JHBDrones

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Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« on: February 03, 2018, 12:12:23 pm »
So here is my problem/question:
Can you use an CC3D Flight Controller in controlling a 6 Motor-rover, and if so, how do you make it turn?
Since it is a rover, the wheels do not have a steering mechanism to turn, so in order for it to turn, it has to act like a tank.

For example:
To turn left, the Motors on the left should stop, and only the motors on the right should work, like a tank, it turns.

Now my problem is-
how to make it happen? I currently have an Arduino for plan B. which to be honest, i still don't know how to use XD.

it's a school project i have been working on for almost 8 months now, and well, that problem is setting me back, so i decided to seek help here.

Parts iam using-
6x 2300-Kv Motors attached to 6x 12A BLHeli Esc's
All of those are connected to the CC3D board. And of course the Esc's to the power distribution board. which is then powered by a 2200Mah 7.4V Lipo Battery.
the receiver and transmitter is a FlySky 4 channel receiver and transmitter, plugged into the CC3D.

Help here is greatly appreciated. as this forum was useful the last time i had a problem.  ::)

f5soh

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Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2018, 03:11:01 pm »
Yes, you can use a CC3D in a Rover.
You may use the Vehicle wizard configuring only two motors and apply the same mixer logic modifying MixerSettings for other outputs, using the Custom mixer.

Do you plan to use the 2300-Kv motors directly ?
This may result in a very fast vehicle, or too strong current for Escs/motors.

JHBDrones

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  • WELCOME to me, and my first time building drones
Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2018, 03:24:53 pm »
Its crazy, but here's my plan HAHAHAHA, so basically we plan to Make a rover about 55-75 Cm long, have a height of 15 Cm, and a width of 35 Cm. but why is it soo big?

That's because we plan to make the top of the rover a landing pad for the drone, which is a QAV250. crazy but yes. so the motors need to be powerful as we estimate it will weigh anywhere from 3-4.5 Kgs.

so yeah, this was good news to me. but how do you configure it to only activate the motors once a turn signal was given, for example- if i were to control it to go to the right, then like a tank, the right wheels should shut off and the left should have power, making it turn. so yeah, its that part where iam most confused on.

JHBDrones

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  • WELCOME to me, and my first time building drones
Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2018, 03:26:28 pm »
iam still planning how to attach the wheels to the motors, so yeah, any suggestions may help XD

JHBDrones

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  • WELCOME to me, and my first time building drones
Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2018, 03:28:44 pm »
it should do something like that.

f5soh

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Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2018, 03:39:34 pm »
You should use the Vehicle Wizard, choose "Surface" and "Tank".
Look how the mixing is done and apply modifications for 6 wheels.
Vehicle tab can be used as well for a start.

JHBDrones

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  • WELCOME to me, and my first time building drones
Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2018, 03:40:47 pm »
Thank you  ;D ;D ;D

Ill be sure to mention you when we present it. like seriously this forum never fails hahahaha.
if i have any more questions, ill come straight back here.

Re: Can a Flight Controller be used in an RC rover ?
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2018, 07:29:30 pm »
2300KV motors are just too fast.  Make a test to see how slow you can run them and imagine how this affects the handling.

Minimum speed may be several meters per second with normal ESCs.

Because of this, it may not be able to do a stopped turn (e.g. left wheels turning and right wheels stopped) without flipping over.

It may not be able to do any kind of gentle moving turn because the left side speed needs to be so close to the right side speed.  Full left-right should only be about a 1% left-right speed differential.

2300KV at 10 volts is 23000RPM is 383 revs per second.  If your wheels are 10cm (4 inch) this will be 120 meters per second (about 270 mph) which won't stay on the ground on even the smoothest road and aerodynamics become critically important.  Normal wheels and tires can't handle 23000 RPM and will disintegrate VIOLENTLY.

You really should consider gearing those motors down at very least 5 to 1 or starting with 500KV motors or less.