Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Yes, that's correct, we have successfully completed our remote control Chevy!! My friend is looking for a server to post the movie on. If anyone would be willing to host a 50MB file, we have a 20 minute divx movie of the whole process, including our driving it like maniacs in the back lawn. We don't have any pictures, but this movie is quite good, in my opinion, so the quicker we find a host, the quicker you can all see it!

Thanks to everyone who helped out and answered my frequent questions!!

ARP

ps.- it is sooooooo fun to drive.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

YOU MEAN YOU MADE A REAL< LIVE< GAS< INTERNAL COMPUSTION ENGINE REMOTE CONTROL????!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!

IS THAT STREET LEGAL????

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

That is sooooo sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet...


arefin: can we use your pt ?
jimbo: for?
arefin: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=28834
arefin: that
jimbo: sweet
arefin: now..
arefin: plz can we borrow your pt?
jimbo: ahhh
jimbo: no
jimbo: lol
arefin: PLZ


here is a convo that i had with jim after seeing this thread... great job guys... i really want to see the video...

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

It wouldn't be street legal under remote operation.

I'm glad it's a success. :) Does the video show the modifications you had to do to the Chevy to make it remote control?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

very nice!! hope to see the video soon! wish i had the materials($) to do that!! how well does it handle? and what kind of controls are you using?
steering wheel? joystick? pedals?
how are you working the clutch & transmission? or is it automatic? if so, can you reverse it remotely? can you switch to and from neutral and drive?
and to add more fun... is your handbrake remotely activatable and deactivatable???
and congrats to finishing it!!

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Before I get all excited-like, I have to ask.. What kind of Chevy?? Not like a small pathetic little Chevette?? Please don't tell me it's a Chevette.. :ahh:

And I see you are located in CT.. Mind if we "borrow" this experimental vehicle for our town's Memorial Day parade?? lol j/k :o

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Awesome job....I'm anxious to see the video!

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

answers:

Yes, it's a fullsize car; no, it's not street legal. There is no steering wheel, and the throttle cable has been detatched and relocated, so even if it were legal, it is only drivable via remote control.

It handles decently, though driving it from a distance is certainly difficult.

We are using a FlightStick joystick. Forward = gas, left/right = steering, trigger = activate brakes, top button = deactivate brakes.

We toyed with the idea of making the hand brake remote control, but we ran out of time (today was our last day)... perhaps we will continue to work on it, however.

The car is a 1987 chevy nova, which we bought for $300. It is a real POS, but it serves our purposes. It has an automatic transmission, power steering, and power brakes.

Thanks for trying, mechman!! lol

Come on people, this video is totally sweet! It is a 20 minute documentary about how we did it (including the mods we had to make) and then us driving it and showing off... good times. Just need a host!!

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Now you just have to make the remote fit into the back of a cell phone. Oh, and add rockets and such.

I'm serious about that last part though, what kind of a trigger controls brakes?????

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

only for 300 bucks ... it sounds like a really nice.. research project... would love to do a project like this...

which team is doing this... (by your profile i cant say which team are you from) ... or is it a project that you are working on with few others?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Our school has a Senior Project program, where we get 2 weeks off from school (and we get to skip finals) to work on any project we want (the project has to be approved by a committee first, however). So, me and two friends decided to undertake this project. Therefore, I am not on any team; we borrowed the equipment from our school's FIRST team (team 571), and one of the members recommended this board, so I came here!

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I do believe you mean a full size car, because there are many small remote control cars that are gas powered. They have 1 cylinder engines and are pretty quick.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I'd be willing to host it for a bit till you find something better.

Edit:
PM me and I'll give you an account on my FTP server. You can upload it there and I'll put it somewhere everyone can get to. Oh, yeah. Since I use the computer I'm using to host this (as in, I do other stuff on it), it might not be the fastest thing ever, but I can do it till you find something better... :)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Go to South Florida Racing, Become a member, and host it in there "movies" thread.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

What size engine? How much HP?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

The 80's version of the Chevy Nova is actually a rebadged Toyota Corolla. If I'm not mistaken Chevy didn't offer a different engine than Toyota for this vehicle and if that's the case than it would be a 74hp 1.6 liter four cylinder.

