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Topics - LukeZ

Pages: [1] 2
1
TCB Dev / Flashing Bootloader to Blank ATmega2560
« on: December 12, 2021, 10:10:05 AM »
For those building a DIY board there is sometimes the need to flash a bootloader to a blank chip. For those who start with an off-the-shelf Arduino Mega this is not necessary, the standard bootloader that comes pre-installed on Arduino boards will work just fine. But for those who are assembling boards from raw components, including blank ATmega2560 chips, then a bootloader needs to placed on the chip before the firmware can be loaded.

I have attached a PDF how-to guide that describes the process, as well as the files that are needed. In addition to these resources, you will also need:
  • An ISP programmer - I have tested the USBasp, the AVR ISP mkII (both available on eBay and elsewhere), as well as the Pololu USB AVR Programmer v2.1
  • If you did not populate the pins for the ISP connector on your board, you will need something like the SparkFun ISP Pogo Adapter: here or here. It is easier if you just solder regular ISP pins to the board.
  • If you are building a large quantity of boards (most are not) then you may find it faster to load the firmware through the alternate Serial 1 port on the TCB (labeled "SER. 1"), instead of using the USB port. I don't think this should apply to any DIY people, but if you want to do it that way you can use the Adafruit FTDI Friend, the SparkFun FTDI Breakout, or the already mentioned Pololu Programmer (which can work both as a serial adapter and ISP programmer).

If anyone needs help with this process feel free to ask your questions here.

2
Open Panzer Help / New Smoker Functinality
« on: September 03, 2019, 10:56:31 PM »
I've just posted a new firmware update to the TCB and OP Config (v0.93.60) that adds some new functionality to the smoker. On the Motors tab of OP Config you will now see a smoker Type selection. The default selection is Combined Heat & Fan which is the same as before, to be used with stock Heng Long/Taigen smokers, but there is now a new option called Separate Heat & Fan.

This new option is for those who wish to control the fan and heating element independently. Under this arrangement the heating element will be plugged into the SMOKER output on the TCB (and will receive full battery voltage). The fan should then be plugged into the AUX output which the TCB will reserve for its use (manual aux control functions will be disabled when you select separate heat and fan). One limitation of the AUX output is that it only provides 5 volts so you should select a suitable fan (but there are many 5v case fans available online).

The Experimental smoker type is for my own testing and you should not use it, it will do nothing. It will be removed in a later release.

When the separate type is selected you will see additional options for setting the heating element level at idle, fast idle, and max throttle speeds. Most will probably want the heating element on at 100% for all throttle speeds but the ability is there to adjust it if you want.

is also an additional option called Preheat time which becomes available that will allow you to specify a length of time in seconds that the heating element should be powered before the tank engine is started. Set this option to 0 to disable preheating or if you don't want an engine start delay. Otherwise if a preheat time is specified, when you start the engine with whatever trigger you have assigned to that function, the heating element will immediately be turned on to full power (battery voltage) and an optional pre-heat sound will be played as a notification (User Sound 2 if using the Benedini TBS Mini or "preheat.wav" if using the Open Panzer sound card). After that length of time has passed, the engine will automatically start and the smoker fan will then turn on.

Some users have also requested the ability to have "inverse" smoker output, such that more smoke is generated at idle and less at full throttle. To accomplish this simply set the Idle speed to some percentage higher than Max speed, for example you might have Idle = 90%, Fast Idle = 100% and Max = 50% or something along those lines.

I hope some find this useful. As always, let me know if you have any questions.

3
News & Announcements / Forum Registration
« on: March 04, 2019, 08:18:59 PM »
In recent months this forum has been inundated with spam accounts, sometimes up to a dozen a day. This creates a lot of work to delete them, or to try to figure out who is a legit user and who is a spam bot. Extensive automated measures have been taken to prevent bots from registering, but I think some foreign countries are paying cheap labor prices to have actual humans do the registration, with ill intent.

Because it has become too much to keep on top of, you may find registration disabled. But you can still obtain an account! To do so you must send me a private message (PM) at either the RCUniverse or RCTankWarfare forums. My username at both is LukeZ.

