Papercraft RC Car
Intro
There was absolutely no reason to do this. None. Zero. Other people made clay sculptures, some knitted something. Why do I do this to myself?
Problem/Inspiration
I had to take a freshman writing class in college. For the first paper, I had to write about how the properties of the materials affect how the artist handles the materials and thus the outcome. In other words were coerced into making art and writing about it.
The Process
The plan was simple:
1. Build an RC car from scratch.
2. Program the whole thing and make it work in 3 days (I promise I didn't procrastinate, I literally got started right away).
Why do I do this to myself? Here goes nothing...
Motor: Salvaged from an old CD drive.
Axles: Metal rods also salvaged from that same CD drive.
Axle holders: Straws.
Motor controller: Custom H-bridge built from scratch using discrete transistors and a perfboard.
Steering: Bent paperclips and a servo, lots of hot glue to make solid spindles.
Body: Cardstock, scissors, and a whole lot of patience.
Controller: The nearest microcontroller I could find, which at that time was an Adafruit feather.
RC control: Original plan was to use XBees, but I couldn't get it to work in time so I had to resort to running a long wire to a joystick. Hey, no one said it had to be wireless.....
Remarks
My professor was impressed with the project, but I am still angry that the XBees didn't work. About the paper? I did fine.
There was absolutely no reason to do this. None. Zero. Other people made clay sculptures, some knitted something. Why do I do this to myself?
Problem/Inspiration
I had to take a freshman writing class in college. For the first paper, I had to write about how the properties of the materials affect how the artist handles the materials and thus the outcome. In other words were coerced into making art and writing about it.
The Process
The plan was simple:
1. Build an RC car from scratch.
2. Program the whole thing and make it work in 3 days (I promise I didn't procrastinate, I literally got started right away).
Why do I do this to myself? Here goes nothing...
Motor: Salvaged from an old CD drive.
Axles: Metal rods also salvaged from that same CD drive.
Axle holders: Straws.
Motor controller: Custom H-bridge built from scratch using discrete transistors and a perfboard.
Steering: Bent paperclips and a servo, lots of hot glue to make solid spindles.
Body: Cardstock, scissors, and a whole lot of patience.
Controller: The nearest microcontroller I could find, which at that time was an Adafruit feather.
RC control: Original plan was to use XBees, but I couldn't get it to work in time so I had to resort to running a long wire to a joystick. Hey, no one said it had to be wireless.....
Remarks
My professor was impressed with the project, but I am still angry that the XBees didn't work. About the paper? I did fine.