Worlds Smallest Car With Electronic Stability Control!

by TheDIYGuy999 in Circuits > Arduino

5748 Views, 22 Favorites, 0 Comments

Worlds Smallest Car With Electronic Stability Control!

Title.jpeg

You have one of those tiny little Coke Can Cars? And its controllability sucks? Then here comes the solution:

Arduino 2.4GHz "Micro RC" proportional control modification!

Features:

  • Proportional control Arduino "Micro RC" conversion with electronic stability control system!
  • 2.4GHz Arduino / NRF24L01+ based DIY remote
  • Custom made boards from OSH Park, designed in Eagle
  • Proportional throttle and steering
  • 3.7V LiPo battery
  • MPU-6050 gyro / accelerometer, used for stability control (steering overlay). Gain adjustable via transmitter knob.
  • TB6612FNG dual channel DC motor driver for drive motor and steering
  • 4 Channel Joystick or 2 channel „car style“ transmitter with OLED and integrated PONG game (if you crashed your car)
  • Software and board files available on my GitHub. The link is below.

Micro RC Conversion

Coke Can Car Arduino 2.4GHz "Micro RC" conversion - will it fit?
IMG_1337.jpg
IMG_1338.jpg
IMG_1339.jpg
IMG_1340.jpg
IMG_1341.jpg
IMG_1343.jpg
IMG_1348.jpg
IMG_1349.jpg
IMG_1363.jpg
IMG_1373.jpg
IMG_1374.jpg

In this step, the original supercap is replaced with a LiPo battery. The original 27MHz receiver is replaced with my own 2.4GHz proportional control "Micro RC" receiver: https://github.com/TheDIYGuy999/Micro_RC_Receiver

Board Upgrade

Coke Can Car Receiver Upgrade - new "Micro RC" V1.3
IMG_3432.jpg
IMG_3433.jpg
IMG_3434.jpg
IMG_3435.jpg
IMG_3436.jpg
IMG_3437.jpg
IMG_3439.jpg
IMG_3440.jpg
IMG_3441.jpg
IMG_3442.jpg

The new board version 1.3 allows to drive the steering with an increased PWM frequency. This removes the annoying PWM "whining".

Steering Repair / Optimization

Arduino Coke Can Car Proportional Steering Repair

A Little Race: David Against Goliath!

David Coke Can Car Against Goliath JLB Racing Cheetah: Transmitter Swap And Crash!

MPU-6050 Gyro / Accelerometer Implementation

Worlds Smallest Car With Electronic Stability Control!
IMG_7812 2.jpg

This tiny little car is very lightweight and has an extremely short wheelbase. Also its steering is proportionally controlled, but there is no feedback. So it is very hard to control on slippery surfaces like parquet.

After I had added an MPU-6050 gyro / accelerometer to several of my other RC cars, I wanted to try, if this board would fit inside this very tiny car...

And yes, it did. The car is now very easy to control. Success!

For more details about my "Micro RC" remote control system have a look at:

I hope, that this little Instructable was helpful for you