Your PM should have the following information:
- Subject should be "Open Panzer Forum Registration"
- Provide me your email address
- Tell me your desired forum username

I will manually register you and you will then be sent an email to activate your account.


4
News & Announcements / Foreign Language Support
« on: November 11, 2017, 01:07:28 PM »
You now have the option of choosing a foreign language in the forum section of this website. Login to your account, go to Profile -> Account Settings and then look for the "Preferred Language" option.

This setting only affects the forum section (not the Wiki or other areas of the site), and it doesn't change the language that people wrote their posts in. But it will change some headings and perhaps make the site easier to navigate for foreign users.

To translate posts into a foreign language we recommend using the translate tool in the Chrome web browser.

I welcome anybody to create topics in a foreign language, so long as you realize I will respond in English!

5
Scout Dev / New Revision of the Scout ESC (Rev 11)
« on: October 30, 2017, 08:47:36 PM »
The first Scout ESC files made public were listed as Version 1, Revision 10. This design was active for most of 2017 but it used VNH2SP30 motor driver chips that are now discontinued by the manufacturer (although they can still be found on eBay and AliExpress).

On October 30, 2017 new files were published on the Downloads page, called "Revision 11." The only difference is the change to VNH5019 motor driver chips, which are the replacements for the obsolete part.

The new chips have all the same specifications as the original except the maximum source voltage has been increased from 16 volts to 24 volts. Doesn't much matter to tankers who are all probably operating well under 16 volts anyway. Both the original and replacement chips are technically rated at 30 amps but the continuous current rating we are giving our PCB is 10 amps continuous per motor without heatsinking. The addition of a heatsink and/or a fan can increase the continuous rating. All designs of the Scout ESC include built-in over-current and over-heat protection so the boards will shut down if you exceed the limits.

Some users had decided to build their own PCBs at home and started with the Rev 10 design, therefore those schematics and files are being left on the Downloads page for reference. For anyone who is just now starting a build, please use Rev 11.

6
Open Panzer Help / Assembling Boards by Hand
« on: August 09, 2017, 02:24:46 PM »
I know several people are planning or have mentioned building boards by hand, and I've gotten several messages on this topic. I think we need a public place to discuss this.

Most people are not going to want to attempt hand builds, but for those that do here is a place to discuss your experiences and ask questions. It doesn't matter if you are building the TCB, Scout or Sound Card, post here and I will try to help as best I can.

Good luck!


7
News & Announcements / List of Open Panzer Threads Around the World
« on: July 17, 2017, 03:27:48 PM »

9
Other Open Source Projects / Standalone Tank IR
« on: January 18, 2017, 08:18:27 PM »
For the fun of it I've taken some code from the TCB having to do with IR, simplified it and packaged it as a self-contained sketch for running on any Arduino Uno/Nano/or other board with ATmega328 processor.

The sketch can be downloaded here: TankIR

What does it do? Basically it lets you send and receive tank IR signals. All common protocols are supported: Tamiya (1/16 and 1/35), Taigen (old and new), Heng Long, and others.

Sending (ie, "firing the cannon") can be triggered in three ways:
  • Manually with a pushbutton
  • With a positive 5 volt trigger from some other circuit
  • Or the device can automatically fire a repair IR signal in response to being fired at by some other tank (useful as an "automatic tank repair station.")
The sketch can also control a recoil servo which will articulate whenever the cannon is fired. A Taigen muzzle flash unit can be attached, and basic sounds can also be added with an inexpensive Adafruit Audio FX board.

The next post will go into more detail.

10
Other Open Source Projects / StabiWii Turret Stabilization by Squirlier
« on: January 16, 2017, 01:48:26 PM »
Some users at RCU pointed me to Squirlier's (Christian S.) open source StabiWii project. I thought it might be good to have a place to discuss his project (in English) for those interested to experiment with it. Just to be clear, I don't know Squirlier nor have I worked on his project at all. I am not a developer on his project and I take no credit for any of the work done!