Jason

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

you still havent answered all my questions! can you back up at all? if not, if you take a too wide turn you're stuck? like some of the gas rc cars. and your brakes aren't proportional? only on or off?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

taking a guess here but...

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

We cannot manipulate the shifter at this time, but we may continue to work on the car in the coming weeks. You can still manually put it in reverse so it is easy to get it out of a tight corner (of which there are none of in a 10 acre field). The brakes were intended to be proportional but we had to be finished by today and we couldn't figure out how to use potentiometers effectively so we just did an on/off braking systsm, which works just fine.

The picture the greg posted is accurate, but ours is not even THAT nice. Ours is terrible. I found a few hosts, so I'll be posting links soon!!

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

sounds well AWESOME!!!!

really cool project to have been working on and it worked so that must have been well super cool-- great job!

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

another question... how much did it cost you guys to do this project?... i know the car was $300 ... anything else that you bought and added...

i am basically asking for the estimated cost of this project...

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Yeah, that's a tough question, actually... you see, we had a lot of nice people donate a lot of things. We did not have to pay for the use of a garage or any of the tools we used. We did not have to pay for the use of they hydraulic lift (which came in handy both in the construction of the car and in its testing). We did not have to pay for any of the lumber (which we used to mount things). We did not have to pay for the robotics equipment (RC and OI are usually like $1000 or more together -- radios are 150 each). We did not have to buy the van door motor or the power window motor.

Basically, all we had to buy was the car (~$300), a powerful (114oz/in torque) servo (~$50), and a few PWM extention cables (~$35-40). I guess we also had to buy screws, L-Brackets, and the such, but they were only maybe 15 or 20 dollars for the lot of them. So, to answer your question, I would estimate OUR cost of the project to be about $400. This cost was split 3 ways between my partners and me, which was helpful.

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Wow sweet!

Maybe I'll be a clepto and steal it ;) jk

You should post the stuff one Recycled FIRST


Awesome work guys,

-Pat

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Wouldnt be hard Pat, Just change their channel and drive it away!
:p ...have y'all thought about antitheft?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

well, not really... but it technically still is a motor vehicle, so anyone that's going to steal it better be ready to deal with the cops, who'll see it as grand theft auto.

But yeah, I don't think it'll be a problem, anyhow.

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

How would one steal it if it isn't even street legal?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

More to the point...So what would they do? Tow it? Push it? And what would they do with it?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

They're using the InnovationFIRST control system.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

bring a few vise grips, get some piano wire, wire cutters, and you're set. :D

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Y'all said that it wasn't street-legal...is there a state law that says you MUST have a steering wheel and pedals? If not, you could always tether it up and run the turn signals and all the old-fashioned way. (Or hook up some servos or spikes to do it for you.)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I'm just repeating what I heard.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Obviously; but what thief carries an OI around with them with which to steal cars?
Now, that sounds like a plan.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

*Whistles nonchalantly*

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Leave it to a bunch of robotics geeks to want to steal a 1987 Chevy Nova with 74 horsepower :rolleyes:

Great work guys, I'm glad you got your project done. Just be safe! :]

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Have you posted your video of it anywhere?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

And don't forget to post the link. ;)

I was thinking if you wanted to have real fun with the car you should bring it in for service at the Chevy dealer. Then you could film the look on thier faces when it drives in by itself like K.I.T. on Knight Rider! :D

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

http://www.rossesmail.com/chiefdelph...ect%20DivX.avi

video!! Right-click/save target as to save. There will be more hosts soon, I hope!

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

You need DivX to play this file properly. You can download that from Download.com, or from my site at http://texan.homeunix.net/remote_chevy/divx511.exe.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

OMG you were welding right next to a Victor!!!:ahh: Other than that, very cool project. :cool:

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

i just saw the video. Sweet!!!
only maybe iwas too close to the screen..... um kinda like seasick... or whatever you call it.. bleh...
but that looked like a really fun project.
i wish i was doing something like that... not this stupid english paper.. :mad:

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Haha yeah... Originally, we had glued the motors down and glued the chain down, but it turns out that glue (even GORILLA glue) wasn't gonna cut it. So we brought it somewhere (after it was all assembled) and had it welded, which posed a minor threat to all our equipment. But it was necessary.

