How to make a radio-controlled car yourself? How to make a radio-controlled car? How to make a radio control.

This article is a modeler's story about making a homemade radio-controlled model of a Range Rover all-wheel drive car from a plastic model. It reveals the nuances of manufacturing axle drives, installing electronics and many other nuances.

So, I decided to make a model car with my own hands!

I bought a regular stand model of Range Rovera from the store. The price of this model is 1500 rubles, in general it’s a bit expensive, but the model is worth it! Initially I thought of making a hummer, but this model is much more suitable in design.

I had electronics, well, I took some spare parts from a trophy store called “cat”, which I had not needed for a long time and was disassembled for spare parts!

Of course, it was possible to take other prefabricated models as a basis, but I wanted just such an off-road jeep.

It all started with bridges and differentials that I made from copper pipes and soldered with a regular 100w soldering iron. The differentials here are ordinary, the gear is plastic, the rods and drive bones are iron from a trophy car.

Such tubes can be purchased at any hardware store.


I took the differential gear from a regular printer. I didn’t need him for a long time and now I decided that it was time for him to retire.

Everything turned out quite reliably, but the soldering iron is quite inconvenient to work with!

After I made the differentials, I needed to cover them with something, so I covered them with pill caps.

And painted it with regular auto enamel. It turned out beautifully, although it’s unlikely that a trophy fish needs beauty.

Then it was necessary to make steering rods and install axles on the frame. The frame was included and to my surprise it turned out to be iron, not plastic.

It was quite difficult to do this since the scale of the parts is very small and it was not possible to solder here, I had to screw it in with bolts. I took the steering rods from the same old trophy car that I dismantled.

All differential parts are on bearings. Since I made the model for a long time.

I also ordered a gearbox with a reduction gear; the gear will be activated by a microservo machine from the remote control.

Well, in general, then I installed a plastic bottom, cut a hole in it, installed a gearbox, cardan shafts, a homemade gearbox, an ordinary collector engine for such a small model, there is no point in installing a BC and the speed is not important to me.

The engine is from a helicopter, but in the gearbox it is quite powerful.

The most important thing is that the model does not move jerkily, but smoothly without delay; the gearbox was not easy to make, but I had a heap of parts; the main thing is ingenuity.

I screwed the gearbox to the bottom and it held up perfectly, but I had to tinker with the bottom to attach it to the frame.

Then I installed the electronics, shock absorbers, and battery. At first I installed the electronics rather weakly and both the regulator and the receiver were a single unit, but then I installed everything separately and the electronics were more powerful.

And finally, painting, installation of all the main components, decals, lights and more. I painted everything with regular plastic paint in 4 layers, then painted the wings brown and sanded the parts to give it a shabby and worn look.

The model's body and color are completely original, I found the color on the Internet and took a photo of the real car, everything was done according to the original. This color combination exists on a real car and was painted this color at the factory.

Well, here are the final photos. I’ll add a video of the test a little later, but the model turned out to be quite passable, the speed was 18 km/h, but I didn’t make it for speed. In general, I am satisfied with my work, but it’s up to you to evaluate it.

The car is not large, scale 1k24 in size and that’s the whole point of the idea, I wanted a mini trophy car.

The model is not afraid of moisture! Germet everything himself simply coated the electronics with varnish, very reliably, no moisture is a problem.

Micro park servo from an airplane, 3.5 kg.

The battery lasts for 25 minutes of riding, but I will install more powerful electronics and a battery, because this one is not quite enough.

Even the bumpers are the same as on the original. And the fastenings on them too. The drive on it is not 50 to 50%, but 60 to 40%.

In general, the Range Rover turned out to be in a rustic style; I didn’t even think that it would be possible to paint it so well because I don’t really know how to paint, although it’s not difficult at all!

I forgot to add, for beauty, I also installed a safety cage and a full-fledged spare tire. The spare tire and frame were included with the kit.

More about radio-controlled models:

Mishanya comments:

Tell us how the all-wheel drive works, what is inside the axle besides the transfer case? There must be a steering knuckle there, after all.

