Although the group consists of mechanical engineers, it was desireable to develop an electronic system to allow for the remote control of the vehicle during the 50m run. After a thorough investigation of the available options, it was decided that the best solution was to use an Arduino as the micro control due to the available auxillary connections. Through the use of an HC-06 Bluetooth Module and a readily available Android application, the control of the vehicle could be made wireless.

 

Control System Version 1.0 

The first itteration of the control system utilised an Arduino Motor Shield as a means to control the vehicles motors. The motor shield consists of H-Bridge circuitry which allows for extensive control of the individual motors. Based on the desired control for the vehicle, the user will select an option on the Android application which in turn calculates the corrosponding PWM value and motor direction to complete the task. This is then sent to the Arduino via the Bluetooth chip and the developed code determines the signals to send to the motors to generate the required motor movement. This allowed for variable speed control in the front, backwards, right and left directions. 

 

It was discovered during the testing phase of the project that contrary to initial estimations the 2A limitation on the motor shield did not allow for the relevant current needed for the start-up and acceleration phases of the vehicles journey. Due to the unavailability of an adequatly spec'd motor shield an alternative control system was required.