ARP

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I still think that you should drive the car on campus. what are they going to do, rink the nova?

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Fantastic job!! Simple solution to a complex problem. I like how your ideas evolved over time!

This should be food for thought and inspiration for other senior projects!

Well done!

Sean

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I was wondering did you program the IFI system to bring the steering wheel back to center when you let go of the controls. I saw this on Monster Garage and without that feature the steering is horrible.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Rink? Is this a slang term I've never heard, or a typo? (Serious question.)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

at our school we have an ice rink and the threat for day students is that if they do something wrong while driving on campus (like speeding or illegally parking) they have to park at the rink for a week or two. Also if it is raining... or just in general it is a pretty long walk from the rink to anyother building on campus

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Very cool! Nice documentation of your project. I was excited to see it finally going under its own power, without a driver sitting in the driver's seat.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

They just presented it and it is awsome (besides the fact that the car is ugly) though they didn't drive it around it was cool to be upclose to it and see what exactly they did.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

oh cool!! is "slipping" when trying to point the car in another direction while on the rink considered "doing something wrong while driving on campus"?
slippery roads are fun!! now if its a biiiig ice rink, with barely any cars around.
wheeee!! :D

oh, yes, and
WHAT!? the strongest glue in the world doesnt work??? now did you try duct tape? i think that woulda done the job

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

You can now view the video at http://texan.homeunix.net/remote_che...oject_divx.avi. :)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

That's good, because I was just about to take it down, so I don't go over my bandwidth allocation ;)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

LOL. Well, we shouldn't have to worry about it for mine. It's my server. :) But don't stress it too much. :)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I was going to move it to my home server, but it's used 6 gigs of bandwidth over the past 2.5 days, and I don't think my ISP would be that happy with it.

</ taking thread off topic>

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Hey I have a SDSL connection and my own self built dual 2GHZ processor. I would be happy to host this file if someone could help me set up my server online. Meaning how to make it so that people can download from it. This has been my main purpose for getting this DSL line and the $1200 parts.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Nice system. I'll PM you and try to help you get it setup. :)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

This is a great job. It was an excellant project.

Our team had room on our web site to host this also, so I loaded it. Our site isn't up yet (switching hosts), but there is a link on the main page (www.HollandFIRSTRobotics.net) or use the link below. I will keep it active as long the bandwidth isn't getting to close to the limit, but it should be good for quite a few downloads.

Right click and save with this link: http://www.hollandfirstrobotics.net/...oject_divx.avi

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I have seen any activity on the chevy file lately, so I'm going to take it down. If you want to see it all of a sudden now, PM me. :)

Just for everyone's info...

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I wonder if they're still playing with the Nova and if they were able to set it up to shift the transmission under remote control? If I had that it would definitely be one "toy" I'd keep around for awhile! :)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

last time i talked to arp, he gave me the impression that they weren't going to work on it much anymore. sorry to dissappoint anyone.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

DUDE! arefin asked to use my mazda too

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Too bad, but the project's original purpose was a success and is over with. I wonder how many miles they put on the odometer in RC mode! :D

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I live in a rich neighborhood. I'm going to borrow someone's Ferrari 911. After that, take it down to a track, and me in the stands! :D
(Scary part: we still can't get funding!)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

:ahh:
That makes me cringe...Ferrari 911???? What the hell are you thinking? The 911 is a Porsche...and there are no Ferraris with numbers in the 900's...or any numbers close. All Porsche's have numbers in the 900's to identify them. The closest number tagged onto a Ferrari is the 550 Barchetta. The 911 is a very well known car (especially for people in rich neighborhoods) and should never be associated with Ferrari.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

In general, you're right, but in the spirit of pedantry :p, the Cayenne and Boxster don't have numbers, and there's a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti...this thing:

(from Car and Driver)

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I do have to say that I did forget about the new 612 Scaglietti. But I do know that at least the Boxster has a numeral designation, and I would believe that teh Cayenne has one too. They are just used internally by the company. I work with a mechanic who used to work at a Porsche dealership, and I have picked up some interesting knowledge about them from him. I do not however know the designation number for the boxster offhand.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Not really on the topic of this thread, but I was at a Porsche autocross event a few weeks ago and for kicks, this guy took his Cayenne out onto the course. He was getting 10, 15 seconds longer than all the other Porsches, but it was pretty funny to watch an SUV try and do the same course that all the boxters, 911's, GT's, etc. were doing. I didn't get a picture of him on the course, but here's a picture of him at the queue line:


To give you guys an idea of what he was trying to do:

Notice all those skid marks.

