Meph88

Hey there,

I'm new to the RC hobby and I have been figuring it out on my own so far.

For me it started with the DJI Mini 2 which led to FPV drones which in turn has me wanting to build and operate an RC boat and an RC tank for fun, for footage, for the learning experience, and generally for the LOLs.

So far I think I have a pretty solid understanding of FPV drones.

Battery gives power. Radio sends commands. Receiver receives commands. Receiver passes commands to flight controller. Flight controller does some maths. Flight controller sends commands to ESC. ESC sends commands to motors. Motors spin.

And hey, we have flight.

Then of course there is the video system but that's a whole other thing.


So I am planning on a boat and a tank.

I believe a lot of it is the same, here's what I think I need.

Receiver to receive commands. Something to get the commands from the receiver, do some maths, and send info on what to do to an ESC. An ESC. Motors. Propellers for the boat, wheels and treads for the tank.


This is where I'm stuck.

With FPV drones the software running on the flight controller (for me it is BetaFlight) has the ability to receive the info from the Receiver and pass info to the ESC.

As someone new to the entire RC hobby I don't have the knowledge of what is the part for a boat, tank (and other things) that can perform this function.

I have an OpenTX controller and some spare FrSky receivers so ideally I'd like to use that gear for my tank and boat.


So my questions are:

- What can I use to receive the info from the receiver for these kinds of applications? (some sort of controller or something?)

- What kind of ESC can I use for these kinds of applications?

- In what way can I make the motors reversible? Is that a function of the controller, the ESC, or both?

- Anything else I should know or would be helpful to know?


I may add FPV cameras to my tank and boat after I get them working, but that should be a fairly simple matter of providing the correct voltage power to them.


Seriously, any info or help here is so hugely appreciated.

RC has been the thing I've gotten into lately and it has brought me a lot of happiness but I've nobody around that I can go to for info or help.

Joshstix

For the boat its simple just transmitter to reciever to esc. it will jusst be two chanels fwd/rverse and left/right. No need for complex calculations and integration of multiple output signals to multiple motors.

I have never played with a tank but I would assume they are a dual motor situation and will need two channels both doing fwd/reverse.

Meph88

That's helpful, thank you very much.
Seems like a relatively simple thing.
The thing I'm still unsure about is the communication between the receiver and the ESC.
The receiver uses one wire for outbound communication of received commands.
Do ESCs have an ability to receive that data and then in turn apply that as output to the motors?

waitwhat

iTrader: (4)

The receiver sends pulse width modulated signals to the esc and servos on the white/yellow wire.

A flight controller is where the gyros are housed and it augments inputs to keep the drone airborne and upright based on gyro information. This is why you have to have the correct type of drone (fixed wing, 3 rotor, 4 rotor, 6 rotor, etc.) selected in the software. The flight controller needs to know what it is controlling.

the rc guy

No need for any type of flight controller in a tank or boat. a dual stick is normal for a tank cuz 2 esc with motors are needed no other servos in it.. and a boat is normally a stick controller .. you will need a radio that has a bound rx.not sure what your open source radio controls as in rx.. so get 1 that is controlled by ur radio and use that..

jgil089

I made a tank with dual motors and used an ESC on each motor. The Tx allows channel mixing, so you drive it (fwd/rv/turning) on one stick that moves up/down and left/right. If you push hard right one track goes forward and the other backwards and the tank spins on the spot.

You could also use one track on each track and manually do this, but I used the other stick for the turret and gun elevation which didnt need channel mixing, just plugged the turret servo into the left/right channel and the gun elevation into the up/down.

what sort of boat? Yacht or power boat? If a yacht remove the spring from one stick so you can set the sails, and keep the spring in the rudder one so it centres. Most airplane radios have one stick without a spring for throttle anyway, so just buy one already like that. Power boat is just like a car, just an esc to motor and then a steering servo to the rudder.