Old RemoteControl - Revision history

Elcanoadmin at 17:30, 19 June 2026

2026-06-19T17:30:30Z

Elcanoadmin at 17:22, 19 June 2026

2026-06-19T17:22:49Z

Elcanoadmin at 19:07, 12 June 2026

2026-06-12T19:07:50Z

Elcanoadmin at 19:05, 12 June 2026

2026-06-12T19:05:40Z

Elcanoadmin: Created page with "= Historic Systems = The Elcano system can run autonomously or by remote control. There have been four systems built for manual or remote control. == Joystick == The first s..."

2026-06-12T19:03:18Z

Created page with "= Historic Systems = The Elcano system can run autonomously or by remote control. There have been four systems built for manual or remote control. == Joystick == The first s..."

New page

= Historic Systems =

The Elcano system can run autonomously or by remote control. There have been four systems built for manual or remote control.

== Joystick ==
The first system used an APEM 9000 joystick. The part has five wires: 5V power, ground, and three analog lines. The joystick has two axes. The vertical axis is used for throttle (up) and brakes (down). The third analog signal is the voltage of the joystick when centered. The joystick was used in 2014 and is described in http://www.elcanoproject.org/tutorial/lab2.php. The Low-level code may still contain inputs and processing for an analog joystick.

== Bluetooth ==
In 2015 students built a control system using a Bluetooth receiver to the Arduino. The transmitter was a TI Sitara running Android.

== Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) RC Controller ==

Elcano project used a custom-built radio control system with two arduinos, one in the remote control that collects manual inputs and transmits them with a 433MHz ASK radio transmitter, and one on the Elcano vehicle which receives the information sent over radio and converts it into an ElcanoSerial drive packet which is transmitted to C2 over ElcanoSerial. This information is used to manually drive the trike, begin an autonomous routine, or activate the emergency brake and stop the trike. The RH_ASK system was limited to 40 feet (12 meters) in practice and was never use to drive the vehicle.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:30, 19 June 2026
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	From Sketch > Include Libraries select Add Zip Library and navigate to the right file. You should see CAN_BUS-Shield-master in the Include Libraries.		From Sketch > Include Libraries select Add Zip Library and navigate to the right file. You should see CAN_BUS-Shield-master in the Include Libraries.
		+
		+	== RFM69HCW ==
		+
		+	The RFM69HCW (915MHz) transceiver offers several benefits over the 433MHz ASK radios:
		+	* greater range with higher transmit power
		+	* much higher raw bitrate
		+	* half-duplex communication and received signal strength indicator (RSSI)
		+	* compatibility with higher-performance 3.3V ARM boards like SAMD21
		+
		+	Using the RF69 RadioHead library, the RC system has expanded capabilities from the RH ASK implementation. Data is stored on both ends as a C struct, which is broken down and transmitted as bytes by the RF69 library. After successful transmission, the data is accessible directly from the struct and variables larger than one byte need no additional processing before use. After successfully receiving a packet from the remote control, the receiver sends a packet back with an RSSI value. The remote control uses this reply message to indicate radio communication is active.
		+
		+	=== Transmitted data to vehicle ===
		+	* unsigned 12-bit throttle (0-4095)
		+	* unsigned 12-bit turn
		+	* boolean emergency stop
		+	* boolean autonomous mode
		+	* signed RSSI of last received packet (from vehicle)
		+
		+	=== Received data from vehicle ===
		+	* signed RSSI of last received packet (from remote)

