Hello All,
As someone with a purely mechanical background, I am completely (or at least almost) new to electronics. I have a 30 ft sailboat that I have converted from a gasoline motor to an electric motor. There are two projects that would seem to be fairly basic, but I don't know what parts would be necessary or how to start, so I was hoping for some help.
Project 1: The "throttle" for the motor controller uses a 5 volt signal through a 5k pot (0-2.25=forward/2.23-3.25=neutral/3.26 to 5=reverse) As an alternative to the hardwired mechanical pot, I have a unused, but still working G1 android phone that I would like use as a wireless controller. It seems fairly basic to create a program with a onscreen slider on the phone, but I don't know where to start with the rest of the project. It would seem that I woudl need:
1. The hardware to interface wirelessly (either bluetooth or wifi)
2. The hardware to control the output voltage.
I often sail alone and it would be a great help to be able to control forward/reverse while away from the cockpit, especially while docking.
Project 2: I have and unbroken LCD monitor from a broken laptop and would like to connect it to a camera. I have looked at the setup tutorial on the TTL camera, but I am still not sure how to connect the Arduino to the monitor. I would like to do something with the LCD and using it as a sort of digital periscope seems like a good idea.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Two new projects
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- Franklin97355
- Posts: 23912
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm
Re: Two new projects
This is where I would be most against using a cell phone/wireless solution. You need total control and I see too many problems with lost signal or crosstalk.I often sail alone and it would be a great help to be able to control forward/reverse while away from the cockpit, especially while docking.
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:59 am
Re: Two new projects
Sorry for the long delay, I didn't receive a notice that anyone commented on my post. I understand your concern, but I believe that the potential for disaster is fairly limited. I will be on the boat when used and I am keeping a parallel motor control available (via the potentiometer) by switch.
In the time since I originally posted, I purchased an Arduino kit and some additional parts have have been working on learning how to work with them. As someone new to electronics, it has been a combination of baby steps to arrive where I am.
I purchased a blue smirf bluetooth module and with the help of Amarino, I can now vary the voltage remotely. I connected the unit to the motor controller. Since the Arduino is self powered, I only connected the ground and the wiper. In running, I was able to vary the motor output, but only very roughly (the motor was "reving" constantly.) A friend of mine suggested that without using the reference voltage from the motor controller, I will not be able to improve the control. So, I am going to try to use the 5 volts to power the Arduino. One of the problems with this is that the output voltage will be lower than 5 volts, so I am losing some of the motor's range (but only in reverse which is not as important.)
I tried connecting 5 volts to the barrel plub of the Arduino, but I was only able to get about 3 volts from Pin 9. I am assuming that there is something attached to that plug to adjust down from 9 volts. My next step will be to try to power the arduino through the USB plug.
Does anyone else have any theories?
In the time since I originally posted, I purchased an Arduino kit and some additional parts have have been working on learning how to work with them. As someone new to electronics, it has been a combination of baby steps to arrive where I am.
I purchased a blue smirf bluetooth module and with the help of Amarino, I can now vary the voltage remotely. I connected the unit to the motor controller. Since the Arduino is self powered, I only connected the ground and the wiper. In running, I was able to vary the motor output, but only very roughly (the motor was "reving" constantly.) A friend of mine suggested that without using the reference voltage from the motor controller, I will not be able to improve the control. So, I am going to try to use the 5 volts to power the Arduino. One of the problems with this is that the output voltage will be lower than 5 volts, so I am losing some of the motor's range (but only in reverse which is not as important.)
I tried connecting 5 volts to the barrel plub of the Arduino, but I was only able to get about 3 volts from Pin 9. I am assuming that there is something attached to that plug to adjust down from 9 volts. My next step will be to try to power the arduino through the USB plug.
Does anyone else have any theories?
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88097
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Two new projects
The barrel connector feeds the 7805 voltage regulator which needs at least 2v over the output voltage to regulate properly. If you have a clean, regulated 5v supply, you can connect directly to the 5v pin. The USB plug will work too.I tried connecting 5 volts to the barrel plub of the Arduino, but I was only able to get about 3 volts from Pin 9. I am assuming that there is something attached to that plug to adjust down from 9 volts. My next step will be to try to power the arduino through the USB plug.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.