How to make a radio controlled tank. RC tank How to make a remote control tank model

Health 02.09.2019
Health

It's no secret that not only boys, but also adult men who have taken place will be very happy to become owners of a radio-controlled helicopter. However, there will be no less joy, if not more, from a radio-controlled tank. The love for military equipment and all military topics seems to be genetically inherent in us. Indeed, who did not play war games, soldiers, arranging large-scale battles with friends in childhood? :) And with the advent WOT games(World of Tanks) the popularity of the tank theme has reached enormous proportions.

Also in Soviet time in various circles and sections of modeling, it was possible, under strict guidance, to build any model of a tank with your own hands, and with the maximum degree of realism. However, this required a sufficient amount of time and effort. And not always the model was able to move, it was supplied with radio control - in most cases it was a beautiful, but static exhibit. Or tanks on a wired remote control - they, it seems, can already move, but no further than the length of the wire.

However, time does not stand still, and the love for military equipment, coupled with constantly growing and developing technologies, contributes to the realization of the wildest expectations. Large-scale battles involving hundreds of models of radio-controlled tanks, self-propelled artillery mounts, aircraft, etc. This is not fiction, but the reality of our time. Sounds, smoke, shooting models and defeated opponents - the level of adrenaline in the blood after this just rolls over. And in order to become a part of this movement, you no longer need to make huge efforts. You just need to choose a model, and plunge headlong into the world of radio-controlled military equipment.

How to choose a tank and what are they? Conventionally, all models can be divided into 3 categories.

First - toys

This includes everything that looks like (or not always) a tank, has completely different sizes, a minimal set of functions, a low level of realism, the simplest control equipment, a lack of spare parts and, accordingly, a low cost. This is a good option for kids.

The second - full-fledged radio-controlled tanks, available in mass production

They can be of various scales (1/16, 1/24, etc.), have a significant mass (can reach 10 kg), differ in copy execution and functionality. These models are able to move forward and backward, turn left and right, turn around on the spot.

The tower rotates, the barrel can also rise and fall. Lighting equipment, sound modules and smoke generator modules are installed, which adds realism to the model. The model itself and the tracks are made of metal (or high-quality plastic), the suspension (rollers in our case) is working.

The model is set in motion by electric motors, the force from which is transmitted to the gearboxes. The control equipment is multichannel, aircraft type. Very often they are equipped with a pneumatic gun that shoots plastic balls (and at a very decent distance), or a gun with an infrared module, with which you can arrange full-fledged tank battles. The cost of such models is already significantly higher than that of toys.

You can run them both at home and on the street. They also require responsible handling, as There is a risk of injury if used incorrectly. The most famous and popular firms in this segment that have achieved recognition from modellers are Taigen, Heng Long, VS Tanks, and even Kyosho.

Third - radio-controlled tanks of large scale (1/6, 1/4), produced in a single version by a small number of manufacturers or are the result of individual design and construction

These are already very serious models with serious functionality and impressive dimensions. Their mass can reach 300 kg or more, and they can shoot with real projectiles. As a rule, they exactly copy existing models of military equipment, often even inside. In fact, this is a reduced copy. They can be equipped with both electric motors and ICE (internal combustion engine). Due to their specificity and very high cost, as well as technical complexity, it is almost impossible to see them live, but the battles with their participation are truly breathtaking.

And another category that should be mentioned is constructors

To be more precise - the electro series, where you have the opportunity to assemble a model and equip it with a simple engine and control equipment. On the one hand, this is not yet a model, but on the other hand, it is no longer just a constructor. The most famous manufacturing companies in this segment are Lego and

And now it's time to consider a similar Chinese electronic toy - a radio-controlled tank. Online stores have various models such tanks that can be divided into the following groups:

  • Price up to 1000r. - simple tanks that can only drive back and forth and turn around.
  • 1000-3000r. - these models are more realistic, 2 times larger than the first ones, and equipped with a rotating turret.
  • 3000-5000r. - serious tanks with the ability to raise the muzzle, shoot bullets and release smoke (smoke generator).

For review, we got the most inexpensive representative of armored vehicles - a tank model Firing-3886. The cost is approximately 600 rubles. The tank itself is included, and a small box with everything you need - a charger, a control panel, 4 batteries for 1.2 V 600 mA.

Batteries must be inserted into the compartment located on the bottom of the toy after unscrewing one screw. There is also a power button.

