I've just purchased 2 Arduino UNO R3s and couple of other stuff to build a new RC boat. I've had this idea for a long time but only recently had chance to make up my mind to prepare a list of required items and buy them.
So, I have some basic questions regarding the design. It's actually not about the boat itself, but about the controller unit.
For the controller, I'm planning to use:
1x Arduino Uno R3
1x Elecfreaks Joystick Shield
1x NRF24L01 Wireless Transceiver Module
1x Nokia 5110 84X84 LED screen
Elecfreaks Shield supports both NRF24L01 wireless transreceiver and Nokia 5110 screen (it has specific pins for them). So it makes things easier for me.
Though I'm worried about powering this controller unit. How long would it operate if I connect the whole thing to a single 9V battery? Or does all parts work on a 9V battery? If not, are there any better solutions you can suggest for me=
Well, I'll use 2x Powerade bottles to hold it above the water and attach either 2x of these motors for under water operation or 2x of these on top of the boat for a hovercraft-like operation. I want the battery to last an hour at least so I'm not going to buy brushless DC motors specifically designed to work with RC boats like this one. They suck the power like it's nothing... It would be optimistic to expect 5 mins of operation with such motors...
For battery I'm planning to settle with a li-po 7.4 V 1500ish mAH.
But my questions has nothing to do with the boat itself, i'm having problems in powering the controller part.
What im getting at is can you use the main batteries and a regulator to supply the electronics.
Large rc use seperate batteries for motive and control but on my small models one battery does all.
If you can accept the weight 3 pencells would be better than a 9v as they have poorer capacity.
Edit arduino and wirless can run off 3.3 v.
There have been many threads on this its a fairly common question.
The display you are using however has a large current draw for the backlight.
A 9v battery will not last very long at all.
Try reposting your question in project guidance, its better visited by most of the community and you may find someone who has used that display.