And finally, to give you guys an idea of who he was up against when he was trying to do what he was trying to do:


I mean, granted, the Cayenne is a Porsche, but made in Germany or not, there are certain things that SUVs just can't do. Regardless, seeing that thing on the course made my day.



Anyways, on to the topic of this thread... thats a pretty crazy senior project. They did the same thing on Junkyard Wars once, only the winner of the two teams was decided after they put the two cars up against each other in a ring. Man - there's nothing quite like seeing two beat up cars beat themselves up even further by remote control. Props to you guys - this is an awesome thing to do!

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

well im reviving an old post, but i just stumbled upon this video.
http://www.the-nyx.net/videos/cars/f...CCar_video.wmv
they have a very interesting way of moving the pedals with a normal servo. wish id found this vid while these guys were still working on their project lol

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

I also thought of this thread a short time ago. I don't remember what channel it was on but there was a story on a place out west. I missed the first part of the show but they buy older (still running) cars and modify them to be remote controlled. Then people pay to "hunt" the cars as they're being driven through the desert. I believe it was called "Car Hunt". The people are riding in a truck that rides along side the cars and they continue to shoot at the car until it becomes immobile. When I saw it they had an early 70's Oldsmobile wagon with a mannequin in the front seat. It took quite a bit for that car to finally give out.
If anyone remembers the movie called 'The Gauntlet' with Clint Eastwood when he drives the bus down the streets as everyone is shooting at it, and all you see is nothing but holes all over the bus, that's what the wagon looked like at the end as they walked around it. All the main controls in the car were mounted on the drivers floor surrounded by steel sheets to protect them from the bullets. That way they reduced the chance of losing the remote capabilities of the car from a stray shoot. They kept the car as stock as possible, most of the interior, the dash, and seats were still in it. I was amazed the engine held out for so long. They never did say exactly what finally gave out on the car that stopped it but they did mention that part way through the chase they started having difficulty steering it as the car had lost power steering fluid.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

About a year ago, wasn't there a contest in New Mexico (or somewhere around there) where people built remote controlled cars and they had to follow this 110 mile course. The winner got $100,000 I think. Not one car was able to finish.
It was for the Army I think... sorta sad that some people on here can do what the army can't =/

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

are you talking about DARPA? thats not remote controlled. its autonomous. and its pentagons game. theyre gonna do it every year until someone manages to get it and the prize is the total of the stacked money of the years they didint have a winner

oh and theres a couple threads on darpa i think

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Funny this came up today. . . I think he is talking about DARPA. There was an article about it today in our local newspaper. Seems like an interesting but expensive competition. Very cool technology. If you have time do a Google search of DARPA and you will find some cool information.
This is the article that was in our newspaper today: http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/dec04/281246.asp
Do a Chiefdelphi search on DARPA and you will find quite a bit

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

Yeah thats what I was talking about.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

All the Downloads seem to be clogged :( . Could someone upload the file to bittorrent or Waste or some other p2p network. I think p2p is the way to go with files like this.
The Darpa robots had to be autonomous not R/C I thought. Which is much more difficult.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

well they havent been able to yet either remember:p

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

what school do you goto that you made this remote controll car in? i want to go to your school!

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

it wasn't for a class - it was for an independent senior project. The school is called Loomis Chaffee, and it is in windsor, CT.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

man i wish my school was that cool! we don't do anything like that but what can you say for a public school in the middle of NH filled with alot of hics. Oh well, what they did is really cool and we're lucky to have arobotics team.

Re: Remote Control Car SUCCESS!!
 

:ahh: :ahh: HEY! I AM A HIC! BUT YES THE CAR IS REALLY COOL! CAN MY TEAM HAVE IT?