Since there are no LEDs on the case, it is not clear whether it is on or not. Because of this, it is often forgotten to turn it off. Another very big drawback that was discovered in the process of work is the constantly flying caterpillar. It is very poorly stretched, and it is unlikely that anyone will be able to pull it up themselves - it is too long. Therefore, when cornering, it slides off the drive wheels. This is especially true when driving on soft surfaces. The third problem is the uneven movement of the right and left tracks. Because of this, the tank constantly turns slightly to the side.

Tank dismantling

Now let's look under the lid. Only two screws separate us from the insides - the circuits of the receiver and motors with a block of gears. First, a firing mechanism is found under the top cover - yes, yes, this unit surprisingly turned out to be in such a cheap copy.

Shooting is carried out with plastic balls about 5 mm in diameter. The stock of ammunition is 100 pieces, and the range is about 10 meters. They fly out pushed out by a spring pulled by the motor.

All the balls are poured into the tank at once through a small hole in the tower, closed with a plastic cap. If loaded, it is problematic to shake it back, just shoot it.

Having removed the second, inner cover, we notice a board with details of the receiver and motor control transistors. The microcircuit is standard, as for inexpensive radio control kits - RX-2B. The scheme of its connection is possible.

The motors, together with the gears of the mechanisms, are enclosed in a separate block. Although they are lubricated, they buzz quite decently during operation. You expect a slightly different sound when launching a similar toy :)

Charger

Charger pulse type, 4.8 V 250 mA. That is, the battery charge at this current will last about 4-5 hours. But even here it was not without problems - charging has extremely short plugs, and it is not possible to put them into the euro socket. Unless in a flat one, like the old model. Or buy a small adapter, using it as a plug extension, which we did.

In general, these shortcomings apply not only to this tank model, but also to all other similar radio-controlled toys of a low price category. Consider these points when buying.

Tank control panel

The 27 MHz remote control is made in the classic format - batteries are inserted into the power compartment from below (4 AA pieces of 1.5 V each), several buttons on top, and an antenna in front. The range of work is about 10 meters - quite enough for an apartment.

The current consumption of the remote control is small, so it is permissible to put even half-depleted batteries there. When you press any of the buttons, a small red LED lights up, indicating that a command signal is being transmitted.

Let's disassemble the remote control and look at the electronic stuffing. Here everything is controlled by a small black blob on the side of the tracks, the work of which is stabilized by a quartz resonator.

The power switch for the remote control is not required - it automatically turns on when you press any button. It is convenient and economical.

Video about a tank with a remote control

Impressions about the toy

As for the money, the device is quite decent. The antenna on the tank, which is unreasonably long, is twisted into an arc and hooked onto the hull. A fully charged battery lasts for about 20 minutes of driving, which is an excellent result. It shoots powerfully, there are a lot of charges. The only serious drawback is the weak tracks, albeit rubber ones. But perhaps just such an instance caught. And we end our review. Stay with us - there are many more showdowns of interesting electronic toys ahead of you. With you was the creative laboratory of the site Elvo.

Greetings dear readers our portal.

Today I want to tell you about a very interesting person, an old-school modeler who assembles radio-controlled tanks with his own hands down to the very last screw.

So meet - Yaropolov Ivan Kirillovich

Ivan Kirillovich - retired, worked at the Krin plant as head of the design department. He has been working on his tanks for more than five years, and he began to assemble his first tank when his grandchildren were born.

Ivan Kirillovich has assembled two tanks and is still collecting a third, on this moment, more advanced. He gave one of the tanks, the very first one, to his grandchildren, and since the grandchildren are not so many years old yet, they have already played with the tank so that only “horns and legs”, or rather caterpillars, remained from it :)

Ivan Kirillovich also told us a little about the features of his tank:

I was looking for drawings of this tank for a very long time. The information was mainly taken from books taken from the library, and the approximate dimensions, for subsequent scale reduction, were taken from a real T-34 tank standing in our city of Kirov as a monument. While I was taking measurements from the original tank, a funny case came out.

So, Ivan Kirilovich climbed onto a pedestal with a tank and takes measurements, a man comes up and says "what are you doing there, uncle?", and Ivan Kirillovich answers him, "so you understand, this tank is being sent to Chechnya, and we were told to make a wooden one .. ", the man immediately swore that they had already completely lost their conscience ..

At the time of our visit to the modeler, he had one working model of the tank and a half-new, improved one assembled, which you can see in the background of the photo below.

By the way, the tanks on the sides of the tank, which you can see in the photo, even on the model play their main role. They contain batteries that supply the model with energy. Moreover, they also provide connectors for the charger. It sometimes takes Ivan Kirillovich a month or two to make such complex parts.

Ivan Kirillovich tried to make his model as accurate as possible to match the original T-34 tank.

