Power Supply/Components Capability

[wabowen89]

Hello All!

I am trying to 3D print and build a RC model of my Dad's Jeep Willy as a gift for my nephew. I have never done anything like this before and was hoping that I could get some answers for a few questions I have. Here are the components I am currently looking to use along with a brief description of what they are for:

• Arduino Uno
  Overall control

• Receiver/Transmitter
  (UMLIFE-NRF24L01-Transceiver-Wireless-Regulator)
  For receiving instructions from remote

• L298N Motor Driver
  Controlling the rear motor and possibly the turning servo motor

• 6-12V DC motor
  (AUTOTOOL 6-12V Motor)
  Rear wheel motor

• Servo
  (Smraza SG90 9g)
  Control the steering assembly I have designed. I have seen that this might not need to run off
  of the L298N motor driver, but am not entirely sure.

• Micro SD Card reader
  (UMLIFE SDHC TF Card Adapter)
  Store 3 audio clips of a Jeep starting up, idling, and accelerating. The idea is to have the start
  up noise play when the chip is turned on. Idle noise when it isn't moving. Accelerating noise
  when going forwards or backwards.

• Speaker
  (Xiaoyztan 1W 8Ohm Round Internal Magnet)
  Play the jeep noises

• LED lights
  (EDGELEC 12 Volt LED Lights)
  To act as the headlights

Here are the questions I have:

1. Can I control all of those components with one Arduino?
2. If yes, how do I hook them all up?
3. If no, can I use one Arduino if I drop the SD reader, Speaker, and/or lights?
4. Is it possible to run all of this off of 1 LiPo battery or do I need a separate power supply for the Arduino and, say, the motors?

As I stated before, this is my first time ever trying something like this, so please let me know if there is more detail needed or if there are better components/methods. I am currently deployed, so I cannot really test anything out until I get home. I am trying to buy everything and design the interior layout of everything in Fusion 360 first. Not super worried about the coding part at the moment. I will cross that bridge once I get home and start printing. Thanks for all the help!

V/r,
WAB

[sterretje]

Your topic has been moved to a more suitable location on the forum. Installation and Troubleshooting is not for problems with (nor for advice on) your project See About the Installation & Troubleshooting category.

[alto777]

@wabowen89

L298N Motor Driver

Ppl will recommend a 21st century motor control board, pololu.com has a wide selection.

Yes, servos can be controlled directly from the Arduino. You need to supply power to the servo, not pull it off the UNO.

UNO is OK, again people have favorites like the Pro Mini or Nano (not Nano Every).

You woukd need two i guess if you wanna get anything a out of the radio set.

With a 12 volt requirement, a 3s Lipo could be used. Step down regulators can be employed for 5 volt power to those things as need it. popolu.com has a selection, I prefer step down. You could use a 2s Lipo and step up for 12 and step down for 5.

Don't cheap out on boost or buck regulators. The specs are often aspirational, any regulator should be tested at the load you expect and evaluated for performance, like not burning out or even just failing to produce the desired voltage.

What kind of projects have you done so far? This is a somewhat ambitious undertaking. One UNO or whatever is certainly capable, you shoukd build and test separate components and get to know them and verify their functionality before attempting to combine them in one giant unorganized sketch.

You could get 99.9 percent of the software done without purchasing anything. I use the wokwi.com sim extensively during the early projext stage.

HTH

a7

[wabowen89]

Alto,

The website for the virtual board is exactly something I was looking for! Should help tremendously!

I have never done a project like this at all. Got access to a 3D printer for a bit and love it. Came up with this idea to kill time while I'm out here. Bought a printer for home that I will set up once I get there.

Some follow up questions:

1. When you said I would probably need two to get anything out of the radio set, were you referring to the speaker? Or the remote and car? I am going to set up a second arduino for the remote, but feel that that was going to be easier than the car arduino.

2. I'm not sure what boost or buck regulators are. I've been watching videos on RC projects and basically copied their layouts as closely as I could. What do those bring to the table?

3. How do step down regulators work and where do they fit in to the overall design?

Thanks so much for the reply! I'm going to continue doing research in to everything and will absolutely be utilizing the virtual arduino site you provided.

V/r,
WAB

[alto777]

One:

Haha, yes, I meant that you would need two Arduino boards if using the radios was going to happen, one at the car and one at the remote.

The radio comms is probably the one that gives most ppl trouble. I highly recommend that you get example code functioning 100 percent before attemting to intgrate radio control into your project.

And further I will recommend that you make the radio reception be a separate function, so that during testing you could use the serial monitor to spoon feed directly the same information that you expect ultimately will come from your radio.

If a function was declared like

int radioCommand(void);

and you designed it to return, say -1 for nothing new on the air and used 0 and up to mean various commands, the body of that function could be written to get its information from the serial monitor during development, then changed out for the ugly mess which is dealing with the radio for real.

Two and Three:

A voltage regulator takes a varying or unregulated voltage and promises (!) to provide steady voltage as its output.

A step-down or "buck" regulator begins with a higher voltage input, regulated itself or not, and provides steady voltage as its output. Or promises to.

A step-up or "boost" regulator begins with a loweer voltage input, regulated itself or not, and provides steady voltage as its output. Or promises to.

Any regulator will have limits as to how much current it can provide.

What voltage regulation brings to that table you speak of is the ability to power your entire circuit with one battery. One battery with sufficient current output can be used to develop all the voltages all the parts need.

Step-up and step-down regulators are the modern preference as they are very efficient and waste little power doing their thing. Or can be efficient, don't cheap out and always verify/confirm good operation.

You'll have more questions about everything, not just the provisions for power. We'll have more answers.

a7