RPi RC Car Part 1 - video

Hello All, First project, not sure if this has been done already - perhaps not like this exactly.

I've spent many years working in software so when I have a chance to play with hardware and linking in what I already know - i get exited - Im hoping to learn a little about robotics and have a bit of fun.

The plan is to make a simple module for an RC Car consisting of a raspberry Pi and a WiFi dongle.
From there you will be able to log onto it as a WiFi access point, launch a web browser and then use the gyro (if your phone supports it) or push buttons to control the car. Eventually to integrate a camera so you can drive the car from the screen. I may also have a go at a bluetooth version and 3G dongle version and perhaps a Wii controller. I want it to be simple and responsive and I think using a website to control the car should be simple and universal.

In this first video, after 30 minutes or plugging the SD Card in I have the servo and speed controller being controlled from the command line.

Im using the daughter board to make controlling the servos easy. Apparently use PWM or some timing to control the servos accurately is hard or impossible with out something in-between - i have seen people using arduinos and other boards - this wants to be simple. Im also not a hardware person so I brought this board in so I can concentrate on the software.

Big thanks to Mikael at Chroma electronics for soldering me up one of his awesome and simple servo boards: http://electronics.chroma.se/rpisb.php

Next update soon

Video
http://youtu.be/FTGY3E4c4ZA

p.s. anyone know how to embed a youtube vid in a post ?

Pretty. Friggin'. Awesome!

Where'd you get the daughter board?

http://electronics.chroma.se/rpisb.php


It's in the original post as well - i think the guy has an ebay or paypal thing going.

We should start a Raspberry Pi car club!

Here's mine:

http://youtu.be/a234ivx7LDE

Cool. Your video is a tad more dramatic than mine

I got the steering working from the gyro on the iPhone over wifi today. And powered the pi from the cars battery.

Hoping to get something good working by the weekend. Will do another vid with some music

Haha yeah I get that a lot - most notably from a 9 year old who said "don't you think it's a little bit overdramatic?"

I kinda got carried away by iMovie trailer templates...

I saw that Dark Pi video and remembered why I decided to become an engineer when I was a teenager ... rather than an accountant.

There are a few RC car projects but everyone's is different so it's always worth seeing what people are up to.

I keep expecting an aonsquared Pi powered drone to fly over my house as I live in "Dark Pi" country ...

Nice:)

I am looking to do a similar project also involving my arduino and camera. I want to hook it all up and create a web interface so people can control it over the web and see the cam. maybe even create a android app.

I will give it a bash and if successful and I have the cash try something similar with a quad copter.

I love the idea that a few others are doing it too and a club can form.

Ah, cool you're actually using my servo-board! Are you still happy with it?

I would love to make an autonomous boat with it some day, when I get time, I live pretty close
to the second largest lake in Sweden, and my brother lives about 70km north, at the same lake.

So it would be reaaaaally cool to send a boat there by it self. But i doubt I can get batteries to last... Hmmm Solar cells are getting cheap and at summer that could work.... The project is in the queue.

// Mikael

Ah, cool you're actually using my servo-board! Are you still happy with it?

I would love to make an autonomous boat with it some day, when I get time, I live pretty close
to the second largest lake in Sweden, and my brother lives about 70km north, at the same lake.

So it would be reaaaaally cool to send a boat there by it self. But i doubt I can get batteries to last... Hmmm Solar cells are getting cheap and at summer that could work.... The project is in the queue.

// Mikael

Im very happy with the Server Board - just had a few hours to do some more on it - will post shortly.
RC Boat would be cool, with a camera on it.

My eventual plan is to build a quad copter which can follow an object - so for instance, I can leave home when i trigger it remotely and then it can come and find me, perhaps filming some interesting stuff on the way. It should be able to find my phones GPS. Then if you ever get into trouble, load the app and press go for eye in the sky footage

OK, sorry for taking so long.

New video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6_O2T5SPBQ

So I turned up to the raspberry jam last month at Mozilla - London with the plan of showing a working RC Car - but. 4pm the same day the sd card died. No backup.
Grr

Anyway, not one to be defeated, downloaded the os again and imaged it to a new sd card, jumped on the 5pm train getting into London at 6 and spent a whole hour re-writing everything from scratch.

Some how - kinda got it working - and a bit faster this time.



Quite happy with the result after so little time. Video can be found here:

The next and final update will include streaming camera live from the car to controller device, Software safety controls for loss of signal and smoothing of inputs, switch to node.js and html5 web sockets for faster communication and maybe some twitter integration - but i don't know what for

Then this project will be put to bed - will focus on quad copters for 2013

Very inspiring.
Any plan you will release the code and a step by step tutorial?
Thanks

Could you put a tutorial with parts list and code
thanks

Could you post or PM me the code/ the car you used? I have just started coding things and i am only 10 so, I would like to know the car you used, code for the webserver, and code for controlling the car. Thanks in advance!

Only 10, thats good.


Ill try and put a tutorial together and put some code up on the net (or at least some well commented code) for people to have a go.

It now has a Camera and is pretty quick out in the open. Ill make a video to go with it.

FOr now you need to research nodejs with socket.io for speed.

I cant say i found it easy though first time i had a go !

Ill post back here when i have something more, could be a good few weeks though.