It is unlikely that anyone will deny the fact that a radio-controlled car is the most interesting and appropriate gift for a child and many adult men. But it often happens that even expensive models turn out to be unreliable and show low speed. And even in this case there is a solution. In this article we will look at ways to make a radio-controlled car in order to fully enjoy driving a racing car along the trajectory you have planned.

How to assemble a radio controlled car?

So, to assemble a radio-controlled car yourself, you will need the following elements:

• model of absolutely any car, you can use the simplest one, any production - from Chinese to domestic, from American to European;
• VAZ solenoids for opening doors, 12 Volt battery;
• radio control equipment - AGC, but do not confuse it with Automatic Gain Control, because the abbreviation is absolutely the same;
• batteries along with chargers;
• radiator;
• electrical measuring units;
• a soldering iron with solder, as well as a plumbing tool;
• a piece of rubber that is necessary to strengthen the bumper.

An example of assembling a radio-controlled car

Well, now let’s move directly to the diagram, in other words, to the process of creating a high-quality model of a RC machine:

1. At the very beginning, assemble the suspension - that's why we needed the basic model, as well as a 12 V battery.
2. After this, take the VAZ solenoids, plastic gears and assemble the gearbox.
3. Cut the threads on the body and studs so that you can hang solenoids and gears.
4. Now connect the gearbox to power, be sure to check it. If everything is in order with its functionality, install the gearbox itself directly into the machine.
5. Install a heatsink to protect the circuit from overheating. By the way, you can securely secure the radiator plate with bolts.
6. After you install the heatsink, install the radio control and power driver chips.
7. After installing the chips, completely assemble the body of your car.

Now you can safely start test driving the car.

So, you have a radio-controlled car in your arsenal. What needs to be done to make it more reliable and maneuverable?

Do not overload the model with unnecessary systems and parts. All the sound signals, high and low beam headlights, opening doors - all this, of course, looks quite beautiful and believable. Creating a radio-controlled car is already quite a difficult process. There is no need to complicate it even more, because this can have a very negative impact on the main running performance of your model.

The most important thing to concentrate on is to make a high-quality suspension and ensure excellent signal transmission. Well, to improve maneuverability and optimize speed performance, you will be helped by fine-tuning the system during test runs.

Important! Even the most interesting radio-controlled car cannot be a child’s only hobby for a long time. So that he doesn’t get bored and learns everything new with interest, and you waste less of your nerves correcting the consequences of your little one’s pranks, take advantage of our selection of interesting ideas:

Video material

Now you can make a radio-controlled car and enjoy the toy for as long as you remain excited, because it is so exciting.

Many people wanted to assemble a simple radio control circuit, but one that would be multifunctional and for a fairly long distance. I finally put together this circuit, spending almost a month on it. I drew the tracks on the boards by hand, since the printer does not print such thin ones. In the photo of the receiver there are LEDs with uncut leads - I soldered them only to demonstrate the operation of the radio control. In the future I will unsolder them and assemble a radio-controlled airplane.

The radio control equipment circuit consists of only two microcircuits: the MRF49XA transceiver and the PIC16F628A microcontroller. The parts are basically available, but for me the problem was the transceiver, I had to order it online. and download the payment here. More details about the device:

MRF49XA is a small-sized transceiver that has the ability to operate in three frequency ranges.
- Low frequency range: 430.24 - 439.75 MHz (2.5 kHz step).
- High frequency range A: 860.48 - 879.51 MHz (5 kHz step).
- High frequency range B: 900.72 - 929.27 MHz (7.5 kHz step).
The range limits are indicated subject to the use of a reference quartz with a frequency of 10 MHz.

Schematic diagram of the transmitter:

The TX circuit has quite a few parts. And it is very stable, moreover, it does not even require configuration, it works immediately after assembly. The distance (according to the source) is about 200 meters.

Now to the receiver. The RX block is made according to a similar scheme, the only differences are in the LEDs, firmware and buttons. Parameters of the 10 command radio control unit:

Transmitter:
Power - 10 mW
Supply voltage 2.2 - 3.8 V (according to the datasheet for m/s, in practice it works normally up to 5 volts).
The current consumed in transmission mode is 25 mA.
Quiescent current - 25 µA.
Data speed - 1kbit/sec.
An integer number of data packets are always transmitted.
Modulation - FSK.
Noise-resistant coding, checksum transmission.