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:07, 12 June 2026
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	Reset requires two quick taps of the reset button. After a reset, the blue LED on the board will pulse slowly for a few seconds. If the board is unresponsive, try resetting this way first.'''		Reset requires two quick taps of the reset button. After a reset, the blue LED on the board will pulse slowly for a few seconds. If the board is unresponsive, try resetting this way first.'''
		+
		+	== Setting up SAMD21 ==
		+
		+	Follow the instructions on https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/samd21-minidev-breakout-hookup-guide/setting-up-arduino
		+
		+	Tools > Board > Boards Manager … Then find an entry for Arduino SAMD Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M0+). Select it, and install.
		+
		+	Next, open your Arduino preferences (File > Preferences). Then find the Additional Board Manager URLs text box, and paste the below link in:
		+
		+	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sparkfun/Arduino_Boards/master/IDE_Board_Manager/package_sparkfun_index.json
		+
		+	Then hit "OK", and travel back to the Board Manager menu. Find a new entry for SparkFun SAMD Boards.
		+	Once the board is installed, you should see new entries in your Tools > Board list. Select SparkFun SAMD21 Mini Breakout.
		+
		+	Next step is to find the needed files.
		+
		+	#include <RH_RF69.h> // External; documented at
		+	http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/classRH__RF69.html
		+
		+	Download the file from http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/RadioHead-1.97.zip
		+
		+	Follow https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries to add the library. From Sketch > Include Libraries select Add Zip Library and navigate to the right file. You should then see RadioHead in the list of included libraries.
		+
		+	#include <mcp_can_dfs.h> // <---- Import from another library: Seed-Studio/CAN-BUS-Shield
		+
		+	#include <mcp_can.h> // (install Library from Arduino, search for "Can-Bus-Shield")
		+
		+	Download zip from
		+
		+	https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/CAN_BUS_Shield
		+
		+	From Sketch > Include Libraries select Add Zip Library and navigate to the right file. You should see CAN_BUS-Shield-master in the Include Libraries.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 12 June 2026
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	Elcano project used a custom-built radio control system with two arduinos, one in the remote control that collects manual inputs and transmits them with a 433MHz ASK radio transmitter, and one on the Elcano vehicle which receives the information sent over radio and converts it into an ElcanoSerial drive packet which is transmitted to C2 over ElcanoSerial. This information is used to manually drive the trike, begin an autonomous routine, or activate the emergency brake and stop the trike. The RH_ASK system was limited to 40 feet (12 meters) in practice and was never use to drive the vehicle.		Elcano project used a custom-built radio control system with two arduinos, one in the remote control that collects manual inputs and transmits them with a 433MHz ASK radio transmitter, and one on the Elcano vehicle which receives the information sent over radio and converts it into an ElcanoSerial drive packet which is transmitted to C2 over ElcanoSerial. This information is used to manually drive the trike, begin an autonomous routine, or activate the emergency brake and stop the trike. The RH_ASK system was limited to 40 feet (12 meters) in practice and was never use to drive the vehicle.
		+
		+	== CAN Bus and SAMD21 ==
		+
		+	The RC transceiver board can be built five different ways:
		+
		+	* Transmitter using Bluetooth
		+
		+	* Receiver using Bluetooth
		+
		+	* Transmitter using radio (RFM69HCW)
		+
		+	* Receiver using radio (RFM69HCW)
		+
		+	* Receiver using 5 or 6 channel radio control (RC)
		+
		+	When configured as a receiver it is mounted on the vehicle and communicates drive commands over CAN bus.
		+
		+	CAN is documented on [[Communication]]
		+
		+	As a transmitter, it is packaged in a remote box with joysticks and switches. Functions and pins are explained in TranceiverPins_1_6.docx on https://github.com/elcano/Transceiver/tree/master/Transceiver%20Documents.
		+
		+
		+	The processor is an Arduino ARM SAMD21 mini dev board, which requires some special steps to install. These are detailed on https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/samd21-minidev-breakout-hookup-guide/setting-up-arduino
		+
		+	Reset requires two quick taps of the reset button. After a reset, the blue LED on the board will pulse slowly for a few seconds. If the board is unresponsive, try resetting this way first.'''

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 = Historic Systems =
-The Elcano system can run autonomously or by remote control. There have been four systems built for manual or remote control.
+The Elcano system can run autonomously or by remote control. There have been several systems built for manual or remote control.
 == Joystick ==
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 == Bluetooth ==
 In 2015 students built a control system using a Bluetooth receiver to the Arduino. The transmitter was a TI Sitara running Android.
 == Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) RC Controller ==