(26-Sep-2019, 12:07 AM)the.ronin Wrote: I did look into a headtracker but not only could I not find a module for sale, I would've had to go with my Frsky radio losing all the benefits I mentioned earlier. But if it turns out the range I'm getting just isn't enough, I may have to go that route for 900mhz.

If you're talking about the Fatshark headtracking module, I have one for you that I don't use.

Thanks Gerrit! PM sent.

And we got us some new wheels, boys. I'm no longer flipping over doing donuts at slow speed lol. Stock wheels ...



Proper ...



Micro servos should come in today so I can really work on the dude-cam. In the meantime been absorbing servo information like a sponge. These little things are truly a work of wonder. The applications are limitless lol.

I also dabbled in surface FPV a while ago, but mine was an FPV yacht. It didn't work quite as well as I hoped, but it was still fun! Here's the video:



Sorry for the interruption, back to you! 

Oh wow Project: Marine FPV!!!!! That is actually really cool. Maybe it's cos I took keelboat sailing lessons and all I keep thinking is, "keep the tiller to the boom to avoid the doom" LOL. I think that is really cool. FPV is so much more than just for the air! Now if only we can figure out how to efficiently send 2.4ghz *through* water .

(26-Sep-2019, 07:25 PM)the.ronin Wrote: Oh wow Project: Marine FPV!!!!!  That is actually really cool.  Maybe it's cos I took keelboat sailing lessons and all I keep thinking is, "keep the tiller to the boom to avoid the doom" LOL.  I think that is really cool.  FPV is so much more than just for the air!  Now if only we can figure out how to efficiently send 2.4ghz *through* water .

Are you thinking submarine? Because you can probably tether your receiver and vtx on a little "boat" so that they stay on the water, while the submarine goes under. Perhaps a 2m long lightweight wiring setup between the two?

Yea that's what this one company is doing with their subs.



Just would be nice to not need a tethered bouy. I got curious and did some googling and it does look like there are advancements in radio transmission technology as it applies to underwater. You can imagine what kind of boon this would be for military submarines.

How funny would it be if some FPV nerds figured it out before the Navy did or Darpa or whoever does military tech. Stark Technologies lol.

Unthethered remote subs? What happens if you get a failsafe without a tether attached? 

LOLLLLLL

Alright boys, rest of the parts are arriving today so things are about to get real lol.

Updated schema incoming ...



I am least confident in the pan-servo-driver-dudes. I have a micro and now an even more micro nano servo but even with the smaller servo, I'm not sure I can pull this off with the space. We shall see. As it stands, the schema calls for 2 micro servos one rigged to a dedicated pot channel to pan the FPV camera inside the dude's head. The other micro servo is piggy backed off of the steering servo and turns the passenger dude's head along with the steering. These micro servos burn out on regular RX voltage so I'm adding a 3V reg between it and the RX.

For the sake of cable management, I'm also going to see if I can just run that VTX off 2S since everything else in the FPV system is fine with 2S. I've added 2 micro fans in the mix powered off of the PDB's 5V BEC. The Tarot OSD takes a while to acquire satellites so I don't want the VTX overheating while it just sits there.

There's a 12V BEC on the PDB also which I actually think can run the LEDs (the only thing on my 12V "rail" now). But I don't think it steps up lower voltage. I'll test to see.

Rather than having an additional servo turn his head when you steer, how about mixing the FPV pan servo together with the steering channel (if you're using a programmable radio like the Taranis). So your pan servo will turn together with the steering channel, but can also turn individually using another channel for panning.

Or am I missing something in your setup that won't make this possible?

Yup Gerrit, that is exactly what I am doing. I ran into an oddity though. When I piggy backed the servo to the steering servo (signal to signal, ground to ground, etc), the piggy backed servo would spin in reverse. Put another way, when I steer right, the dude's head looks left. Super annoying. Tested on different servos direct and piggy backed and kept getting same results. (Of course, reversing in the transmitter just meant both went opposite directions.) So I tried manually reversing the servo but swapping out the wiring inside. This is a tiny micro servo though and I ended up breaking it lol. I ordered a couple more I will not be beat by this annoyance lol.

Ironically, the other dude's head is actually turning out great!!





I just could not fit the Runcam Nano HD camera in there along with the micro servo as small as it is. So this is the cam that comes with the BetaFPV tiny whoops which is actually the same cam you see in the video earlier. The HD cam will go where this guy used to be in the center console. Might be better since there's going to be a lot of stuff in the dude's head cam view like the dashboard. So, ye,a two onboard cams LOL.

What is it they say? You can take the pilot out of the drone but you can't take the drone out of the pilot? LOLLLL

Well this was a rabbit hole LOL.  

The short of it is that this guy is now kitted with OSD, (freakishly accurate) GPS, and HD cam.  Unfortunately, the driver dude head cam was a no go.  It was just simply too flimsy of a connection.  Super risky since this thing likes to flip over on high speed turns.  So I've now just got a single onboard camera panned by a servo mounted under the roof.  Pretty sturdy setup that can take some good tumbles.

This is what was used as the battery tray before ...



And this is what that battery tray looks like now lol ...



It's really just the receiver and power distribution consisting of a 30x30 PDB, 12V step-up regulator, and a PWM switch for the lights.  The wiring got a little gnarly so I color coded the tips to help me out a little.



Believe it or not, there's order in this chaos lol ...



We got a stack in the trunk comprising the Runcam Split 3 Nano PCB and a Wolfwhoop 5.8GHz VTX with the MMCX connector run under the body to the back.  Two 20mm fans keep the VTX cool while the car is idling or waiting for GPS lock.  And some TPU netting for good measure LOL. 



The Runcam Nano is panned by a servo mounted under the roof for protection.





The car itself is no longer stock.  We went from brushed to brushless motors and the steering servo is now all metal geared digital.  Also changed from a 2-channel Spektrum to a 4-channel Futaba system which so far has shown impressive range.  I started breaking some axle shafts so those have all been replaced with aluminum alloy parts.

Did I mention this was a friggin rabbit hole??  lol

Next step: install two way audio and up the fun level!

LOLLL that's too awesome.

Coming from drones where we are counting down to the half grams, on these rc cars, I can put on a tub of jello on the top just cos I feel like it and it will still drive lol. I guess for a drone builder that's always wished of adding this or that, this is a dream come true. That dude probably just taped a cheapy walky talky to the back.

But one I'm also realizing with RC cars is that radio channels are hard to come by! Even on my little Xlite Pro, I got more channels and switches that I know what to do with. These guys are just fine with 2 channels - throttle and steering. I guess that's really all you need. And in cases where they got more channels, it's about mixing and adjusting the base 2 channels on the fly LOL. Meanwhile I'm like, "Mr. Hobby guy sir, you got a surface radio with like 12 channels pls???" XJT module adapter would be nice too lol.

Damnit, Gerrit. Now you got me looking into micro walkie talkies and using Arduino LOL. I got to thinking I would like to be cruising around while blasting this over it on loop ...