The Class

About a year ago now I got my hands on a Fly-Sky 2.4G CT6B 6-Channel radio transmitter. This thing is awesome, but I haven’t had much time to put it to use. I have now finally perfected a nice class for it and other similar receivers.

Found here in my Arduino repository is my HobbyRadioReceiver class header file and an example sketch.
This class is based on the FS-R6B six channel receiver, but I’ve generalized it to accept any given number of channels so you can use this class with other common radio receivers. I’ve also given the ability to test the channels as different types of input. View the class declaration to see more details. I apologize if the usage of the class is not clear, let me know if there is any confusion or anything I can improve on.

Fritzing it!

Fritzing is an awesome program for visually mapping out the wiring of a project. Unfortunately, it does not always have the parts you need. I was very disappointed to find there was no included hobby radio receiver part, so with much strife, I made my own. After a LOT of Googling to figure out how to make parts in Fritzing, I finally got a nice “breadboard view” svg image file created. Figuring out how to make a part, then how to use the Inkscape photo editor, then finally making the part took me a few of hours total. All I wanted was the breadboard view anyway, so naturally, when I discovered you also have to make the Schematic and PCB views as well, I gave up for the time.

So I may later post the other views, but until then, here is the svg image for the FlySky FS-R6B six channel receiver in breadboard view. To then convert this into a part in Fritzing, you must follow the steps listed here using the Fritzing parts editor. It is a pain in the rear, so if anyone happens to make the other views, please share!

This will be the basis of my ReboundBot communication, at least until I get me xBee’s set up. Here is a quick test of the input using the exact circuit shown above. Keep in mind this video was made before I perfected the input sensing. I have since added a small deadzone on the joystick, as well as rounding the input value to reduce noise.

Resources:

So I’ve been planning to do this for way too long, and I’m just now getting to the experience level to actually be able to do something with this.

Tyco RC Super Rebound – Anybody remember this bad-boy from their childhood?!

I had this in my attic for years, and a couple years ago, (in my naive interest in robotics) I opened it up and tore out the circuit board, hoping to put my own in and do… something? with it. Little did I know, at the time, that that original board would’ve made it a bit easier to deal with.

My first year of college, after getting my first Arduino (which I very much wish I had heard of before then), I finally hooked it up using the original motors, this motor driver shield with the added half-amp of the SN754410 motor driver, and a big old Pro Max Ni-Cd battery from my nitro RC car’s starter. However, it still wasn’t powerful enough to make the thing turn on its axis.

This sample sketch was supposed to make it move forward, backward, and spin around. As you can see, it never quite accomplishes that.

More recently I’ve completely removed the “shield” and added two nice big L298N motor drivers giving it roughly 3A per motor (one motor on each side). Somehow it seems even this is still doesn’t give it the ideal power I’m looking for, but it’ll do until I figure something out.

Current picture, without the drivers or Arduino attached (It’s in my Micromouse).

As you can see in the picture, I have added IR sensors to the front and back. Not sure yet how I’m going to detect a wall to its side though… The wheels are way too big for it to sense anything diagonally.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the disassembly, but I hadn’t thought of it at the time, I’ll have much more in the current updates! Including schematics and my code.