Hand Controller Builders
I have been playing around building a hand controller (HC) for a little bit and thought its about time to get some input from the community now that I have some knowledge about how to do it and hopefully more chance of understanding what people say.
I have tucked this posting into the scratch building section as I cant find a more appropriate one but if you think it should be elsewhere please shout out.
I would like to know what people are aiming for when they build a controller. At this moment Im not interested in the technology to get it done - whether transistors, darlington pairs, diodes etc are used - but what are you trying to get the supply voltage to the track to do.
This is where I am coming from. I see the trigger of the HC varying the voltage which varies the current flowing through the motor. This current generates the torque which turns the motor.
At full trigger its a case of providing full supply voltage to the track and at part trigger proving a part of the supply voltage. At zero trigger allowing the braking effect to be applied.
Simples or not.
Snatching the trigger full on can create too much voltage->current->torque and the car spins out, tail wags or tips over. A way to soften this so the driver doesnt have to modulate the trigger so carefully seems a good idea. What do you do? Ramp up the voltage over a time period, limit the current or something else?
Braking the car is essential to allow faster speeds down the straight before slowing for the corner. Full on braking at zero trigger may be too much and some limiting may be desirable with perhaps changing the amount of braking (lots or a little initially then more or less) and allowing a roll on through the corner. What do you aim for and how do you modulate the braking effect? Do you achieve maximum braking through shorting the motor? Have you used reverse voltage to drive/load the motor in the reverse direction to increase braking?
Have you considered going into braking mode (may be only briefly and at a less than full brake level) when the trigger is released more than a certain amount (but not fully back to the zero position) in a certain time period?
Are there any other things you are trying to achieve with your design?
Cheers Alan
I have been playing around building a hand controller (HC) for a little bit and thought its about time to get some input from the community now that I have some knowledge about how to do it and hopefully more chance of understanding what people say.
I have tucked this posting into the scratch building section as I cant find a more appropriate one but if you think it should be elsewhere please shout out.
I would like to know what people are aiming for when they build a controller. At this moment Im not interested in the technology to get it done - whether transistors, darlington pairs, diodes etc are used - but what are you trying to get the supply voltage to the track to do.
This is where I am coming from. I see the trigger of the HC varying the voltage which varies the current flowing through the motor. This current generates the torque which turns the motor.
At full trigger its a case of providing full supply voltage to the track and at part trigger proving a part of the supply voltage. At zero trigger allowing the braking effect to be applied.
Simples or not.
Snatching the trigger full on can create too much voltage->current->torque and the car spins out, tail wags or tips over. A way to soften this so the driver doesnt have to modulate the trigger so carefully seems a good idea. What do you do? Ramp up the voltage over a time period, limit the current or something else?
Braking the car is essential to allow faster speeds down the straight before slowing for the corner. Full on braking at zero trigger may be too much and some limiting may be desirable with perhaps changing the amount of braking (lots or a little initially then more or less) and allowing a roll on through the corner. What do you aim for and how do you modulate the braking effect? Do you achieve maximum braking through shorting the motor? Have you used reverse voltage to drive/load the motor in the reverse direction to increase braking?
Have you considered going into braking mode (may be only briefly and at a less than full brake level) when the trigger is released more than a certain amount (but not fully back to the zero position) in a certain time period?
Are there any other things you are trying to achieve with your design?
Cheers Alan