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Messages - LukeZ
1
« on: October 06, 2025, 12:44:33 PM »
Well it will be a pleasure to see what a real engineer can make of this board, and I look forward to learning about some new components and better procedures from observing your progress. I had no formal training, and was limited to what I could find on the internet and by my ability to understand what I read. If you encounter any design elements that seem bizarre, you can be sure that was due to my ignorance and not because there was a secret and clever reason for it.
All your propositions seem very reasonable to me. "One rabbit hole at a time" is a good motto. The point is to have fun, and what you have proposed already will be a considerable undertaking. I will be following with interest.
2
« on: October 02, 2025, 03:41:07 PM »
Hi Foxhood, you have indeed taken on an ambitious endeavour; I won't say whether it's foolish or not.  But as long as it's a project that gives you something satisfying to occupy your time with, then I personally think it's worthwhile for that reason alone. Your list of changes at the beginning of your post are in most cases things I have thought of myself at one time or another, and I have nothing to add but that they are all very good propositions. Here's a few comments on the rest: Aux Output / Taigen Sound It's a bit confusing that the AVR DA names some of their timers "TCB," it might avoid confusion to refer to them as "Timer/Counter B"! But once I figured that out I understood what you're talking about. I can't see anything in your proposal that would cause a problem, other than the coding changes that will be required (but you're going to have a lot of those already anyway). The code may end up being a bit cleaner in the end, since as you say all PWM outputs will end up on the same 8-bit resolution, instead of having the Aux output be its own 10-bit outlier the way it is now (there was no special reason for that in my design, it's just what I had left). I2CAs you've gathered, the I2C work was started with the idea of using it for barrel stabilization, as well as some driving effects. Whether those features are worth the effort I guess is up to your own preferences. I would do what interests you, and leave the rest - otherwise the work becomes a burden. I think if you were to ask the community (what five people are left  ) what they'd want in a new TCB, they'd tell you things like "integrated main motor speed controls" and "integrated sounds." You could try chasing those desires, which would entail an even more ambitious redesign, but then the odds of a new board getting produced and distributed are so low, how many would profit from it? So my recommendation is to do what you are passionate about. I admit I have grown a bit rusty as to certain details of these communication protocols, which at one time in the distant past I had at my fingertips. So I can't say whether you'd find I2C to be any less troublesome than I did, but I suspect it's possible it may still pose some challenges. Timing is important due to the incoming radio stream and the outgoing servo signals, anything that introduces delays that affect either of those will be immediately apparent to the end user as janky and erratic behavior. Maybe the TWI functionality on this new processor would work better, but I just don't know. You could always break-out some pins for I2C/SPI and then the ports are there for some day in the future if you want to tackle the firmware side. IR-OutI'm sure there was no particular reason why I put the pull-down in that location, I can't even be sure I had the good excuse of layout constraints (but yeah, let's assume that's what it was  ). It would be better practice to put it right at the MOSFET gate, so feel free to correct that! SmokeI agree that having dedicated heater/fan outputs is now something that would be very good, since that has become the default arrangement in the years since the TCB was first designed. I also agree that it would be fine to leave the heater output at VBat, and I doubt even Heng Long's heating elements are going to really be affected by a slightly higher voltage, it's just a wire that gets hot. But also OP Config allows the user to adjust the heat level so if it's an issue, they can just be set to something less than 100%. As for the fan, if 6 volts has indeed become a sort of convention, then no doubt it would be ideal if it could be powered at 6 volts. Of course it's a tradeoff with extra components and board space. I'm sure the blower motors draw very little current so if you were powering that alone the 6v regulator could be very modest, probably just an LDO especially as the input and output voltage differences are going to be so small. If you decide to add servos and turret motors to the 6v rail (which is a completely reasonable idea), that could require something more substantial. If you end up needing a second SMPS and coils and all the rest, it might not be worth it to power those other actuators from 6 volts, since in the end, the servos and turret motors don't really need it. It's been a few years since I looked at the current smoker market situation, but I seem to recall seeing them sold both in 6 and 7.4 volt versions. You will know better than me, but if they are equally as common, I suppose you could consider adding a jumper so the user could select between 6 volts (or 5 volts if you decide against a second voltage source), and VBat for the blower motor. Anyway, these are just some thoughts, but I hope you will take your project in the direction that both pleases you best and makes the most sense to yourself. Finally, I see you are located in the Netherlands. It could be you're just a Brit who got blown a bit eastwards, but if you really are Dutch, I absolutely have to congratulate you on your excellent (or flawless) English. Truly, bravo.
