Hand Motion Controlled R/C Car

This is a must-do hack for any cheap R/C car, it uses the tilt sensing switches I made so you can control a car just by tilting the controller like a wiimote.

There are many possibilities with this hack, for example, you can turn the controller into a base-less joystick, or put it on a helmet and control it with your head.

this will also work for R/C tanks (or other two motor drive stuff) except the switches needs to be placed diagonally

Another possibility to explore is making a mini segway, if you can get the tilt switch sensitive enough and the controller mounted onto the car (the car must be wheelie-ready). This might not work so good.

Below is two pictures of the car I'm working with (the front end spins, not steer, but it is not a problem with some practice)

You will need:

• r/c car
• tilt sensing switches (see step 2)
• hot glue gun
• soldering iron
• wires
• some pvc pipe (see step 4)
• collection of hand tools

Demo Video:

Step 1 Making the tilt sensing switch

I made another instructable before, just for this switch
Click Here To See It

But I had to adjust the switch by drilling more holes into it until i got it just right.

The second picture shows how it works.

Comments

[rc trucks man]

Hey tropical rc, I have a heng long rc tank i'm going to try this out.

_________________________________
rc tanks man

[Venemot]

I think hacking the rc with the buttons is much more easy....you just have to find two of its four wires which are actually connected to the rc and then soldier wires to them...!!!

[The Renaissance Man]

You should make the remote so it's attached to your wrist

[DELETED_yoghurtsniffer]

(removed by author or community request)

[mettaurlover]

mercury is liquid. it. is. LIQUID. and what passes through liquid? ELECTRICITY. so, can you figure it out now?

[Venemot]

well mercury doesnt conduct electricity because it is liquid....it conducts because it is metal...the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.....and only polar liquids or solutions having ionic compounds as the solute can conduct electricity....!!!!

[mettaurlover]

Can you understand the concept of time, or maybe internet etiquite?

[frank26080115]

are you saying all liquids conduct electricity?

[dombeef]

yea he is but he is wrong all liquids don't conduct electricity.

[dunnos]

grammar fail, now you are stating that not even a single liquid conducts electricity :P

[dombeef]

Sorry but that was a looong..... time ago.

[whitish]

wouldn't the mercury one work the same as the ball one only the ball is mercury? I don't know if mercury conducts so well though.

[Polymorph]

Mercury conducts well enough, it is a metal. The difference is the ball one can bounce when it makes contact. The mercury just engulfs the connections. However, that isn't so important in this case, I think.

[DELETED_yoghurtsniffer]

(removed by author or community request)

[Venemot]

by the way you can make the sensor your self....and instead of using a metal ball or mercury you can use a solution of water and lots and lots of salt.....that will work....by the way this idea struck my mind while reading the comment and i havent tried it yet but i will try to post an instructable as soon as i make it.

[Venemot]

but the sensor would be quiet big it wont be really very easy to make a very small one although it can be made with smaller tools and lots of patience.

[DELETED_yoghurtsniffer]

(removed by author or community request)

[Venemot]

Although i am not sure how the mercury motion senser works(probably because i have never seen on)i think you can make it by taking the wires of the circuit you want to complete with it and sticking them at close distance on one side of of a thin tube...do the same on the other side as well.so when the tube is tilted to one side it will engulf one pair of wires and complete the circuit...i am going to make the one with the ball bearings and i will post an instructables as soon as i find ball bearings and make the sensor....!!!

[EnigmaMax]

hehe, thats a good idea

[amithav]

Fine Idea...anyway can we control this car using our Computer, Flight Joystick...

[Venemot]

you can easily control it via pc with the help of a 4 relay phidget...well they are a bit hard to find but if you do there is going to be just a little soledering and a little programming.you just solder two wire each to the +ive and -ive sides of each button and attach the wires to the relays in the phidget then you do the programming for it(which i cant do properly,actually i dont have a phidget,yet)and you are done.

[Prof I.tiki]

hey i wonder if this theory will work with a bigger R/C vehicle.

[TropicalRC]

I have just managed to do this with the Heng Long RC Tanks . They are the 1:16 scale tanks so I'm not sure if this is the size that you mean. If it is let me know as I can help you with this!

[Riojelon]

Your concept can bedone by somehow adding this instructable's circuitry into your rc. I dunno how to do it, though

[astro boy]

 GRRR my stupid car has 2 tiny solder tabs and so i had to take the buten of to use them and the solder wont eaven stick! >:0

[Bowenj]

Man, if you could do this with an iphone!!!

[astro boy]

 you might if it will let you touch that kinda info via the usb make a custom plug or it could send it to a mac or pc and then the mac or  pc would control via serial port

[b3nji]

u should of used a better rc car because this car has no proper steering.

[Sagar Gondaliya]

what happens if I mess with the coil? *innocent look*

[11richie21]

if you mess with the coil a snake comes out!

[Sagar Gondaliya]

a little late but still funny. I messed with the coil and it just changes the frequency of the remote. @coltonpo18: it wont do any physical harm, only mental because of how frustrating it is to get the right frequency again. lol

[coltonapo18]

instant death.

[11richie21]

what if I don't have an on off switch?

[Bert99]

I have that same rc car

[treize7]

what is a segway?

[Sagar Gondaliya]

omg

[Jr Hacking kid]

go look it up

[Sagar Gondaliya]

you could turn diagonally if you hooked up a negative wire to each tilt switch

[Resident Expolsives Expert]

(removed by author or community request)

[Coffee bean]

sweet now build it into to a glove and add it to a fullsize tank