Brookstone Rover Massive Upgrade!

by RC 44 in Circuits > Remote Control

6736 Views, 41 Favorites, 0 Comments

Brookstone Rover Massive Upgrade!

WIN_20160228_110445.JPG

The brookstone rover is a awesome toy rover easy to use, but the range is not as good at all...

So, I dicided to do a massive range upgrade with it!

I used a L298N H-Bridge for motor control, a Arduino UNO for controling the H-bridge and read the receiver values, a Turnigy 3XS radio system, a Sky-zone complete 5.8 Ghz FPV system with HobbyKing's DIY FPV Goggles, and a Turnigy 2s 1600Mah lipo for the rover and a Turnigy 3s 2200 lipo for the fpv receiver system.

(Sorry about the messy wires all around, I will fix it later)

Hope you enjoy!

First, Remove All the Rover's Components That You Can, Unless the Motors

WIN_20160228_105047.JPG

Screw the Arduino Into the Board (I Could Be Able to Screw With Only Two Screws)

WIN_20160228_110955.JPG

Gather Your Receiver, in This Case, a Turnigy 3XS

WIN_20160228_111031.JPG

Connect Jumpers (Female-Male) to the Arduino Pins As Shown

WIN_20160228_111128.JPG
WIN_20160228_111232.JPG
RX - Arduino.png

Gather a L298N H-Bridge and Connect Jumper Wires (Male-Male) for the 4 Output Pins, for +5V, for GND and for the In1, In2, In3,In4 (Female-Male). Gather a Battery Plug and Connect Its VCC to +12V and Its GND on the GND.

WIN_20160228_111259.JPG
WIN_20160228_111328.JPG

Connect the Jumper on +5V to the VIN Plug on the Arduino, the GND Jumper on the GND Plug on the Arduino, and the In1, In2, In3, In4 Jumpers to Pins 5, 6, 7, 8 on the Arduino.

WIN_20160228_111542.JPG
WIN_20160228_111609.JPG
WIN_20160228_111718.JPG

Plug OUT1 and OUT2 to the Right Motor Pins and Plug OUT3 and OUT4 to the Left Motor Pins on the Arduino.

WIN_20160228_111449.JPG
WIN_20160228_111453.JPG
Brookstone rover massive upgrade Schematic2.png

Pick a 7.4V Battery and Slide It in the Top of the Arduino

WIN_20160228_111749.JPG
WIN_20160228_111804.JPG
WIN_20160228_111828.JPG

FPV Install:

WIN_20160228_112030.JPG
WIN_20160228_112154.JPG

In my case, I used the complete FPV SkyZone kit with DIY FPV goggles, but you can use any FPV system you want.

I unscrew the rover camera and glued with hot glue on the front of the rover (the housing doesen't appear in the video feed) and I punched a hole in the back of the rover and slided the antenna through it and stuck the transmitter there with tape. (The transmitter doesen't fit under the normal antenna hole). It's powered by the balance port with jumper adapters (Female-Male) to give 7.4V to it, as shown in the second picture of this step.

The Top Part May Look Like This.

WIN_20160228_111949.JPG
WIN_20160228_111958.JPG
WIN_20160228_112003.JPG
WIN_20160228_112019.JPG

Gather You Transmitter to Use With It, in This Setup, a Turnigy 3XS

WIN_20160228_112224.JPG
WIN_20160228_112230.JPG

And It's Done! Here's a Build Video for Better Understanding.

Here's the Code for Controling the Arduino:

'