Receiver:
Sensitivity - 0.7 µV.
Supply voltage 2.2 - 3.8 V (according to the datasheet for the microcircuit, in practice it works normally up to 5 volts).
Constant current consumption - 12 mA.
Data speed up to 2 kbit/sec. Limited by software.
Modulation - FSK.
Noise-resistant coding, checksum calculation upon reception.

Advantages of this scheme

The ability to press any combination of any number of transmitter buttons at the same time. The receiver will display the pressed buttons in real mode with LEDs. Simply put, while a button (or combination of buttons) on the transmitting part is pressed, the corresponding LED (or combination of LEDs) on the receiving part is lit.

When power is supplied to the receiver and transmitter, they go into test mode for 3 seconds. At this time nothing works, after 3 seconds both circuits are ready for operation.

The button (or combination of buttons) is released - the corresponding LEDs immediately go out. Ideal for radio control of various toys - boats, planes, cars. Or it can be used as a remote control unit for various actuators in production.

On the transmitter circuit board, the buttons are located in one row, but I decided to assemble something like a remote control on a separate board.

Both modules are powered by 3.7V batteries. The receiver, which consumes noticeably less current, has a battery from an electronic cigarette, the transmitter - from my favorite phone)) I assembled and tested the circuit found on the VRTP website: [)eNiS

Discuss the article RADIO CONTROL ON A MICROCONTROLLER

In this article, you will see how to make a radio control for 10 commands with your own hands. The range of this device is 200 meters on the ground and more than 400m in the air.

The diagram was taken from the website vrtp.ru
Transmitter

Receiver

The buttons can be pressed in any order, although everything works stably at once. Using it, you can control different loads: garage doors, lights, model airplanes, cars, and so on... In general, anything, it all depends on your imagination.

For work we need a list of parts:
1) PIC16F628A-2 pcs (microcontroller) (link to aliexpress pic16f628a )
2) MRF49XA-2 pcs (radio transmitter) (link to aliexpress MRF 49 XA )
3) 47nH inductor (or wind it yourself) - 6 pcs
Capacitors:
4) 33 uF (electrolytic) - 2 pcs.
5) 0.1 uF-6 pcs
6) 4.7 pF-4 pcs
7) 18 pF - 2 pcs
Resistors
8) 100 Ohm - 1 piece
9) 560 Ohm - 10 pcs
10) 1 Com-3 pieces
11) LED - 1 piece
12) buttons - 10 pcs.
13) Quartz 10MHz-2 pcs
14) Textolite
15) Soldering iron
As you can see, the device consists of a minimum of parts and can be done by anyone. You just have to want it. The device is very stable, after assembly it works immediately. The circuit can be made as on a printed circuit board. Same with mounted installation (especially for the first time, it will be easier to program). First, we make the board. Print it out

And we poison the board.

We solder all the components, it is better to solder PIC16F628A as the last one, since it will still need to be programmed. First of all, solder the MRF49XA

The main thing is to be very careful, she has very subtle conclusions. Capacitors for clarity. The most important thing is not to confuse the poles on the 33 uF capacitor since its terminals are different, one is +, the other is -. All other capacitors can be soldered as you wish, they have no polarity on the terminals

You can use purchased 47nH coils, but it’s better to wind them yourself, they are all the same (6 turns of 0.4 wire on a 2 mm mandrel)

When everything is soldered, we check everything well. Next we take PIC16F628A, it needs to be programmed. I used PIC KIT 2 lite and a homemade socket
Here is the link to the programmer ( Pic Kit2 )

Here is the connection diagram

It's all simple, so don't be scared. For those who are far from electronics, I advise you not to start with SMD components, but to buy everything in DIP size. I did this myself for the first time

And it all really worked the first time

Open the program, select our microcontroller

For radio control of various models and toys, discrete and proportional action equipment can be used.

The main difference between proportional and discrete equipment is that it allows, at the operator’s commands, to deflect the model’s rudders to any desired angle and smoothly change the speed and direction of its movement “Forward” or “Backward”.

The construction and installation of proportional-action equipment is quite complex and is not always within the capabilities of a novice radio amateur.

