TiboJ:
Thank you very much for explaining that!So this is basically how it will work:
Transmitter sends signal to receiver>> signal arrives at receiver >> servo cable from receiver to the Arduino >> Arduino serial cable to servocontroller >> servocontroller controls the servo's that I want.
Pretty much; note that I was thinking of something like the servo controller Pololu sells, which typically communicate using TTL serial (thus, you would use something like a software serial connection, or an Arduino that provided more than one hardware serial port).
TiboJ:
I don't understand how the receiver can tell the Arduino to interact with the servocontroller.
Well - you have to decode the servo commands from the receiver; I know there are people who have done this (there may even be a library available). Essentially, you are converting the PPM signal from the receiver servo channels into a numeric value.
TiboJ:
I've got a few questions about it:-Is the Wild Thumper Motorcontroller also a servocontroller? I can see it has outputs for servo's on it. Altough, I don't know if it is possible to control the servo-outputs with RC receiver?
Looks that way to me; I think only the high-current DC motor outputs can be controlled by RC control, but I haven't looked at the manual (just basing this on what I read at the link and the image). You might be able to control the servo outputs via I2C or some other manner (meaning you might be able to connect this board to an Arduino using I2C for control of the servos). Note that it has a 168 on board, so it is essentially a basic Arduino itself.
TiboJ:
-How can I connect a servo cable, from the receiver, to the Arduino?
You could use a stripped servo extension cable; you would only need to connect the ground and signal lines (not the power); run the signal line to a digital input (then use/build PPM interpretation code to decode the signal).
TiboJ:
-I'll use the Wild Thumper 15A motor controller, and it has an onboard Arduino(ATmega168) on it. So that means that I'll have to connect the Arduino from the motorcontroller to the servocontroller, to send the serial signals. I don't see a useable serial output on the motorcontroller? Maybe the USB?
I believe that the motor controller is meant as a standalone device, meant to be controlled by some other means, whether an RC system or another microcontroller; while it might have spare code-space to be used as an integrated robot controller, the 168 is kinda limiting. While it doesn't have another serial port (no 168 or 328 based Arduino has more than one, which is "dedicated" to the USB connection), you can use a software serial port connection (via the digital pins - which on this controller are part of the servo pin block) to whatever serial device you want.
That said - since this controller is an "all-in-one" device - if you can live with the limitations of the 168 (memory, I mean) on board, then it probably has everything you need. I don't know if you get the source code to the software on it, but if you do, that code already is set up to decode the steering control inputs from an RC receiver, it looks like; so you could either modify it, or they may include/show how to use it with extra RC channels (each which would take up a spot on the servo output block, of course). If that is the case, then you have just about everything you need.
Unfortunately, I think the 168 might be too limited to allow you to implement anything like the OSD menu-type system for video like I noted earlier, unless you are able to write some very tight code; I really don't know. You would need both that tight code, and some kind of OSD board that used TTL serial or such for commands to draw the characters, with pass-thru for the video (camera->OSD->video transmitter).
Probably I'm not understanding it all.
Again, thanks for helping me!
Here is the Wild Thumper motorcontroller:
http://www.robotshop.com/dagu-wild-thumper-dual-15a-motor-robot-controller.html
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