Hardware needed for my project

Using Arduino Project Guidance
1

I have a project that i am planning out and buying parts, i need a list or guidance on what hardware i need for it.

I need to drive 4 linear actuators that work woth 12v dc, and need to use an accelerometer sensor to decide which ones to actuate, what do i need to achieve that? Im thinking of using these actuators:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EwFGL93
It says each draws .25 A and i would need to power all 4 at the same time

Help please i am new and very lost, i dont even know what board to use, im writting this here bc i think its the most normal one

2

Do you need to buy ALL the parts at one time, all from the same source?

3

No, but i would like to avoid shipping times over 3 weeks if possible

4

are there any other requirements ? e.g. WiFi based webpage displaying status, smartphone control using Bluetooth, etc etc

5

I dont think so, once programmed i want it to work on its own, so i just need to be able to program it and make everything work

6

Consider ESP32 microcontroller plenty of flash, SRAM and IO facilities (cost about £7 in UK)
I have used the LSM9DS1_sensor with it

7

Hi, @aratzzuloaga

What is the application?
Are you making a leveling table?

Tom... :grinning: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

8

I am trying to build active aerodynamics for a kart we are building, so depending on the forces it will change the shape and angle of the wings

9

I dont know what the esp32 is for, is it another board i can use instead of arduino? Sorry i am very new to this, i have seen tutorials saying to use an arduino with a l298n motor controller, could i use those with the accelerometer and the actuators?

10

yes, the ESP32 is a microcontroller - the Arduino UNO uses a ATmega328P microcontroller
have a look at Esp32 vs Arduino: The Differences
the ESP32 has more flash and SRAM than the UNO and has built in WiFi, Bluetooth Classic and BLE
I would assume the motor controller would work with the other components of the system - have a look at ESP32 with DC Motor and L298N Motor Driver and accelerometer-and-gyroscope-sensors-with-esp32
the recommended approach is to program and test each component in turn with the host microcontroller and when all are shown to work merge into the complete system

11

You need, 4 channel DC motor driver for the actuators, accelerometer sensor and microcontroller, that is it. One more thumb up for ESP32, it`s cheep, fast and you have BT and WiFi if needed later. In context of programming, everything is same like arduino board, maybe different libraries for sensor ...

12

Thx, i think i will do that, just one thing, can i use two L298N to move the 4 motors or do i need a single one for the 4 motors?

13

Thx, The links are really helpful, i will try that for now and come back if anything doesnt work. I just have one question, can i use a 5$ accelerometer from aliexpress? I dont really need much precision, just detect the acceleration of a kart

14

give a link to the device?

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https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ew6hbwV

16

OK if the "GY-521 MPU-6050 MPU6050 3 Axis Analog Gyro Sensors+ 3 Axis Accelerometer Module" will give you the information required

using a ESP32 with a MPU6050 module using the Adafruit_MPU6050 library running the basic_readings test program as I move the module around I get

Adafruit MPU6050 test!
MPU6050 Found!
Accelerometer range set to: +-8G
Gyro range set to: +- 500 deg/s
Filter bandwidth set to: 21 Hz

Acceleration X: 0.04, Y: 0.39, Z: 8.35 m/s^2
Rotation X: 0.15, Y: 0.03, Z: 0.00 rad/s
Temperature: 22.04 degC

Acceleration X: 0.42, Y: 2.15, Z: 7.68 m/s^2
Rotation X: 0.07, Y: -0.65, Z: -0.07 rad/s
Temperature: 22.16 degC

Acceleration X: -3.13, Y: 4.82, Z: 5.66 m/s^2
Rotation X: -0.51, Y: -0.52, Z: -0.24 rad/s
Temperature: 22.23 degC

Acceleration X: 0.91, Y: -0.04, Z: 9.27 m/s^2
Rotation X: 1.01, Y: 0.07, Z: 0.09 rad/s
Temperature: 22.27 degC

Acceleration X: 0.01, Y: -0.51, Z: 8.30 m/s^2
Rotation X: 0.15, Y: 0.03, Z: 0.01 rad/s
Temperature: 22.31 degC

Acceleration X: 0.03, Y: -0.51, Z: 8.31 m/s^2
Rotation X: 0.15, Y: 0.03, Z: 0.01 rad/s
Temperature: 22.35 degC

Acceleration X: 0.02, Y: -0.51, Z: 8.30 m/s^2
Rotation X: 0.15, Y: 0.03, Z: 0.00 rad/s
Temperature: 22.37 degC
17

That precision is good enough for me, just one last thing, we are thinking of maybe using 6 linear actuators instead, can we use 3 L298N modules or do we need a 6 motor driver?

18

L298N is an old chip, there are new chips (and driver modules) for dc motor drivers that are much smaller with no heatsinks. For example, look for driver modules based on DRV8871 .

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