Although discrete-action equipment has limited capabilities, they can be expanded by using special technical solutions. Therefore, next we will consider single-command control equipment suitable for wheeled, flying and floating models.

Transmitter circuit

To control models within a radius of 500 m, as experience shows, it is enough to have a transmitter with an output power of about 100 mW. Transmitters for radio-controlled models typically operate within a range of 10 m.

Single-command control of the model is carried out as follows. When a control command is given, the transmitter emits high-frequency electromagnetic oscillations, in other words, it generates a single carrier frequency.

The receiver, which is located on the model, receives the signal sent by the transmitter, as a result of which the actuator is activated.

Rice. 1. Schematic diagram of the radio-controlled model transmitter.

As a result, the model, obeying the command, changes the direction of movement or carries out one instruction that is pre-built into the design of the model. Using a single-command control model, you can make the model perform quite complex movements.

The diagram of a single-command transmitter is shown in Fig. 1. The transmitter includes a master high-frequency oscillator and a modulator.

The master oscillator is assembled on transistor VT1 according to a three-point capacitive circuit. The L2, C2 circuit of the transmitter is tuned to the frequency of 27.12 MHz, which is allocated by the State Telecommunications Supervision Authority for radio control of models.

The DC operating mode of the generator is determined by selecting the resistance value of resistor R1. The high-frequency oscillations created by the generator are radiated into space by an antenna connected to the circuit through the matching inductor L1.

The modulator is made on two transistors VT1, VT2 and is a symmetrical multivibrator. The modulated voltage is removed from the collector load R4 of transistor VT2 and supplied to the common power circuit of transistor VT1 of the high-frequency generator, which ensures 100% modulation.

The transmitter is controlled by the SB1 button, connected to the general power circuit. The master oscillator does not operate continuously, but only when the SB1 button is pressed, when current pulses generated by the multivibrator appear.

High-frequency oscillations created by the master oscillator are sent to the antenna in separate portions, the repetition frequency of which corresponds to the frequency of the modulator pulses.

Transmitter parts

The transmitter uses transistors with a base current transfer coefficient h21e of at least 60. Resistors are MLT-0.125 type, capacitors are K10-7, KM-6.

The matching antenna coil L1 has 12 turns PEV-1 0.4 and is wound on a unified frame from a pocket receiver with a tuning ferrite core of grade 100NN with a diameter of 2.8 mm.

Coil L2 is frameless and contains 16 turns of PEV-1 0.8 wire wound on a mandrel with a diameter of 10 mm. An MP-7 type microswitch can be used as a control button.

The transmitter parts are mounted on a printed circuit board made of foil fiberglass. The transmitter antenna is a piece of elastic steel wire with a diameter of 1...2 mm and a length of about 60 cm, which is connected directly to socket X1 located on the printed circuit board.

All transmitter parts must be enclosed in an aluminum housing. There is a control button on the front panel of the case. A plastic insulator must be installed where the antenna passes through the housing wall to socket XI to prevent the antenna from touching the housing.

Setting up the transmitter

With known good parts and correct installation, the transmitter does not require any special adjustment. You just need to make sure that it is working and, by changing the inductance of the L1 coil, achieve maximum transmitter power.

To check the operation of the multivibrator, you need to connect high-impedance headphones between the VT2 collector and the plus of the power source. When the SB1 button is closed, a low-pitched sound corresponding to the frequency of the multivibrator should be heard in the headphones.

To check the functionality of the HF generator, it is necessary to assemble a wavemeter according to the diagram in Fig. 2. The circuit is a simple detector receiver, in which coil L1 is wound with PEV-1 wire with a diameter of 1...1.2 mm and contains 10 turns with a tap from 3 turns.

Rice. 2. Schematic diagram of a wave meter for setting up the transmitter.

The coil is wound with a pitch of 4 mm on a plastic frame with a diameter of 25 mm. A DC voltmeter with a relative input resistance of 10 kOhm/V or a microammeter for a current of 50...100 μA is used as an indicator.

The wavemeter is assembled on a small plate made of foil fiberglass laminate 1.5 mm thick. Having turned on the transmitter, place the wave meter at a distance of 50...60 cm from it. When the HF generator is working properly, the wave meter needle deviates at a certain angle from the zero mark.