3
« on: September 28, 2025, 04:17:01 PM »
Hi Dean, that is a sweet looking truck. It must be really gratifying to see a physical object come to being in front of your eyes, from what was only a CAD model on a computer several months ago. Now comes all the fun of bringing it to life. I will especially be looking forward to more detail on your belt-drive setup which sounded very unique and interesting.
I hope you were able to resolve your TCB problems from earlier, but let me know if anything is still amiss.
4
« on: September 28, 2025, 04:02:18 PM »
I totally understand about "the rest of life" getting in the way of hobbies. Better that than the other way around. Anyway that's a cool looking board, and most importantly, it is very small! I have to say you did a very professional job on the design, I only just today noticed a ground frame around the crystal, though it was also visible in the Altium picture you posted last year. I am going to take a wild guess and declare that this surely can not be your first PCB layout. Although I don't presently have a model to test this in, I think I am going to be tempted to assemble a few of these myself, to have on hand for that glorious future day when I am retired and get back into modeling. If you need any help with the firmware just let me know. But somehow I am guessing you have it well in hand. 
5
« on: September 23, 2025, 10:02:16 AM »
Good work! I'm glad to hear you're still working on this, steadily if perhaps slowly. Not many people (in fact none) have ever managed to build a self-design board by post number 3 on a new forum! I'll look forward to hearing how it works.
6
« on: September 03, 2025, 11:26:29 AM »
Ok, I'm glad to hear that it's working. It's important to understand how the functions work, otherwise as I mentioned before it is certainly possible to create some function/trigger combinations that will result in unpredictable behavior.
On that topic I might mention once more that setting Acceleration and Deceleration levels by the Throttle command is yet again another one of these illogical combinations. It might function, but I am certain the result will not be what you want.
If you want to adjust the Acceleration or Decelaration levels while running, then you need to assign them to an analog aux channel on your radio. This is a valid approach which I have used many times myself, and it is very useful for observing in real time the effect that Acceleration and Decelerations will have on the driving of the tank.
However most people don't usually have 2 extra analog channels to devote to this, and besides, once you find the level that you like, it no longer needs to be adjusted. If for example you find that Acceleration level 4 is what you like, set it to level 4 under Profile 1 on the Driving tab of OP Config. Then you do not need any function-triggers at all. Profile 1 will always be active if a level is selected, and you will always be driving with Acceleration level 4. If you don't want any Acceleration or Decelaration constraints, simply uncheck those options in Profile 1 (uncheck Inertia and uncheck Momentum).
In short, you can use Acceleration and Deceleration effects if you want, or not. But it should be done using one of the methods I have just described. Assigning them to the Throttle command, or Engine speed, or other functions which by definition are related to acceleration and deceleration, is going to create very bizarre behavior, and may cause problems.
7
« on: September 01, 2025, 10:57:09 AM »
Hi Paul, those settings look fine, but I still see no reason why the smoker should not turn off.
Since we do not know what the problem is, we must experiment.
First, please remove these unnecessary functions and do not add them again:
- Airsoft/Mech Recoil Enable (you have already enabled it in OP Config)
- Smoker Disable
- Smoker Enable
- Drive Profile - Set to 1
- Set Acceleration Level
- Set Deceleration Level
Then load the prior firmware version as I mentioned before, and let me know if this makes any difference. I don't expect it will, but we need to rule out every possibility.
Next, please also try assigning turning on/off the engine directly with function triggers. First uncheck the "Auto-Start Engine with Throttle" option and set "Auto-Stop Engine when idle for" to 0 (zero) in OP Config in order to disable both those options, then use function triggers to assign a switch on your transmitter to the "Engine - Turn On" and "Engine - Turn Off" functions.
Let me know if this works, and if so on which step of the above three the change was detected.
