You could say I am new to Arduino and I want to connect a cheap RC car I bought to an arduino controller. I took apart the RC remote and alligator clipped the left and right wheel controls to a breadboard so that two push button switches could control them. That worked well, but now I want to replace the push button switches with PWM outputs from the arduino. I am unsure of how to do this since the remote has its' own battery so it will have a different GND than the arduino.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Jeff
I think this answers my question:
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Tutorial/Power_Supplies.html
I have to connect the GNDs, but I am kinda scared to do it because I don't want to ruin the arduino.
What voltage is the RC remote running? What voltage is at the switches? I assume the switches short a signal to ground so they are high voltage when open and low voltage when closed. Can the Arduino run on the same voltage? If yes, then you might be able to connect the signals directly to Arduino Digital Outputs. You have to make sure the voltage and current are safe for the Arduino pin.
You can replace the switches with MOSFETs and drive the gate of the MOSFET with a digital output. I don't know if you can use the PWM function. The remote may not be able to sends a signal to the car that fast.