Here are his shared project files: StabiWii at Google Drive
Here is is YouTube page: Squirlier YouTube

As of today the TCB does not have barrel or turret stabilization features enabled. I have worked on it but not reached a functional stage. As I think about it more, I have begun to think a different approach might be best - implement a small microcontroller and sensor board that takes care of all the stabilization functions, and simply plugs inline with the servo/motor signals to the turret. In other words, offload all stabilization work from the TCB into a standalone device that could be used with any tank control system or RC radio.

As it turns out, that is precisely what the the StabiWii does. It does not need to be integrated with the TCB and it could be used in any RC tank regardless of MFU. That is why I have put this thread here in the Other Open Source Projects forum.

From my preliminary investigation, the StabiWii project is a modification of the MultiWii Project. MutliWii has a long history and originally began by using the sensors in the Wii Motion Plus controller paired with an Arduino Nano and community code to control a quadcopter. The StabiWii firmware appears to be designed to run on either a NanoWii Flight Controller (available from Hobby King and perhaps elsewhere), or just a standard Arduino Nano paired with an MPU6050 IMU (both of which could be purchased from SparkFun).

The NanoWii FC has a lot of other features and functions that wouldn't be needed for turret stabilization, and the code is fairly complex as a result. Documentation at this stage appears to be fairly poor, as well as a lot of it being in German. I'm not critiquing the project at all, just stating my observations. It also does not appear that the project has quite yet reached final completion to judge from Squirlier's latest video, although what he has accomplished already is very impressive!

I don't have a NanoWii to play with, but I did download his firmware and it compiled just fine in the Arduino IDE. I was also able to get his GUI configuration program to run, but I have no idea how to use it.

His Google Drive site is a bit confusing, but here is what I downloaded:
  • Go to StabiWii-Beta folder
  • Download three packages:
    • jre-7u79-windows-i586.exe
    • StabiWii - TankConf V26.rar
    • StabiWII -32u4-328P---V26.rar
  • The .exe file will install Java Runtime Environment which is needed to use the Configuration program
  • Un-rar the other two packages, I used 7-Zip
  • The "StabiWii - TankConf V26" is the GUI configuration program. Although I am using Windows 7 x64, I wasn't able to get the "application.windows64" version to run, but the "application.windows32" did work fine. I see also a "StabiWiiTANKConf.pde" file in this folder, I don't know if you have to load that sketch on to your NanoWii in order for it to be configured or not? Unclear.
  • The "StabiWii -32u4-328P---V26" is the Arduino firmware for the NanoWii. It compiled for me without errors in Arduino IDE 1.8.1 by selecting "Arduino Nano" as the target board.

11
This thread will follow my attempts to create an open source sound card based on a Teensy 3.2 microcontroller featuring a 32 bit ARM processor (72 MHz Cortex-M4). It costs about $20 so represents a lot of power for very little money, and it's also very small.

All Teensy devices (there are several versions) are Arduino compatible and can be programmed using the Arduino IDE if you install the free Teensyduino add-on. Development can proceed rapidly because all the standard Arduino libraries can be used, and there are lots of Teensy-specific libraries available as well.

The greatest thing about this board is that it runs the Teensy Audio Library. This is an entire toolkit for building audio projects using a Teensy processor. They have a workshop you can go through that will probably blow your mind. I attended one of these in person last year for the express purpose of learning how we could leverage these resources for an Open Panzer sound card.

The workshop examples use a Teensy 3.2 mated to the PJRC Audio Adapter board. This board outputs CD quality stereo sound (16 bits, 44.1 kHz) and basically just consists of an SD card slot and an SGTL5000 codec chip. This chip takes I2S audio data from the Teensy (not to be confused with I2C) and with the onboard DAC converts it to analog audio. It has a built in headphone amp so you can listen on headphones without any extra hardware. But if you want to drive a speaker you have to add an amplifier circuit to the line-outputs. The SGTL5000 also has a lot of audio processing and signal conditioning features that can be manipulated through convenient functions in the Audio Library.

