Subject:
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Re: Burning hot motor driver chips.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.handyboard
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Date:
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Wed, 1 Oct 1997 09:42:28 GMT
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Original-From:
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Chuck McManis <[cmcmanis@]nomorespam[netcom.com]>
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Viewed:
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1443 times
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Anthony can correct me if I'm wrong, but generally the phrase
"converting an R/C car" means, taking a Radio Controlled model car,
modifying and/or removing the radio receiver and motor driver circuitry,
and replacing it with a computer. The generic term "R/C Car" is
imprecise, as someone else pointed out there is quite an industry built
around "standard" Radio Controlled vehicles, typically these are called
"RC-10" (1/10th scale) cars and trucks. There are a variety of motors,
speed controllers, transmissions, bodies, suspensions, etc available for
these cars. Typically they cost between $200 and $400 (at least here on
the west coast of the US.) Then there are the "toy RC Cars" which are
radio controlled cars and tanks sold at such places as Toys-R-Us or
Radio Shack. These cars are "all-in-one" systems that come with both a
transmitter and a receiver, the car, and integrated electronics. These
are anywhere from $10 to $200 and are often available at Garage sales
for pennies on the dollar. A couple of my best robots have been built
out of chassis that were once toy cars. One of the more popular ones
around here was the "DinoTrak" that radio shack sold for $19.99 new and
closed out at $9.99 after christmas. The dual track design lent itself
to differential steering, it was right on the edge of what a 293D could
handle and the radio receiver could easily be converted into a remote
pushbutton. Unfortunately it can't carry very much weight due to its
tendency to throw tracks.
Another popular one is the Scorpion tracks (Nikko America Shredder),
although its AA NiCds are notoriously finicky. THe short lived truck
model called the "Wild Cougar" was, in my opinion, the nicest chassis.
In general, these inexpensive toy cars have relatively inefficient drive
trains and motors that can easily draw 5 amps from a NiCd battery pack.
They are fun to convert but you cannot drive their motors directly with
an L293D (or the TI equivalent).
--Chuck
--
--Chuck McManis http://www.professionals.com/~cmcmanis/index.html
All opinions in this message are those of the author. No warranty as to
the suitability or accuracy is stated or implied. Use at your own risk.
cmcmanis@netcom.com +1.408.524.4805
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Burning hot motor driver chips.
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| So am I correct to assume that an RC motor had a built in RF reciever? ---...--- ericson mar Master of Engineering Candidate Project: Mobile Robotics mar@cooper.edu (212)353-4356 Department of Mechanical Engineering The Cooper Union for the (...) (27 years ago, 11-Nov-97, to lugnet.robotics.handyboard)
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