The undercarriage of the tank never changed in this model, and the turret changed several times, as different guns were installed. As you can see in the photo at the beginning of the article, the small tank model does not have fuel tanks. Ivan Kirillovich explains to us that these were reserve tanks and they were installed only for the duration of long movements around the area, forced marches .. In battle, these tanks were removed to avoid fire when a projectile hit them.

One of the problems for the pensioner was the tank's radio control system. Not every pensioner in our time is able to familiarize himself and acquire latest systems radio control to control models. These are people of the old school, and therefore, remote controls from Chinese radio-controlled cars and car alarm systems were used as experiments. But these systems had a big drawback - there were only 2 channels "forward / backward" and "right / left", which made it impossible to realize all the capabilities of the T-34 tank model .. because the tank still had a turret that needed the ability to turn .

Also on the tank of Ivan Kirillovich, a unique system for firing capsules from a hunting rifle was made, which also required additional channel management.

The trigger mechanism was invented and made by Ivan Kirillovich with his own hands and consisted of a motor, a special gearbox and a manually cocked trigger.

By the way, Ivan Kirillovich told us about his plans to make an automatic loading system in his new model :) Just imagine a radio-controlled tank with an automatic capsule loading system! .. A shot from such a charge is very impressive, very loud with a lot of smoke. You can watch the shot itself at the end of the article in the video.

But, even with dual-channel control, Ivan Kirillovich figured out how to control the tank, the turret, and the trigger mechanism. He used one engine as a switch. Its scheme is quite simple - we press forward, the engine spins and turns on the forward gear .. we press forward again, the switch motor spins and turns off the forward gear .. Here is such a tricky scheme for multiplying each control channel by 2.

Of course, such a tank cannot be assembled just like that, says Ivan Kirillovich. The tank is assembled from more than 500 parts, most of which are made by hand or on a machine tool. Young people are now little interested in such things .. most either sit at computers or hang around the doorways. But there used to be a lot of circles and clubs for modeling and the guys went to them to study completely free of charge. Now these circles and clubs are gradually closing down, as they cannot withstand the market relations prevailing in society. They simply cannot financially provide their material base and space for classes.. And this is a very sad trend.

It turns out that Ivan Kirillovich made not only tanks. As he told us, he made a working model of the tractor "Belarus", and also tried to make a radio-controlled helicopter. And he does all this with his own hands with almost no purchased parts. The only purchased parts in Ivan Kirillovich's models are engines and radio control systems. True, it is difficult for a pensioner to buy special model engines and batteries, because all this is quite expensive relative to the size of the pension, so his models are not as maneuverable as store options, but this is not the main thing .. The main thing in his models is the authenticity of the original and handmade made with great precision and precision.

Ivan Kirillovich says the following about the production of his models - "That's when I started modeling, I thought, well, what, yes, I filed it and okay .. And then I realized that you need to do every detail as if you were making a real part .. With all responsibility .. Here's a nut, let's say .. It's not just a nut, you need to cut the thread on it so that it unscrews and twists as it should. even such details as screws and nuts, Ivan Kirillovich also makes by hand. "I make the connectors myself.. There are no connectors..", he continues.

"I worked at the plant as the head of the tool shop, then I worked as the head of the design bureau. I always had a tool, I love a tool." Ivan Kirillovich has a workshop both at home and in the garden, so he makes his favorite models all year round: at home in winter and in the garden in summer. The set of tools is certainly impressive. Imagine a set of drills from 1mm to 10mm through 0.1mm. Also taps and dies for threading both screws and nuts. The smallest die for threading a 1.2mm screw. The lathe is in the country, so there is always the opportunity to make almost any part on your own. The gearboxes are also made by hand, that is, the body, the mount, and even the gears.

Ivan Kirillovich is worried about whom he will be able to pass on his experience and tools, because his grandchildren live in Moscow and he does not yet see a clear craving for this type of modeling. But let's hope that the grandchildren of Ivan Kirillovich will become smart and successful people and follow in the footsteps of their grandfather in modeling.

"I became interested in tanks when I was thinking what to start doing .. Assembling cars is very simple, but in tanks I was interested in the fact that not a single model has real tracks. And first of all, I decided to make real tracks out of metal, hand-cast tracks. That's everyone the track is molded, then I drill it, put the pivots "(axes connecting the tracks to each other). Trucks Ivan Kirillovich cast from a typographic alloy from which matrices for printing newspapers are made.

We had the opportunity to make sure once again that Ivan Kirillovich is a real master. Once, a woman he knew brought a very old mantel clock for repair.