The Audio Adapter board is a bit overkill for our purposes. We don't need headphone outputs, we don't need stereo sound, and we probably don't need the majority of the signal processing capabilities. We do need however to drive a speaker and that requires yet another chip. However it would not be hard to create our own board with the SGTL5000, SD card, and a small Class D IC.

We do however have other options...


12
TCB Dev / TCB Firmware with Stock Arduino Mega
« on: January 14, 2017, 02:26:34 PM »
It occurred to me that now, prior to physical release of the TCB, some people may have already on hand an Arduino Mega. The TCB uses the same processor as the Arduino Mega (ATmega2560) so the firmware will compile just fine on that board.

If you have an iBus or PPM receiver, you can connect it to your Arduino Mega with 3 pins (PPM to Mega pin 3, or iBus to Mega pin 15). Unfortunately SBus uses an inverted serial protocol, and before the processor can read this information the signal has to be "un"-inverted. This requires a transistor and two resistors which are on the TCB board but of course absent on the Arduino Mega. If you want to implement this transistor inverter yourself see the TCB schematic, it is very simple and most any basic transistor would work (the SBus signal would also go to Mega pin 15). But otherwise, stick with iBus or PPM receivers.

The Sabertooth can be connected to your Mega with two pins.

Additionally you could also hook up a Benedini TBS Mini to the Mega with only a few jumpers.

See the diagrams below, the first shows only a receiver and Sabertooth, the second adds the Benedini.

You don't need to use the Arduino editor for any of this.

Important Circuit Info: You will notice in the diagrams below we have Arduino pins A12 and 33 connected to ground. On the actual TCB board these pins are assigned to physical switches. Pin A12 is Dipswitch 5 and we set it to ground in order for the TCB to know it should be communicating over USB rather than an alternate serial port. Pin 33 is the Fight/Repair switch and we set it to ground in order that the TCB remain in Fight mode. This one doesn't really matter so much for the testing done here but Repair mode can have some confusing side effects without all the rest of the circuit present, so just jumper it to ground.

  • Plug your Arduino Mega into your PC using a USB cable.
  • Launch OP Config (download it here)
  • Select the COM port assigned to your Mega
  • Go to the Firmware tab of OP Config, click the "Get Latest Release" button, and then click the "Flash" button. After this process is complete, your Mega is running TCB firmware.
  • You should now be able to connect to your Mega using the "Connect" button in OP Config.
  • If you have a receiver connected, you should also be able to run through Radio Setup.
  • Make sure Drive Motor type is set to "Sabertooth Serial ESC" on the Motors tab of OP Config.
  • Create some function triggers if you like, and adjust any other driving settings you might like.
  • Write settings to your Mega using the blue arrow button.
  • Drive your tank around like a boss!

Other Helpful Threads:
Sergey's Open Panzer TCB From Scratch - on Russian site, but Google translate works very well.
Sergey's thread here on the OP Forum - with not as much detail as the Russian thread.


Edit: I've added also another diagram even more detailed from user jhamm (Jürgen) showing connections to a Mega Pro Mini, but the pin numbers are the same for the standard Mega.

13
Open Source Sound Dev / Guidelines for Posting in this Forum
« on: January 11, 2017, 08:28:11 PM »
This forum is for discussion of ongoing development of an Open Panzer sound device - in other words, the creation of new firmware and hardware.

If you have general questions about operating your existing Open Panzer products, or need help with a problem or bug, please post in the Open Panzer Help forum instead.

14
Scout Dev / Guidelines for Posting in this Forum
« on: January 11, 2017, 08:26:11 PM »
This forum is for discussion of ongoing development of the Scout ESC - in other words, changes to the firmware or hardware, or alternate ESC designs.

If you have general questions about operating your Scout, or need help with a problem or bug, please post in the Open Panzer Help forum instead.

15
TCB Dev / Guidelines for Posting in this Forum
« on: January 11, 2017, 08:25:06 PM »
This forum is for discussion of ongoing development of the TCB - in other words, changes to the firmware, hardware or OP Config.

If you have general questions about operating your TCB, or need help with a problem or bug, please post in the Open Panzer Help forum instead.

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