Rc Car Ez-fied

CardboardHacker

Canada
robot video thumbnail

modifying a rc car(truck i guess) to operate off a sabertooth and the ez-b. Any responces are welcome

Specs: Sabertooth 2x12 Ez-b V3 2, 2.8-3A dc motors w/6A peak standard servo for steering

Rc car torn apart:

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the main body. the wheels were driven by one motor and gears. going to modify and put 2 motors directly(with gearboxes) on the wheels. then attach to the sabertooth and yadi yadi ya.

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#3  

and steering which will be heavily moded. by the way, does anyone have a script that will let you control the servo and when you let go it will move back to centre? going to use custom movement panel.

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#4  

need a command that will cue the sabertooth forward and reverse in the custom movement panel.

#5  

will the Forward() command cue the sabertooth motors forward?

#6  

K so recap:

1:Need a command that will cue the sabertooth forward and reverse in the custom movement panel. Will the Forward() command cue the sabertooth motors forward and reverse() cue the sabertooth reverse, without sabertooth movement panel? or do i require a sabertooth m.p.?

2:how can i block the sabertooths ability to turn the wheels different ways? Thinking i will try setting the left turn and right turn values to 0. will this work?

Any responces will be great.

#7  

Modified the chassis to fit the motors.

The motors and their gear boxes are in place.

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#9  

Quote:

does anyone have a script that will let you control the servo and when you let go it will move back to centre?
How are you controlling it? Joystick? Scripts?

Quote:

Need a command that will cue the sabertooth forward and reverse in the custom movement panel. Will the Forward() command cue the sabertooth motors forward and reverse() cue the sabertooth reverse, without sabertooth movement panel? or do i require a sabertooth m.p.?
If you have a Movement Panel added and set up correctly then the Forward() and Reverse() commands should work as they control the movement panel.

#10  

quote 1: scripts, wii remote, voice commands, autonomous.

quote 2: figured it out an hour ago

#3: will setting the turning values to 0 disable turning with the sabertooth?

#4: i need a diagram/pic of a sabertooth connected to the ez-b

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#11  

As I just spotted by @Rgordon in a different topic.

Quote:

Left Motor = 1 to 127 (Full Rev = 1, Stop = 64, Full Fwd = 127) Right Motor = 128 to 255 (Full Rev = 128, Stop = 192, Full Fwd = 255)

So I would say to set them at 64 and 192 but can't be 100% as I don't have or have ever used a Sabertooth.

#12  

0 would confuse it so it wont turn, would you not think?

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#14  

I don't think there is a position 0.

If you have no need to turn using the sabertooth couldn't you run both motors from one port? Or is the amperage too high?

#15  

amperage might be too much for one port

1 motor is 2.8-3A running and 6A jump at start 2 on one im not so sure about.

#16  

i need a diagram of the sabertooth connected to the ez-b.

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#17  

Check the Tutorials for help.

The EZ-B connects to the GND, +5 and Signal to the Sabertooth. The Signal from the EZ-B connects to S1 on the Sabertooth.

Every control has a question mark next to the close X button. Pressing the question mark button will direct you to a tutorial page for the respective control

#18  

have you seen a pic? i read that theres two channels/cables.

shows it in the vid i posted:

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#19  

ARC supports Simplified Serial Mode at 38400 baud rate on the configured port.

All of the information needed is on the help page

It only needs one Signal Wire connected to S1 on the Sabertooth. The Sabertooth H-Bridge control only has the option of using one port.

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#20  

ok. when i'm not broke and get the sabertooth ill experiment. mostly understand the instructions.

#21  

entire back is done and it looks great! lots of dremeling though. went from one motor to 2 with gear boxes. Will post pic later.

#22  

@Technopro

Rich is correct. Each EZ-B port has a +5v, Gnd, & signal pin. You will need to hook the signal pin of the digital port you are using to S1 on the Sabertooth. You can also power the EZ-B using the 5V and 0V terminals on the Sabertooth if you want to. If you choose to power your Sabertooth separate from the EZ-B then one thing you must be sure of is to make sure they share a common ground.

Sabertooth2x12.pdf manual

#27  

this is the diagram for 2 sabertooths to a microcontroller

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#29  

Can't say for sure, but it looks like your missing S2 connection. However, one tip I can give you is that the dc motor used in the front steering, even the whole front steering gear box will not give you satisfactory results. I't won't hold steering tight. I removed mine and put a servo in it's place. It is well worth it if you can find a fit to place the servo. If you just want to get down to having an RC car. I'll sell you my rc car chassis with the servo steering and an H-bridge so all you have to do it connect it to your EZ-B and download my RC car project. 28 USD if your interested.

https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/2805

#31  

Technopro your drawing is correct. This is how I am controlling mine. You will have to experiment with the numbers mentioned earlier to get the speeds like you want. S1 will control both motors depending on how you enter the numbers in the config screen.

#32  

thanks everyone.

i have completed my rc car phase one.

servo is mounted.

just waiting till my -$30 becomes +$120

#33  

after my wall-e failure I came up with a very cool idea. mount the top half of him on the rc car shell, and make it easy to remove so I could have just the rc car if I wanted to.

#34  

@technopro how did you modified the steering ?