By tuning the RF generator to a frequency of 27.12 MHz, shifting and spreading the turns of the L2 coil, the maximum deflection of the voltmeter needle is achieved.

The maximum power of high-frequency oscillations emitted by the antenna is obtained by rotating the core of the coil L1. Setting up the transmitter is considered complete if the voltmeter of the wave meter at a distance of 1...1.2 m from the transmitter shows a voltage of at least 0.05 V.

Receiver circuit

To control the model, radio amateurs quite often use receivers built according to a super-regenerator circuit. This is due to the fact that the super-regenerative receiver, having a simple design, has a very high sensitivity, on the order of 10...20 µV.

The diagram of the super-regenerative receiver for the model is shown in Fig. 3. The receiver is assembled on three transistors and is powered by a Krona battery or another 9 V source.

The first stage of the receiver is a super-regenerative detector with self-quenching, made on transistor VT1. If the antenna does not receive a signal, then this cascade generates pulses of high-frequency oscillations, following with a frequency of 60...100 kHz. This is the blanking frequency, which is set by capacitor C6 and resistor R3.

Rice. 3. Schematic diagram of a super-regenerative receiver of a radio-controlled model.

Amplification of the selected command signal by the super-regenerative detector of the receiver occurs as follows. Transistor VT1 is connected according to a common base circuit and its collector current pulsates with a quenching frequency.

If there is no signal at the receiver input, these pulses are detected and create some voltage on resistor R3. At the moment the signal arrives at the receiver, the duration of the individual pulses increases, which leads to an increase in the voltage across resistor R3.

The receiver has one input circuit L1, C4, which is tuned to the transmitter frequency using the coil core L1. The connection between the circuit and the antenna is capacitive.

The control signal received by the receiver is allocated to resistor R4. This signal is 10...30 times less than the blanking frequency voltage.

To suppress interfering voltage with a quenching frequency, a filter L3, C7 is included between the super-regenerative detector and the voltage amplifier.

In this case, at the filter output, the voltage of the blanking frequency is 5... 10 times less than the amplitude of the useful signal. The detected signal is fed through separating capacitor C8 to the base of transistor VT2, which is a low-frequency amplification stage, and then to an electronic relay assembled on transistor VTZ and diodes VD1, VD2.

The signal amplified by the transistor VTZ is rectified by diodes VD1 and VD2. The rectified current (negative polarity) is supplied to the base of the VTZ transistor.

When a current appears at the input of the electronic relay, the collector current of the transistor increases and relay K1 is activated. A pin 70...100 cm long can be used as a receiver antenna. The maximum sensitivity of a super-regenerative receiver is set by selecting the resistance of resistor R1.

Receiver parts and installation

The receiver is mounted using a printed method on a board made of foil fiberglass laminate with a thickness of 1.5 mm and dimensions of 100x65 mm. The receiver uses the same types of resistors and capacitors as the transmitter.

The superregenerator circuit coil L1 has 8 turns of PELSHO 0.35 wire, wound turn to turn on a polystyrene frame with a diameter of 6.5 mm, with a tuning ferrite core of grade 100NN with a diameter of 2.7 mm and a length of 8 mm. The chokes have inductance: L2 - 8 µH, and L3 - 0.07...0.1 µH.

Electromagnetic relay K1 type RES-6 with a winding resistance of 200 Ohms.

Receiver setup

Tuning the receiver begins with a super-regenerative cascade. Connect high-impedance headphones in parallel with capacitor C7 and turn on the power. The noise that appears in the headphones indicates that the super-regenerative detector is working properly.

By changing the resistance of resistor R1, maximum noise in the headphones is achieved. The voltage amplification cascade on transistor VT2 and the electronic relay do not require special adjustment.

By selecting the resistance of resistor R7, a receiver sensitivity of about 20 μV is achieved. The final configuration of the receiver is carried out together with the transmitter.

If you connect headphones in parallel to the winding of relay K1 in the receiver and turn on the transmitter, then a loud noise should be heard in the headphones. Tuning the receiver to the transmitter frequency causes the noise in the headphones to disappear and the relay to operate.