{"id":17135,"date":"2022-06-09T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/?p=17135"},"modified":"2022-06-09T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T05:00:14","slug":"robot-toy-car-the-next-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/robot-toy-car-the-next-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Robot Toy Car – The Next steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In our last project, we started working on repurposing an old toy car. In this part, Robot Toy Car – The next steps, we will take a look at the controller board for this project and discuss some of the problems that we have encountered up to now. Most of the various components for this project are still in the prototype stage, but It is quite important to get them tested to verify the final designs.

There are quite a few unique challenges in a project like this, which looks quite easy to solve but turn out to become quite challenging to get working just right in practice…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important, as well as the most frustrating part, turned out to be the H-Bridge Motor controller. The first prototype of this was introduced in the first part<\/a> of this project. While functional on paper, as well as working quite well in real life, (when tested with an Arduino, as well as manually), It performs extremely poorly when used with the actual controller for this project, an ESP8266 12-E…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could the reason be? How will I fix it…? The answers to that will be provided in a follow-up post. For now, let us take a look at the controller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The unassembled ESP-8266 Controller board, straight from the factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Assembled ESP-8266 Controller board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Controller Board, details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Space inside the toy car is at a premium, so from the start, it was important to design a PCB that was small enough to fit, while also taking into consideration functionality, as well as all additional add-on components to ultimately be fitted to the project.

With this in mind, I have decided on the ESP-8266, which, while bigger than an Atmega328, does offer a few additional features, like WiFi, and ESP-Now, which will greatly help in controlling and even updating firmware OTA. The ESP-8266 does however also have a few serious flaws in this design, like limited useable GPIO pins, a 3.3v working voltage requirement, and quite high operating current requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the toy will likely not be used continuously, as well as the fact that it will run on batteries, which, can be replaced or recharged, I did not worry too much about the power issue. As far as the limited GPIO, that is where I2C comes in… It is quite easy to expand the GPIO with an IO Expander or two…

My main problem came in the form of the CH340G USB-to-UART converter chip. It seems like there must be quite a lot of counterfeit versions of these around, as none of the chips that I purchased, from many different suppliers, actually functioned, with the best one actually providing a USB port, but, when investigating with a logic analyser, the Rx and Tx lines of the UART, generating garbage…

Replacing it with a known working chip from a NodeMCU V1 board, magically solved the problem, verifying the PCB circuit as correct and working, and also proving that the purchased chips are definitely fake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was easily repaired by temporarily soldering jumper cables to the Rx and Tx lines on the ESP-8266, and using an external UART-to-USB converter to upload the initial sketch to the device. Future updates will be OTA, so not a problem in the long run anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Controller Schematic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The controller schematic, above, is basically a rearranged stock NodeMCU v1 circuit, with the only difference being that only specific pins were broken out onto header pins. These will be used for controlling the two H-Bridges, and provide PWM as well as access to the I2C bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Due to the fact that this controller is still definitely considered a prototype, my main focus is definitely on getting the control software sorted out first. That way, at least in my opinion, I can then focus on hardware issues responding to verified software inputs, without having to do both at the same time.

As mentioned before, I require OTA capability to upload new firmware to the device, so my starting point was the BasicOTA sketch provided with the Arduino IDE. This sketch was modified to perform some additional functionality, such as controlling the H-Bridges, PWM as well as a roof-mounted “status panel” with LED’s that also doubles as a visual display, to give a bit of colour to the project.