8
« on: August 31, 2025, 10:40:13 AM »
Hi Paul, I don't see a function to turn on/off the engine, I assume you must have selected "Auto-Start Engine with Throttle?" And then you must have defined an "Auto-Stop Engine when idle for" delay? Can you can post your .OPZ file so I can examine all your settings? Anyway, I don't see why the smoker should not turn off, but I don't have a board to do any testing with here. The latest firmware update did make some changes to the smoker code. The change should not have any affect on the smoker turning off when the engine turns off, but just to be sure, it would be worth trying the prior firmware version and seeing if that makes any difference. The prior version is 0.93.78 and you can download it here. Right-click 0.93.78 and select "Save link as" to save it to your computer. Then flash it to the TCB with the "Use your own Hex" button on the Firmware tab of OP Config. Let me know if it makes any difference. A few other comments that are not related to your question, but I notice some unusual things about the function triggers you have created: - You are using the function "Airsoft/Mech Recoil - Enable," but these are enabled by default, so you don't need to assign a trigger to that function. The only reason you would use that function is if you were also using the "- Disable" function, and you wanted to switch between them. But you are not using the disable function, so this is unnecessary. You can delete that function trigger. - Likewise you are telling the TCB to set the Drive Profile to 1 whenever the engine starts. This is unnecessary, Drive Profile 1 is the default and is already selected. The only time you need to assign a trigger to Profile 1 is if you also have another trigger assigned to Profile 2, and you want to switch between them. You are not doing that, so telling it to use Profile 1 is unnecessary and you can delete that function trigger. - Finally, you have assigned functions to adjust acceleration and deceleration levels with engine speed. First of all, this immediately takes precedence over whatever acceleration and deceleration levels you have specified in Profile 1, so Profile 1 will never get used. But second of all, I don't think this associate makes any sense. OP Config lets you create any function-trigger pair that you want, but that doesn't mean they will be logical. What you have done means that the faster the tank goes, the slower it accelerates, and the slower it goes, the faster it decelerates. I have never tried such a thing, but I really doubt that is what you want. If you want to use any inertia or momentum, just set the desired levels in Profile 1, and that's it, you don't need to do anything else, and you don't need any function triggers. Profile 1 will be applied by default and the levels you have set in Profile 1 will be active whenever you are driving.
9
« on: June 16, 2025, 09:13:40 AM »
Hi Sub, I'm glad that's all it was, it's always good when the fix is an easy one!
10
« on: June 14, 2025, 02:46:44 PM »
Hi Sub, I know of no reason why this wouldn't work, unless by accident you have set the Turret Rotation motor to something other than "RC Output" on the Motors tab of OP Config.
If that isn't the cause, as unusual as it might seem, I would have to assume your Mega board has a loose pin or is in some way physically faulty.
11
« on: March 07, 2025, 08:47:31 AM »
Hi Dean, sorry for the hassle. It seems like the last update of OP Config didn't include that libusb0.dll in the installation files. It was a fairly major update and apaprently that file got overlooked.
I've updated the Windows Installer program on the Downloads page, even though it keeps the same version number as before (v0.94). Try uninstalling OP Config from your computer once more, then downloading the file from Downloads and re-install. You can confirm that libusb0.dll is present by looking in your OP Config installation folder (by default C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenPanzer\OPConfig\), it should be there.
Let me know if that fixes your problem or if you have any other issues.
12
« on: March 06, 2025, 12:49:42 PM »
Hi Dean, sorry to hear about the mishap. I can't say for sure whether you'll be able to fix your Smoker port or not, it depends on what components were damaged. It almost sounds like this coincides with your connections problems, and if so that might indicate that something further upstream might have got fried as well, which would not be good. But let's assume that is not the case. You can try replacing the smoker MOSFET and see if that fixes that port. Here is the part number and a link to DigiKey: IPD090N03LGATMA1Fortunately it's a somewhat large part so shouldn't be too hard to unsolder and replace. I've highlighed the part in the image below. As for the libusb0.dll error, rather than trying to update OP Config using its built-in updater, first uninstall OP Config from your computer (there should be an uninstall item in your OP Config folder in the Start Menu, but otherwise you can do it from Windows Add/Remove Programs). Then go to the Downloads page and download the OP Config installer and run that. Maybe this re-install will fix your problem.
13
« on: March 01, 2025, 01:38:13 PM »
That's a very interesting project Dean, I'll be looking forward to seeing what it looks like after you've printed it.
14
« on: January 21, 2025, 08:05:44 AM »
I'm glad you got it working!
15
« on: January 19, 2025, 10:12:37 AM »
Hi Paul, yes, I think you are getting to the relay circuit. The instructions on that page make clear that their smoke unit is intended to be connected to the throttle channel of the radio, meaning it provides smoke while driving, so it will not work with for barrel smoke.
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