So, Ivan Kirillovich made a copy of the case from them. He cast the case himself from bronze, and the clockwork was taken from a real T-34 tank. As he told us, “There was no time for watches during the war. I myself did not participate in the war, because when it started I was 10 years old."

Ivan Kirillovich made the watch back in 1983. The result is a working replica of those ancient clocks. And this clock still works properly and shows the correct time.

At the end of the conversation, Ivan Kirillovich told us that somewhere in Volgograd, pensioners organized design department and made models of tanks there on a scale of 1: 9, in order to later recreate the battle on Kursk Bulge. If suddenly you know how to contact people from this bureau or if your grandfather or father is engaged in a similar type of modeling, you can always leave us the coordinates and we will give them to Ivan Kirillovich so that he can communicate with the same interests as modelers like him.

Radio-controlled car models are produced today in a significant number. And here are similar reduced copies tanks With remote control almost none for sale. Therefore, in order to acquire a radio-controlled model of a tank, a car model will have to be converted into it.

Instruction

  1. Purchase any radio-controlled car model. The main requirement for it is that, firstly, it should be somewhat smaller than the future model of the tank, and secondly, it should move as slowly as possible.
  2. If you find a car model on sale that can move slower, be sure to correct this shortcoming, as a tank moving at high speed will look unnatural. To do this, in series with each of the engines, turn on a light bulb from a flashlight. Select the parameters of the bulbs in such a way that the speed is slightly higher than desired, since in the future it will fall due to an increase in the weight of the model. Do not use resistors instead of light bulbs, as they do not have the properties of a barreter and are not able to stabilize the current. With them, the engines will stop at the slightest increase in load.
  3. Purchase a kit for self-assembly of a bench model of a tank. This model is not radio-controlled, but is much more common on sale. Assemble it according to the assembly instructions that came with it. Wait until the adhesive has completely hardened.
  4. Do it in a day assembled model tank, a recess of such a size that it can be put on a radio-controlled model car. The latter should not be visible at all, at least from above.
  5. Put the tank model on the car model in such a way that it does not interfere with the rotation of the wheels. Make sure the latter continues to move in all directions, despite the increased mass. If necessary, additionally select the light bulbs connected in series with the engines so that the current through them increases slightly.
  6. Start using your model. Its disadvantage is the lack of rotation of the tracks and the turret of the tank.

A radio-controlled tank is the dream of not only boys, but also many men of all ages. It's easier, of course, to buy a radio-controlled toy that stores are filled with. But, by applying knowledge in the field of electronics, it is possible to make a radio-controlled model of a tank based on a conventional prefabricated structure.

What do we need

  • prefabricated tank model (can be bought in a specialized or online store);
  • electric motors;
  • reducer;
  • epoxy adhesive;
  • soldering iron;
  • aluminum wire with a diameter of 0.125 cm;
  • transistors, other electronic stuffing.

Operating procedure

1. Manufacture of tank tracks.

Option 1

Trucks can be taken from the model kit, but they are made of plastic and this is not quite what the designer's soul requires.

Option 2

Mold for casting tracks: 1-4 - steel plates, 5 - parts made as lugs, 6 - a longer rod, 7 - a short rod, 8 - a wire elastic finger.
  • a mold for casting tracks is being made, which allows producing up to 90 tracks per hour, which is quite enough for one caterpillar;
  • before pouring(tin, lead or their alloy) the form is warmed up;
  • after 30 seconds after pouring, the track blank is ready, for which top plate cranks, and rods are taken out;
  • excess metal parts are removed with a file.

This device is made depending on the size of the tank model and the shape of the track.

2. Manufacture of tank tracks.

  • with the help of a drill, holes for fingers are made in the tracks;
  • the tracks are connected with fingers (aluminum wire) and glued together.

3. .

- engines (electric motors), gearbox and batteries are installed;
- the radio signal receiver board and antenna are mounted:

Setting up the receiver consists in pushing the turns of the contour coil. In addition, the capacitance of communication with the antenna is selected;

- the body of the tank is assembled entirely.

4. Transmitter production.

- the transmitter is produced on the basis of the following scheme:


Fig.2 Transmitter diagram

The transmitter is designed to be controlled. Simultaneous pressing is allowed 4 to 8 buttons, which makes it possible to work with the model in different modes. LEDs act as indicators of command execution. After the completion of all work, sea trials of the tank are carried out.

There is a fundamental possibility of installing a device on the tank model, which will simulate a shot from a cannon. But all known methods of simulating a shot are associated with great technical difficulties, which are recommended to be abandoned in order to facilitate the work.

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