The “status panel” will be shown in a future post, however, with the only mention of it here being that it is I2C controlled, and based on a PCF8574. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BasicOTA sketch is listed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>\n#include <ESP8266mDNS.h>\n#include <WiFiUdp.h>\n#include <ArduinoOTA.h>\n\n#ifndef STASSID\n#define STASSID \"your-ssid\"\n#define STAPSK  \"your-password\"\n#endif\n\nconst char* ssid = STASSID;\nconst char* password = STAPSK;\n\nvoid setup() {\n  Serial.begin(115200);\n  Serial.println(\"Booting\");\n  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);\n  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);\n  while (WiFi.waitForConnectResult() != WL_CONNECTED) {\n    Serial.println(\"Connection Failed! Rebooting...\");\n    delay(5000);\n    ESP.restart();\n  }\n\n  \/\/ Port defaults to 8266\n  \/\/ ArduinoOTA.setPort(8266);\n\n  \/\/ Hostname defaults to esp8266-[ChipID]\n  \/\/ ArduinoOTA.setHostname(\"myesp8266\");\n\n  \/\/ No authentication by default\n  \/\/ ArduinoOTA.setPassword(\"admin\");\n\n  \/\/ Password can be set with it's md5 value as well\n  \/\/ MD5(admin) = 21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3\n  \/\/ ArduinoOTA.setPasswordHash(\"21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3\");\n\n  ArduinoOTA.onStart([]() {\n    String type;\n    if (ArduinoOTA.getCommand() == U_FLASH) {\n      type = \"sketch\";\n    } else { \/\/ U_FS\n      type = \"filesystem\";\n    }\n\n    \/\/ NOTE: if updating FS this would be the place to unmount FS using FS.end()\n    Serial.println(\"Start updating \" + type);\n  });\n  ArduinoOTA.onEnd([]() {\n    Serial.println(\"\\nEnd\");\n  });\n  ArduinoOTA.onProgress([](unsigned int progress, unsigned int total) {\n    Serial.printf(\"Progress: %u%%\\r\", (progress \/ (total \/ 100)));\n  });\n  ArduinoOTA.onError([](ota_error_t error) {\n    Serial.printf(\"Error[%u]: \", error);\n    if (error == OTA_AUTH_ERROR) {\n      Serial.println(\"Auth Failed\");\n    } else if (error == OTA_BEGIN_ERROR) {\n      Serial.println(\"Begin Failed\");\n    } else if (error == OTA_CONNECT_ERROR) {\n      Serial.println(\"Connect Failed\");\n    } else if (error == OTA_RECEIVE_ERROR) {\n      Serial.println(\"Receive Failed\");\n    } else if (error == OTA_END_ERROR) {\n      Serial.println(\"End Failed\");\n    }\n  });\n  ArduinoOTA.begin();\n  Serial.println(\"Ready\");\n  Serial.print(\"IP address: \");\n  Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());\n}\n\nvoid loop() {\n  ArduinoOTA.handle();\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Controlling the Toy Car Robot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Controlling the Toy Car is a complicated question, with many ideas jumping into my mind, only to be pushed aside by technical issues, as well as real-world constraints on what is physically possible to be mounted on the plastic body of the toy car, space available on the inside, as well as not interfering with suspensions, springs, turning wheels etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The chassis of the toy car<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
As is clearly visible, there is really not a lot of space available here for sensors. Mounting sensors to the body will also provide a bit of a challenge, as well as won’t really look nice either…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Give<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
I have thus decided to implement remote control for the time being, and later, maybe after 3d-printing a more suitable body, to add sensors for autonomous functionality. The ESP-Now protocol will be used extensively for the remote control, as, in my opinion, it required no additional hardware, is quite fast, as well as being extremely easy to use. It does however make it necessary to use another ESP deice in the remote control unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manufacturing the PCB<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The PCB for this project is currently on its way from China, after having been manufactured at PCBWay.
Please consider supporting them if you would like your own copy of this PCB, or if you have any PCB of your own that you need to be manufactured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"PCBWay\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
If you would like to have PCBWAY<\/a> manufacture one of your own, designs, or even this particular PCB, you need to do the following\u2026
1) Click on this link<\/a>
2) Create an account if you have not already got one of your own.
If you use the link above, you will also instantly receive a $5USD coupon, which you can use on your first or any other order later. (Disclaimer: I will earn a small referral fee from PCBWay. This referral fee will not affect the cost of your order, nor will you pay any part thereof.)
3) Once you have gone to their website, and created an account, or login with your existing account,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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4) Click on PCB Instant Quote<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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5) If you do not have any very special requirements for your PCB, click on Quick-order PCB<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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6) Click on Add Gerber File, and select your Gerber file(s) from your computer. Most of your PCB details will now be automatically selected, leaving you to only select the solder mask and silk-screen colour, as well as to remove the order number or not. You can of course fine-tune everything exactly as you want as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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7) You can also select whether you want an SMD stencil, or have the board assembled after manufacturing. Please note that the assembly service, as well as the cost of your components, ARE NOT included in the initial quoted price. ( The quote will update depending on what options you select ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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8) When you are happy with the options that you have selected, you can click on the Save to Cart Button. From here on, you can go to the top of the screen, click on Cart, make any payment(s) or use any coupons that you have in your account.

Then just sit back and wait for your new PCB to be delivered to your door via the shipping company that you have selected during checkout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In our last project, we started working on repurposing an old toy car. In this part, Robot Toy Car – The next steps, we will take a look at the controller board for this project and discuss some of the problems that we have encountered up to now. Most of the various components for this … Continue reading “Robot Toy Car – The Next steps”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,44,140],"tags":[45,81,154],"class_list":["post-17135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-custom-pcb-design","category-electronics","category-esp8266","tag-electronics","tag-esp8266","tag-robotics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}