Post : RC car upgraded to Bluetooth control
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/09/14/rc-car-upgraded-to-bluetooth-control/
Posted : September 14, 2012 at 7:00 am
Author : Mike Szczys
Tags : bluetooth, boost converter, rc
Categories : arduino hacks, toy hacks

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/rc-car-bluetooth-controller-upgrade.jpg

[Chet] is showing off the Bluetooth controller upgrade for this RC car (http://www.chet.ie/?p=70) . The donor vehicle is a rather inexpensive Porche which he purchased to make sure he didn't start hacking up his more expensive toys.

He took a bit different route than the IOIO RC truck (http://hackaday.com/2012/09/11/ioio-controller-replacement-for-an-rc-truck/) we saw earlier in the week, but the concept is basically the same. That build used an IOIO board with a USB Bluetooth dongle. This one uses an Arduino Mini with a serial Bluetooth module. He patched into the motor driver circuits on the original PCB. While he was at it he also soldered in some LEDs to use as switchable headlights.

There was one issue which he had to overcome. The current draw from the motor starting up would sometimes dip the voltage low enough to reset the Arduino. He tried using a bigger capacitor to feed the board, but in the end opted to add a boost converter (http://www.chet.ie/?p=79) .

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