot to be said for upgrading the electronics in a stock R/C car.

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Driving A Big RC Car On The Ceiling

July 30, 2019 by 6 Comments

RC cars are a great way to have fun hooning around. There’s plenty of laughs to be had racing your friends in the local grocery store carpark, ideally after hours. [Ivan Miranda] wanted to go in a different direction, however – and that direction was up. (Video embedded after the break.)

There are existing toys that can pull off a wall-riding feat, but they’re normally on a fairly small scale. [Ivan] wanted to go big, and so outfitted some seriously powerful brushless fans on to his 1/8th Rattler buggy from Hobbyking. After initial failure, a smaller scale model was successfully built and tested, before it was realised the full-sized build had the propellers on backwards.

With this oversight fixed, the car was able to drive on the ceiling, albeit in the limited space between the roof beams. It was somewhat less viable on the wall, struggling to stay stuck and having issues with suspension flex.

Overall, it’s a great application of mass brushless power to fight gravity – the same principle behind the multirotors we all love so much. [Ivan]’s put the same trick to use for getting around on a skateboard, too. Video after the break.

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This Two-Wheeled RC Car Is Rather Quick

May 16, 2019 by 12 Comments

Radio control cars have always been fun, it’s true. With that said, it’s hard to deny that true speed was unlocked when lithium polymer batteries and brushless motors came to the fore. [Gear Down For What?] built himself a speedy RC car of his own design, and it’s only got two wheels to boot (Youtube link, embedded below).

The design is of the self-balancing type – if you’re thinking of an angry unmanned Segway with a point to prove, you’re in the ballpark. The brains of the machine come thanks to a Teensy 3.6, which runs the PID loops for balancing and control. An MPU6050 gyroscope & accelerometer provide the necessary sensing to enable the ‘bot to keep itself upright in varied conditions. Performance is impressive, with the car reaching speeds in excess of 40 MPH and managing to handle simple ramps and bumps with ease. It’s all wrapped up in a 3D printed frame which held up surprisingly well to many crashes into tripods and tarmac.

Such builds are not just fun; they’re an excellent way to learn useful control skills that can serve you well in industry and your own projects. You can pick up the finer details of control systems in a university engineering course, or you could give our primer a whirl. When you’ve whipped up your first awesome project, we’d love to hear about it. Video after the break.

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Nearly Entirely 3D Printed RC Car Is 4WD Fun

April 9, 2019 by 16 Comments

Remote control cars can be great fun, particularly if you’ve got a spare carpark or dirt lot to hoon them around. Any good hobby store will have shelves stocked with all manner of vehicles – buggies, touring cars, prototypes – but you don’t have to settle for what’s already available. Why not 3D print the car of your dreams instead? (YouTube, embedded below.)

The build comes to us from [Engineering Nonsense], now in its third revision. The design is produced in PLA, to make it accessible as possible to printer owners the world over. Almost the entire car is 3D printable – not just the chassis. The gearbox, differentials and driveshafts, and even suspension arms and tie rods are all printed, rather than bought. This also means the car is easier to build, with everything being printed to the correct size, as opposed to using off-the-shelf adjustable parts.

Performance is impressive, with the car showing good grip thanks to its 4WD drivetrain and double wishbone suspension. Files are available on Thingiverse, so there’s nothing to stop you from printing this out and going for a spin this weekend. We’d love to see it take on the water with some 3D printed tyres, too.

[Thanks to Jotham for the tip!]

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