Custom Mandalorian RF Servo Kit for Halloween Mando

Hey All,

I messed around with the ZipZap tutorial and decided that I would build an RF servo kit using a couple Arduinos and a 433Mhz Transmitter and Receiver (TX/RX). I put it on a WIP bucket for Halloween and went as "Island Mando" Video and pic below. The units are on proto breadboards for now but plan on etching a couple PCB' s in the next week or so to make the setup a little more compact. I also have encoded the TX/RX to each other so there will be no accidental triggering of the stalk It currently uses a single button (the board remembers what position it is in and goes the other way) and I have plans to add a couple micro potentiometers to adjust start and finish positions.

I'm curious how you coded the T/R to each other. I'm using the 315 MHz kits and they are pretty much the same as the 433 MHz ones. If you are willing to point me in the direction of how you did it I would be grateful.

That's hilarious Awesome work!

DeathProof said:

That's hilarious Awesome work!

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Thanks it was fun and the kids (young and old) got a kick out of it

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Jc27 said:

I'm curious how you coded the T/R to each other. I'm using the 315 MHz kits and they are pretty much the same as the 433 MHz ones. If you are willing to point me in the direction of how you did it I would be grateful.

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Haha well I'll trade you programming tips for a light kit

No seriously, basically my setup (not quite complete is this):

TX:
- Arduino with 433Mhz TX

RX:
- Arduino with 433Mhz RX

I use Radiohead (formerly Virtual Wire) for comm between the two: http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead

Since RH uses Timer1 (the same and the built-in servo timer for Arduino) you have to use another servo lib...I use ServoTimer2 (look for it on Arduino site)

Then in your main program loop on TX side have it wait for a button push (or switch) and send a signal to the RX with data...I use a text phrase. On the RX side in the loop just listen for incoming data and make sure it is the phrase you are expecting. You could do some fancy stuff like pre-program an initial phrase and then on first run have a random phrase generated and stored in EPROM so that each kit has a different key. If you would like to see my sketches I'll PM them to you.

That's above my programming knowledge. I'm just using off the shelf 315mhz R/T parts that apparently cannot be set to each other (I emailed the manufacturer and they said as much). Which arduinos are you using, UNOs or something smaller?

I'm using the Arduino Nanos...they are pretty small but may even go with the mini pro https://www.sparkfun.com/products/1...csQcYMXWn0R1aKCei6fpkjiRmhzmI7hebsaAkhq8P8HAQ in the final version to save space (the only thing is you have to use a breakout board with the mini pro in order to program it....no on-board USB port)