I've always wanted to use something like an xbox360 controller to control my ships. I like the idea of having the triggers and buttons command the turrets. 1) is this even possible? 2) has anyone done it? 3) if so can someone teach how to do this or point me in the right direction? Thanks Jon
1.) possible using either an arduino or a rasberrypi or similar 2.) look at some of the rc car forums and robotics especially the school stuff for non autonomous competitions 3.) methods i know of require an ardunio and a wifi antenna on the ship so not as reliable at the distances we are unless you want to put a lot of money into a signal repeater. also needs the usb converter or just a plain old wired controller http://www.intorobotics.com/arduino-robotic-arm-controlled-xbox-360-wireless-controller/ basic overview of what has to be done to make it work
Arduino is a cheap AVR-based microcontroller. Some of the 3D printers use Arduino compatible boards. Raspberry Pi is a cheap mini computer with an Arm processor that runs Linux. Comes with USB builtin. There are several versions ranging from the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero to the $35 Raspberry Pi 3. I am hoping to interface joysticks and/or PlayStation controllers to my xmitter trainer port this summer using a Raspberry Pi Zero. Search the web. I've seen a few people that have done this with their Arduino boards.
A lot of the R/C tank battle guys use the C12C controller from http://www.cheapcontrolsystems.com coupled to a wireless Playstation controller. The caveat is that wireless Playstation controllers don't have all that much range (not an issue with the tanks). I think Frank (the guy behind the C12C) is working on a wifi version.
We are still converting radio channels to push buttons and mounting them on the back of the transmitter. Some captains have as many as six buttons mounted. Since we have a limited number of guns in 1/72, 2 can be firing buttons, 2 others for elevate and depress and the other two are for rotation. I guess you can get fancy and use a converted controller, but sometimes "simple" works best. My radio with 4 buttons is shown below.
do you mean on the ps3 controllers? if no not really. ps3 use bluetooth limited to about 30-60 feet. you could go a wifi repeater route but that is expensive and the antenna is heavy.
that and it requires and arduino at both ends of the transmission to relay the signal convert it and actuate the servos. if you built a multi user boat on something the size of a yamato with mutliple rotates it could be interesting else space makes that hard.
Check out http://www.open-tx.org/ The OpenTX software can be loaded on an Arduino Mega 2560 (<$10) and can use pretty much any source of buttons for input. The software is very versatile, allowing you to define different functions based on what buttons are pushed. The versatility makes it harder to learn though. You could use a xbox360 controller as an input, although I doubt that you could fit all the required electronics inside the controller. This thread documents the efforts on one person to build a Mega 2560 controller: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2406337&highlight=DIY+radio+mega2560 I've been thinking about building my own controller but lack of time has prevented me from getting started. I did do some preliminary work and when adding up all the necessary parts it would cost about $80. Since I can buy a Turnigy 9X (which can be reprogrammed to use the Open TX software) for about the same price, there was not the cost savings that I was looking for.
Stephen Morgret has done this or something similar. It's a few pages deep in this thread.. https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/fire-control.407324/ Seeing as he was planning on selling it in 2008 and nothing really has happened with it since then I doubt it's coming to market soon. (if at all) Not that I blame him, with the price/performance of modern radio systems and niche application in an already small hobby the market probably isn't there for it. Still I'd suspect he would be willing to talk about it with you, most people like talking about thier projects.... If you just want triggers vs buttons (or sticks) for the guns hacking a standard hobby radio isn't terribly difficult and doesn't require anything that you can't already do if you've successfully built a working combat boat.
For the prices, you can't beat Hobby King and their Turnigy i6 or i10 radios. If you decide on the i01, be sure to wait until it goes on sale. Regular price can be $160 and up. I recently got it for $99 and free shipping.
