Project 3 - RC Car Hack

I've explored the world of circuit design for the past year, as a hobby. The RC Car mod is my 3rd project, the purpose of which is to hack a RC Car so that it will drive itself. As you can see from the video it is nearly complete.

There is one thing holding me back and I believe it has something to do with a ground loop.
This is what I believe the issue is. The Basic Stamp2 requires a minimum of 5 Volts to operate. It reads the Ping and finds that nothing is in the way. It tells the DC motor to start moving forward. The DC motor starts to move. If the motor encounters too much resistance, it sucks more power. This lowers the overall voltage below 5, choking the BS2, which shuts off the motor. The motor is no longer draining power, so the voltage returns to 9 Volts, reviving the BS2, and the cycle continues.

I'm sure a capacitor is required in the design, either to even out the flow of power or cancel out signal noise. I may have to split the power somewhere to get the DC motor off the same source as the BS2.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• H Bridge
• Basic Stamp 2
• BS2
• Remote Controlled Car
• RC Car
• Sonar
• Parallax

[leef0324uk]

so this shows what a ESC using a sensor very tech man but why ?

[agreenwoo]

@leef0324uk My hope was to create a car that could drive itself without running into anything. I figured it would be a medium sized challenge for a beginner, like myself. It is half finished and will stay that way until I've finished remodeling my house.

[tgocc]

maybe a transistor can help you switch an external power source to the dc motor.

[agreenwoo]

@tgocc I'll try that. I may also try configuring two dedicated power supplies. One specifically for the Basic Stamp and sensor. The other would be for the motor and the servo. My lab is in a bit of a mess right now, so I'll have to wait.

[javieroptic]

cooool . i like

[MrHellsrain2]

lameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeee